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Ní hăo!
Our train to Nanchang went simply enough. We found our waiting room and seats easily, and we had barely been on the train for 10 minutes before we were approached by a Chinese guy who wanted to take a photo with Lucie. She is much more popular with the Chinese than me (something I am not jealous of at all, as it means I get less unwanted attention) and we think this is because of her very large blue eyes. Also, the fact that the little boy sat across the aisle from us was sitting watching Frozen just made me smile.
Once we were in Nanchang we had a little difficulty getting a taxi (mentioned in my travelling blog) but we eventually got to our hotel and checked in. This was my favourite hotel of the week. We had bunk beds and although it was a small room, it was exactly what we needed for just crashing in at the end of the days. It was clean and there was an ensuite, so for the price it was brilliant!
(Note for future volunteers: here is the link for this hotel - definitely recommended! http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Hi-Inn-Bayi-Square/Nanchang/52486 )
As it was just the afternoon, we decided to go for a walk and so some exploring of the surrounding area. We walked along the main road, Bayi Dadao, that our hotel was just off of, and we were delighted to spot a Walmart and an Imax cinema. We didn't cross the road to it just yet, as we had read that there was a Pizza Hut in the area and we were determined to find it as we hadn't had pizza since we had arrived at our project! We did finally find it and had what was probably one of my favourite meals of the week. Expensive (still cheaper than in the UK), but so worth it. After Pizza Hut we felt incredibly full as you never eat that many carbs in one sitting in China - if you go out for a meal, out of every 7 or 8 dishes, maybe only one or two of them will have any carbohydrates, it's mostly just meat and vegetables. Feeling so full we decided to just head back to the hotel and 'chill out' for the afternoon - I actually managed to fall asleep for an hour. Oops!
In the evening we headed back to the Walmart and cinema. We were hoping that Guardians of the Galaxy might be showing, but unfortunately it does not come out in China until October 10th - so we have decided we are going back to Nanchang to see it for Lucie's birthday :D
The Walmart was huge and we spent a good bit of time in there, searching for anything from home. And we did - we found McVities milk chocolate digestives! After finding some food we headed back to the hotel and spent the evening watching Game of Thrones and just relaxing - after all, it is a holiday!
On the Tuesday, we had a bit of a lie in, and then sat and looked up some possible ideas for things we could visit whilst we were here. Yes I know we should have done this before, but we hadn't really had time. We eventually found this place called Tengwang Pavilion online, so after using google maps and saving some pictures onto Lucie's phone to show taxi drivers as we attempted to tell them where we wanted to go, we headed out. I'm getting used to the number of taxis who turn us down, so we waited patiently until we finally got a taxi driver to understand us.
Tengwang Pavilion was just stunning. I absolutely loved it. It is definitely one of the favourite sites that I have visited since I have been in China. I also loved the contrast - the old style, multi-coloured buildings of the Pavilion, with a backdrop of grey skyscrapers. The juxtaposition of these two really made the colours of the buildings in the Pavilion stand out and seem even brighter. There is no way that any of the pictures that I took do it any justice, but you can have a look at them here.
We spent a good 4 hours at the Pavilion and in the surrounding area, getting ourselves a little lost in the back streets of Nanchang. But finding ourselves back on a main road we hailed yet another taxi and made our way back.
Back at the hostel I had a bit of a freak out when we couldn't find my passport anywhere. After checking with both the reception desks if one had been handed in - it handed, we went back up to the room to check through all my stuff again before we contacted Mike. I'm glad to say we found it in one of the inside pockets of my suitcase, hidden behind some toiletries. Panic over.
I am really looking forward to returning to Nanchang. I really like the city and its atmosphere.
In my final blog of our October Holidays I will tell you of our time in Shangqing Ancient Village and our exploration of Longhu Mountain.
Until next time,
Zàijiàn x
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