Nanjing (part 1)

Day Three

Since it was rather early after gotten the train ticket, therefore decided to walk to shopping malls opposite the train station to have breakfast.

Mr. Lee (李先生)

Saw the food inside a fast-food like restaurant Mr. Lee (李先生) rather appealing (left photo below). Ordered a bowl of California beef noodles at RMB 14 and a cup of coke at RMB 5 (right photo below). The noodles and soup tasted average, and the beef cubes were rather tough.



Noticed that every waiter/waitress was carrying a hand-phone like gadget when taking orders, which I felt was rather high-tec to see this in China; although back here in Singapore Mac had already using PDA to take orders.

Shanghai-Nanjing Train (上海-南京火车)

Managed to get train ticket D414 to Nanjing departing at 0945 hrs from Shanghai train station (left photo below). Shanghai train station was very crowded even though it was a Thursday morning. The train service 'Hexie' (和谐号) was a non-stop express train which took 2 hours to reach Nanjing (right photo below).



Though rather pricey at RMB 93, the train was clean and efficient (photos below) that can reach a maximum speed of 251-km per hour. Rest rooms are available in every even-numbered train cabins.



Overheard from one of the passengers that most train tickets on Saturday were sold out. Therefore upon arrival at Nanjing Train station, went straight to the ticket counter to purchase my return ticket to Shanghai.

Personal Experience: Try to be "Kiasu" and secured the tickets as early as possible because tickets could be sold out easily even though it is a weekday.

Nanjing Taxis

Cabs or Taxis in mainland China are literally called 'Car for Rental' (出租车). One observation was Taxi drivers are 'protected' from passengers, similar to those in USA except Nanjing taxis are isolated by a thick plastic sheet instead of metal gauze (left photo below). Taxis in Nanjing are metered, and a detailed receipt can be obtained from driver (right photo below). The meter starts from RMB 9 (for first 3 kilometers) and thereafter the fare increases at about RMB 2.40 for every kilometer traveled.



The taxi stand is located at the basement of Nanjing Train station; after tickets are checked, just need to walk straight to the end and then turn right for about 40 meters. The taxi fare from Train station to Haichung hotel costs RMB 27.

Haichung hotel (南京海川宾馆)

Initially wanted to go to Nanjing Egret Hotel, but since didn't make any pre-booking or payment, the taxi driver recommended another cheaper hotel opposite the road: Haichung hotel at Fuzi temple area (left photo below). The room looked satisfactory after my initial inspection. After some bargain with the hotel stuff at the counter, I managed to get a room for RMB 120 per night. Paid an additional RMB 80 for deposit.

One fascinating piece of equipment inside this room was this water-dispenser (right photo below), which is rarely found in most hotels. However was soon disappointed with the room as the water from the shower head wasn't heated and there was constantly ringing of house-keeping phone outside my room. Therefore decided to change the hotel the next morning and luckily able to take back my initial deposit.



History of Nanjing

To better appreciate the place visited, it is important to understand its history first. Nanjing is an age-old city that was civilized some 6,000 years ago by farmers. It also served as China's capital throughout ten dynasties. Nanjing (南京) has been called by many names – historical records list more than forty names, including Jinling (金陵), Moling (秣陵), Jianye (建邺), Jiankang (建康), Yingtian (应天), Jiangning (江宁) and Tianjing (天京).

Click below to see the brief descriptions:

 •  Brief Descriptions of Nanjing History

According to the legend, Fu Chai, the Lord of the State of Wu, founded the first city, Yecheng (冶城) in today's Nanjing area in 495 BC. Later in 473 BC, the State of Yue conquered Wu and constructed the city of Yuecheng (越城) on the outskirts of the present-day Zhonghua Gate. In 333 BC, after eliminating the State of Yue, the State of Chu built Jinling Yi (金陵邑) in the northwestern part of present-day Nanjing.



Sun Quan of Wu Kingdom (one of the Three Kingdoms) renamed Moling (秣陵) to Jianye (建邺) and established Jianye as its capital. This is where 'Nanjing' was vaulted from an ordinary county to a state capital. After that, another four states (Song, Qi, Liang and Chen) in Southeast China successively moved their capitals to 'Nanjing', which was at the time called Jiankang (建康). Around 320 AD, 'Nanjing' was made capital of six dynasties. During Tang (618-907) dynasty, the Tang Court became worried about separatist regimes and downgraded 'Nanjing', then called Jinling (金陵), into a prefecture or county.



Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) ascended the throne in 1368. He changed Yingtian Fu (应天府) to Nanjing (南京) and declared it to be the country's capital. This is when the name of Nanjing first appears in Chinese History. Though the capital has since moved to Beijing (the move was directed by the third emperor) Nanjing was also maintained as a capital city and used as the blueprint for the design of Beijing's Forbidden City. During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the Nanjing area was known as Jiangning (江宁). Nanjing was the capital of the Taiping Kingdom in the mid-19th century, being renamed as Tianjing (天京). Both the Viceroy and the Taiping king resided in buildings that would later be known as the Presidential Palace.



After the Qing Regime was overthrown, Nanjing became the capital of the Republic of China led by Sun Yat-Sen and Chiang Kai-Shek. The Nanjing Massacre, which took place in 1937, has left a lasting scar on the city. A Japanese-collaborationist government known as the "Nanjing Regime" or "Nanjing Nationalist Government" led by traitor Wang Jingwei was established in Nanjing as a rival to Chiang Kai-Shek's government in Chongqing. After World War II, the KMT relocated its central government back to Nanjing, until it was conquered by People Liberation Army in 1949.

Zhonghua Gate (中华门)

It took me 10 -15 mins walk from Fuzi temple area to this gate. There is no Metro station that is located near the Gate; it can be reached either from Sanshanjie Station (三山街站) or Zhonghua Gate Station (中华门站) with 5 - 10 mins walk.



Zhonghua Gate is the southern gate of old Nanjing city and the most complex structure in the world. The city wall of Nanjing was built from 1360 to 1386 under the instruction of first Emperor of Ming Dynasty Zhu Yuanzhang. The city wall was 33.676-km long, 14 to 21-meters high and 14.5-meters thick at its base, and 4.9-meters thick at the top (photos below). Thirteen gates were then built into the city wall, and the enclosed area was the largest of any walled city in China.



This southern gate was previously known as Jubao or 'Treasures Gathering' Gate (聚宝门) during Ming and Qing Dynasty until Nationalist Government established its capital in Nanjing. To break feudal superstitions, the government changed its name to present 'Zhonghua' Gate and the three Chinese characters 'Zhonghua men' (中华门) above the gate was personally inscribed by Chang Kai-shek.

With a regular layout in a unique structure, Zhonghua Gate is composed of three concave cities (left photo below) and four auxiliary gates (right photo below). Each auxiliary gate has a 500-kilograms stone sluice (千金闸) which can be lifted, as well as its two wooden side gates. In ancient times, enemy troops would be trapped and annihilated after having stormed into the concave city through the city gate as the 500-kilograms of stone sluice would drop down swiftly, just like the Chinese saying "soft-shelled turtles caught in the ceramic jar" (瓮中捉鳖).



One interesting observation was all bricks were engraved with names of relevant officials and households responsible for the making so that it can traceable during the inspection (left photo below). The entire concave city has 27 city-caves capable of holding 3,000 soldiers and 100,000 kilograms of grain during war-time (right photo below).



Admission was RMB 20 (photo below) and opening hours from 0800 to 2100 hrs.


Nanjing Metro (南京地铁)

Nanjing Metro is comparable to that of Singapore MRT (left photo below). There are two languages (Mandarin and English) of announcements made at every stop. Currently only Line 1 is operating, while Line 2 will only be completed by 2009 (right photo below). Fare is cheap where it ranges from RMB 2 (for trips under 8 stations) to RMB 4 (for more than 8 stations).



Zhan Garden (瞻园)

Took about 5 to 10-mins from Zhonghua Gate to reach Zhan Garden (No. 128 Zhan Yuan Road) by walking along Zhonghua Road (中华路) and turned right once reached Zhanyuan Road (瞻园路).



Zhan Garden, literally "Garden of Forward Watching" in English, is a Chinese garden located beside Fuzi Temple (left photo below). This 600-years old Zhan Yuan was built during Yuan Dynasty. It was then the house of King Wu during the last few years of Yuan Dynasty. In early Ming Dynasty, Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang gave the garden to the great general Xu Da as a reward, so it was then called 'XuFu' (Xu Residence). Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty wrote the two characters 'Zhan Yuan' personally, which can be seen on the horizontal inscribed board at the main gate (right photo below). In 1853, it became the residence of Yang Xiuqing, a military leader in Taiping Rebellion.


Suzhou style garden

Comparing to other gardens in South China, Zhan Garden is considered relatively small. The whole area of the garden is only 8 mu (about 53.6 meters square). Despite its small size, every corner would resemble those of a Chinese painting (photos below).





It is not surprise that Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty loved this garden so much that when he went back to Beijing, he even asked his officials to build a similar garden called Ru Garden which looked just like Zhan Garden so that he could enjoy the South China garden whenever he wanted.

Taiping Revolution Museum (太平天国历史博物馆)

Taiping Revolution Museum was setup in 1958 in one of its buildings (left photo below) as the garden used to be the residence of military leader, Yang Xiuqing (right photo below), during Taiping Rebellion.
The Taiping Rebellion was a large-scale revolt against the authority and forces of the Qing Government in China. It was conducted from 1850 to 1864 by an army and civil administration led by heterodox Christian convert Hong Xiuquan. He established the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (太平天国), namely Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace with capital at Nanjing and gained control of significant parts of southern China (area highlighted in pink on map of China in left photo below). At its height of ruling, over about 30 million people are under Taiping's rule. Artifacts from Taiping period could be seen in this museum (right photo below).

Special Exhibition

Chinese Seal exhibition by the ex-Chinese Vice Premier Li Lanqing (李岚清) was on special exhibition during my visit (left photo below), where all the seals displayed were carved by him (right photo below). Interesting to see these seals and know that his interests became a hobby after his retirement.

Admission fee to the Zhan Yuan, including the Taiping Revolution museum, was RMB 15 (photo below) and opening hours from 0800 to 1700 hrs.


Jiangnan Imperial Examination School (江南贡院)

Jiangnan Imperial Examination school is located in Qinghuai Area and was just 5-mins walk from Fuzi temple. If walk along the Gongyuan street (贡院街), one could easily spot the Entrance Gate named with the four Chinese characters 'Jiangnan Gongyuan' (江南贡院).



The Jiangnan Imperial Examination School was first founded in 1168 AD (during Southern Song Dynasty) and was the place for county test and prefecture examination. When Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, made Nanjing as the capital of Ming Dynasty, it became main place of provincial and palace examination. During the period of Qing Dynasty, one hundred and twelve imperial examinations were held. Many eminent writers and painters in the Ming and Qing Dynasties were candidates of the Jiangnan Examination School.

The Archway with inscription "江南贡院" can be spotted easily along Gongyuan street (left photo below). The main entrance is a tower with the same inscription "江南贡院" (right photo below).



Rebuilt on the ruins of the original Jiangnan Examination School, it had become an unique humanity display in Qinhuai sights (left photo below). The Imperial Examination during the feudal society is a system to select government officials, which first began in the Sui Dynasty and ended in the last years of the Qing Dynasty. This system had a certain influence on the establishment of the civil examination system in the West. The examinations usually lasted 1 to 3 days and were conducted in isolated cubicles (right photo below).



These small cubicles featured two boards which could be placed together to form a bed, or placed on different levels to serve as a desk and chair (photos below). Visitors now could also experience of being a candidate inside these cubicles.



The chart below illustrated the different levels of examinations during the Qing Dynasty (photo below). This examination school (贡院) was where the governement selects the Gongshi (贡士), before the final examination (殿试) to be held in the imperial palace.


Sculptures of these graduates could be seen outside the Examination school, such as Wu Cheng'en (吳承恩) (left photo below) and Lin Zexu (林则徐) (right photo below). Among other famous graduates include Tang Bohu (唐伯虎), Wen Tianxiang (文天祥) and Li Hongzhang (李鴻章).



Admission to this Imperial Examination School was RMB 20 (photo below).


Fuzi (Confucius) Temple (夫子庙)

Fuzi temple is located in Qin Huai (秦淮) area and was just 5 to 8-mins walk from Zhanyuan (瞻园).



Fuzi Temple is the place for worshipping and offering sacrifice to Confucius, a famous thinker and educator in ancient China. This temples was built in 1034 and is also called Temple of Culture, as 'Wenmiao' (文庙) in Chinese, or Confucius Temple, as 'Kongmiao' (孔庙). Since then, it had been destroyed and rebuilt for five times. Its last time was destroyed by the Japanese during their invasion in 1937 and was rebuilt during the 1980s (photos below).



Highlights featured in temple include:

• Largest full length portrait of Confucius in China, of 6.5-meters high and 3.13-meters wide (left photo below).
  
• 38 murals inlaid with genuine colored jade, depicting the 'Sacred journey of Confucius'. These murals are the most valuable treasure of this temple (middle photo below).
  
• Highest bronze statue of Confucius in China, with a height of 4.18-meters and weighing 2.37-tonnes (right photo below).

The Mingde Hall (明德堂) of the Fuzi temple has now become the display of ancient musical instrument where a performance would be held every hour. Here's the clip I had captured during the performance, playing the famous tune '茉莉花' (video below).

Other tunes could be requested with some monetary token. This demonstrated the flexibility and wide range of musical notes and tones this ancient instrument could play.

Admission to Fuzi Temple was RMB 30 (photo below).


Nanjing Street Arts

Several traditional folk artworks of Nanjing are featured at the Zunjing Pavilion (尊经阁) of Fuzi Temple (left photo below). Saw an amazing candy art performed by an artist outside this pavilion (right photo below). The candy can be eaten and different designs could be requested at RMB 5 each.



Here're two clips captured from my camera to illustrate this incredible folk art (videos below).

Nanjing Local Snack (南京小吃)

Many stores along Fuzi temple sell Nanjing famous snack: Duck-Blood Vermicelli soup (鸭血粉丝汤). Went to one of the eateries, near the Jiangnan Imperial Examination school, to try out (left photo below). The Duck-Blood Vermicelli soup was delicious and good for a cheap price at RMB 6 (right photo below).



Food Souvenirs

Simply liked the taste of Duck-Blood Vermicelli soup, I even bought an instant noodle version for my supper (left photo below). Of course the instant noodle version can't compare to the authentic version. Other snacks such as smelly tofu and braised bean curd could also be found at the streets along Fuzi temple.

Another Nanjing famous dish is Salted duck (盐水鸭). Many shops in Nanjing are selling salted duck and the vacuum-packed version definitely makes it easier during traveling. I've bought some dried bean curd for about RMB 6, portion of salted duck at about RMB 10 and a vacuum-packed duck liver for about RMB 11 along the shopping streets of Fuzi temple (right photo below).



Qinhuai River scenery (秦淮河畔)

Scholars during Ming and Qing dynasties used to travel to Qinhuai area for imperial examinations, which eventually developed the economy of this place, making it an entertainment area for food, music and poetry. Throughout the history, writers, poets, militarists and politicians had great contributions to the Qinhuai area. During the Japanese occupation, Qinhuai area was destroyed. In order to restore this old city back to its former glory, the Nanjing government rebuilt the Confucius Temple and Qinhuai area, including restoring the building according to Ming and Qing architectures (photos below).





Now, the Qinhuai River and the Nanjing Confucius Temple area has been a well-known tourist place with many shops along its streets (photos below).



Walking along Qinhuai area at night is definitely an unforgettable experience with its beautiful sceneries (photos below).





There was this modern fast-food restaurant McDonald's that blends into the Ming and Qing architectures (left photo below) and even a 'Pepsi Sports' shop selling sports apparels (right photo below). This made me wondered if there is a 'Coca-cola' sports shop in other parts of China? At the end of the shopping street, cheap DVDs could be found selling from RMB 10 per series.