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Well we are officially on holidays and it is getting exceeding quiet around the campus grounds as everyone heads home for the Chinese New Year. However in the city it is another matter.....complete bedlam would be an understatement.......people and cars everywhere, much pushing and shoving, temper tantrums a 2 year old would be proud of and don't even think about going shopping!!
My fellow Aussie teacher and I decided we would avoid the chaos of the city centre and set off exploring some of the less frequented spots this week which to our delight was relatively easy. Managed to get to several new places without getting lost once!! At least my Chinese studies have come in useful as I can now make sense of most of the street signs and therefore have a good idea of where I'm headed. So what have we seen over the past week.......
Started off with a visit to Jiming Temple. This unassuming temple, tucked away just inside the City Walls along the southern wall of Xuanwu Lake, is one of the nicest attractions in Nanjing. A colorful cluster of buildings built on a hill with a 7-storey pagoda as its centerpiece, the Jiming Temple dates way back to 300AD (Eastern Jin Dynasty). During the Three Kingdoms Period, this site was an official garden belonging to the Wu State. This original temple was destroyed and renovated many times until 1387, the 20th year of the Ming Emperor Hong Wu, when the present Jiming Temple was constructed. Its history from that time is one of continuous name changes, destruction and rebuilding. Inside the temple are Guanyin Building, Huomeng Building, Jingyang Building, Rouge Well, etc. Legend has it that when the emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty and his concubine hid themselves in the well in order to escape the enemy pursuit, the stains of rouge were left on the well: hence the name of Rough Well. Behind the temple there remains a section of palace wall called Taicheng which we returned to for a visit later in the week.
Xuanwu Lake Park
Xuanwu Lake lies outside the northeast city wall and is an enormous urban lake, dotted with causeways and islands. The lake is surrounded by tree-lined avenues and there are five islets on Lake Xuanwu: Isle Huanzhou , Islet Yingzhou, Islet Liangzhou, Islet Cuizhou and Islet Lingzhou. The islets are covered by flowers, grass and trees, and connected by dykes and cute little bridges. The lake was originally an imperial resort and then used to train naval soldiers during the Jin Dynasty. We seemed to walk forever but there was so much to see and at every turn something else caught our eye. At this time of year it is very relaxing and a great way to get a sense of Nanjing's easy going charm minus the crowds. We enjoyed an impromtu performance by a couple of local singers and joined in with the dancing and tai chi. Departing at dusk we realised that we had spent several hours without the sound of traffic in our ears!
Nanjing City Wall, constructed during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties between 1365 and 1386, originally stretched over 30km which made it the longest city wall in the world. Now, with about two thirds of the wall still intact it still remains the longest city wall in China. They were built under Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and drew on the foundations of old Tang Dynasty walls in the south and west while the eastern and northern sections were newly built. The walls travel an irregular path (unlike the square walls of Beijing or Xian), designed to take advantage of natural phenomena and the pre-existing walls. Composed entirely of brick, the walls averaged 14m in height, 14m in width at the base and 5m in width at the top. The part of the city wall we walked along is called Taicheng and includes a small museum with a model showing the complete city wall in relation to old Nanjing. Walking along grass and stone top of the connected portion of the wall we were afforded great views of Xuanwu Lake, Jiming Temple, downtown Nanjing and Nanjing's Jiuhua Shan (JiǔhuÃáshān, 九华山), topped by Sanzang Pagoda (Sānzà ng Tǎ, 三藏塔). Despite it being winter the views were delightful and without being jostled by crowds more than makes up for any loss of sunshine! It was a bit brisk at times especially when the wind came up but it just made us walk a little quicker to warm up!
Also walked through "Lovers Garden" which is near Xuanwu Lake. Why it is called this I have no idea as there is play equipment for children and not a lover in sight! Still it was quite a nice little spot and we did see cupid.....
With all this exercise we obviously had to eat and boy have we had a week of international dining....Italian, European, Buddhist Vegetarian, Australian and of course Chinese foods were all on our menu. Shirl and I have really spoilt ourselves this week with the wining and dining....kind of figured we were sick of campus foods and we were on holidays plus we both had our birthdays in late December which we hadn't celebrated!!
To top the week off we also managed a bit of pampering - hair, nails and massages - in time for us to head off on our respective holidays. I am now in the process of packing my bags and looking forward to getting into warmer weather....next blog.....Bangkok!!!!
Bye for now. xxx
My fellow Aussie teacher and I decided we would avoid the chaos of the city centre and set off exploring some of the less frequented spots this week which to our delight was relatively easy. Managed to get to several new places without getting lost once!! At least my Chinese studies have come in useful as I can now make sense of most of the street signs and therefore have a good idea of where I'm headed. So what have we seen over the past week.......
Started off with a visit to Jiming Temple. This unassuming temple, tucked away just inside the City Walls along the southern wall of Xuanwu Lake, is one of the nicest attractions in Nanjing. A colorful cluster of buildings built on a hill with a 7-storey pagoda as its centerpiece, the Jiming Temple dates way back to 300AD (Eastern Jin Dynasty). During the Three Kingdoms Period, this site was an official garden belonging to the Wu State. This original temple was destroyed and renovated many times until 1387, the 20th year of the Ming Emperor Hong Wu, when the present Jiming Temple was constructed. Its history from that time is one of continuous name changes, destruction and rebuilding. Inside the temple are Guanyin Building, Huomeng Building, Jingyang Building, Rouge Well, etc. Legend has it that when the emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty and his concubine hid themselves in the well in order to escape the enemy pursuit, the stains of rouge were left on the well: hence the name of Rough Well. Behind the temple there remains a section of palace wall called Taicheng which we returned to for a visit later in the week.
Xuanwu Lake Park
Xuanwu Lake lies outside the northeast city wall and is an enormous urban lake, dotted with causeways and islands. The lake is surrounded by tree-lined avenues and there are five islets on Lake Xuanwu: Isle Huanzhou , Islet Yingzhou, Islet Liangzhou, Islet Cuizhou and Islet Lingzhou. The islets are covered by flowers, grass and trees, and connected by dykes and cute little bridges. The lake was originally an imperial resort and then used to train naval soldiers during the Jin Dynasty. We seemed to walk forever but there was so much to see and at every turn something else caught our eye. At this time of year it is very relaxing and a great way to get a sense of Nanjing's easy going charm minus the crowds. We enjoyed an impromtu performance by a couple of local singers and joined in with the dancing and tai chi. Departing at dusk we realised that we had spent several hours without the sound of traffic in our ears!
Nanjing City Wall, constructed during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties between 1365 and 1386, originally stretched over 30km which made it the longest city wall in the world. Now, with about two thirds of the wall still intact it still remains the longest city wall in China. They were built under Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and drew on the foundations of old Tang Dynasty walls in the south and west while the eastern and northern sections were newly built. The walls travel an irregular path (unlike the square walls of Beijing or Xian), designed to take advantage of natural phenomena and the pre-existing walls. Composed entirely of brick, the walls averaged 14m in height, 14m in width at the base and 5m in width at the top. The part of the city wall we walked along is called Taicheng and includes a small museum with a model showing the complete city wall in relation to old Nanjing. Walking along grass and stone top of the connected portion of the wall we were afforded great views of Xuanwu Lake, Jiming Temple, downtown Nanjing and Nanjing's Jiuhua Shan (JiǔhuÃáshān, 九华山), topped by Sanzang Pagoda (Sānzà ng Tǎ, 三藏塔). Despite it being winter the views were delightful and without being jostled by crowds more than makes up for any loss of sunshine! It was a bit brisk at times especially when the wind came up but it just made us walk a little quicker to warm up!
Also walked through "Lovers Garden" which is near Xuanwu Lake. Why it is called this I have no idea as there is play equipment for children and not a lover in sight! Still it was quite a nice little spot and we did see cupid.....
With all this exercise we obviously had to eat and boy have we had a week of international dining....Italian, European, Buddhist Vegetarian, Australian and of course Chinese foods were all on our menu. Shirl and I have really spoilt ourselves this week with the wining and dining....kind of figured we were sick of campus foods and we were on holidays plus we both had our birthdays in late December which we hadn't celebrated!!
To top the week off we also managed a bit of pampering - hair, nails and massages - in time for us to head off on our respective holidays. I am now in the process of packing my bags and looking forward to getting into warmer weather....next blog.....Bangkok!!!!
Bye for now. xxx
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