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With the end of the semester and a bit of time before I set off on my holiday I've braved the cold and set about to see a bit more of Nanjing. Headed off to visit the Nanjing Museum only to find that it was closed and being renovated!! Oh well...put it back on my list of places to visit for the future.
Instead I wandered a bit further and visited the area where the Ming Palace originally stood and ended up having a most interesting afternoon. Firstly a bit of history........
MING PALACE RUINS - Built by Hongwu, the Ming Palace is said to have been a magnificent structure after which the Imperial Palace in Běijīng was modelled. Virtually all that remains of it are five marble bridges lying side by side, known as the Five Dragon Bridges (Wǔlóng Qiáo), the old ruined Wu Gate (Wú Mén) and the enormous column bases of the palace buildings. The palace suffered two major fires in its first century and was allowed to fall into ruins after the Ming court moved to Běijīng. It was later looted by the Manchus and bombardments by Qing and Western troops finished it off during the Taiping Rebellion.
Today the area is a park known as Wuchaomen Park which is divided in half by the roadway. On one side of the road you can see many of the enormous column bases of the original palace amongst which the locals have set up a market selling all kinds of exotic foods - some of which I could not recognise and others which I wish I couldn't recognise (such as the innards of chickens and ducks!!)
The other side of the road is where the five dragon bridges and the old ruined Wu gate can still be seen within the serenity of a peaceful park. This is also a popular park for ballroom dancing which is taken very seriouslly by the locals.
A little further along the road I found some older chinese buildings with loads of charaacter and the original military academy where I was actually allowed to take photos! I then came across this delightful gallery with a wonderful display of calligraphy and Chinese paintings. Fortunately there were several artists at work and I could stand and watch them working - one kindly allowed me to take his photo as he created another masterpiece.
I've also been out and about with a fellow Aussie teacher as we have bargained our way through the street stalls for scarves and hats to ward off the winter cold. Plenty of laughs as I bargain verociously in Chinese and Shirl sits back and waits to see what price I can get - she is too soft hearted for the heavy bargaining :)
We plan on getting out and about together over the next week or so before I go away so hopefully I'll have more laughs and photos to share with you.
Bye for now. xx
Instead I wandered a bit further and visited the area where the Ming Palace originally stood and ended up having a most interesting afternoon. Firstly a bit of history........
MING PALACE RUINS - Built by Hongwu, the Ming Palace is said to have been a magnificent structure after which the Imperial Palace in Běijīng was modelled. Virtually all that remains of it are five marble bridges lying side by side, known as the Five Dragon Bridges (Wǔlóng Qiáo), the old ruined Wu Gate (Wú Mén) and the enormous column bases of the palace buildings. The palace suffered two major fires in its first century and was allowed to fall into ruins after the Ming court moved to Běijīng. It was later looted by the Manchus and bombardments by Qing and Western troops finished it off during the Taiping Rebellion.
Today the area is a park known as Wuchaomen Park which is divided in half by the roadway. On one side of the road you can see many of the enormous column bases of the original palace amongst which the locals have set up a market selling all kinds of exotic foods - some of which I could not recognise and others which I wish I couldn't recognise (such as the innards of chickens and ducks!!)
The other side of the road is where the five dragon bridges and the old ruined Wu gate can still be seen within the serenity of a peaceful park. This is also a popular park for ballroom dancing which is taken very seriouslly by the locals.
A little further along the road I found some older chinese buildings with loads of charaacter and the original military academy where I was actually allowed to take photos! I then came across this delightful gallery with a wonderful display of calligraphy and Chinese paintings. Fortunately there were several artists at work and I could stand and watch them working - one kindly allowed me to take his photo as he created another masterpiece.
I've also been out and about with a fellow Aussie teacher as we have bargained our way through the street stalls for scarves and hats to ward off the winter cold. Plenty of laughs as I bargain verociously in Chinese and Shirl sits back and waits to see what price I can get - she is too soft hearted for the heavy bargaining :)
We plan on getting out and about together over the next week or so before I go away so hopefully I'll have more laughs and photos to share with you.
Bye for now. xx
- comments
Wayne Nice pics keeping warm......lovely inards.........take care bargain well