First glimpse of Nanjing rail station. PEOPLE
As the slope headed down, the sight of hundreds and hundreds of people bustling like ants through the terminal was insane. "OH shit" was the only thought as my camera clicked away.
Nanjing: Quieter. Toned down. But alas disturbed as people wailed their car horns. People are the same everywhere.
When you leave the train station, Xuan Wu Lake glistens in front o you. The southern autumn air is cooling, warm compared to the North which gets colder and colder.
Autumn was visible as we began our trip at Sun Yat Sen's Mausoleum. It was so serene. Up until waves of tourists.
Sun Yat Sen's (Founder of the Chinese republic/Communist Party) eternal shrine is dawned in blue and white. A huge contrast to the orange colored roof tops
There's 392 steps (392 represents 392 million, the Chinese population at the time) to reach the top and see his tomb.
(Peiyi, Li Laoshi 'Bryan', Keegan and Nancy)
A climb of 392 steps later I nearly forgot that I was still in a tourist trap. No matter where I got, you can't escape it. When I entered the actual mausoleum and squeezed into see his grave, a wave of absolute emptiness filled my head. I felt slightly spooked starting down at a white marble tomb and deeply pondering. I think Sun Yat Sen is trolling in his grave by the site of modern China. Being the founder of Modern China/CCP, unfortunately it probably didn't go the way he imagined. Keegan felt the same. I'm glad to know I'm not alone.
Perhaps I'm a harsh realist or my view point is so charged with cynicism. Two little girls went up to my Western buddies to practice their English. Apparently their father brings them here to practice English every weekend. Pointless in my opinion. Tourists aren't teachers. Sure your kids are immersing (for 10 min) impressing western tourists with their superb English skills, but it felt exploitaitive (even though you nor doing it for the money) The situation rubbed me the wrong way. Some people complimented their English, some found it adorable. Positive reinforcement. Sure! Why can't I be optimistic? Maybe I believe that children should experience this in a more appropriate place like a school or hey maybe you could save a little $ for a tutor than letting 2 girls trek out to the mausoleum every weekend. Let them learn naturally at school.
Heading out of the Mausoleum, we had to take a little trolley down. At the bottom of the hill awaited a large crowd of old people who pounced onto the trolley just as it parked. They wanted to flood that trolley and no one got off it yet. Keegan waited a split second but then he got attacked by a grandma mosh pit.
Reaching the afternoon, we went to this pagoda, and thanks to our tour guide. We only had 20 minutes to run up to the top if we wanted. Somehow I didn't kill myself and manage to catch the sun set.
