Life, Down Under. The digital diary of Vera & Alex Olah: 24 May 2015

Gentlefolk,

This post describes our recent visit to Nanjing.

Remember, all dollars are US$.

Trip to Nanjing

Friday 15 May was the University’s annual sports day – no classes to encourage students to participate and watch. So we decided to use the opportunity to visit Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province, 1,450 km by rail south of Qingdao (and less than 2 hours by train from Shanghai).

Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangzte River.

A more detailed map of Jiangsu Province. Shandong (our province) is to the north, while Shanghai is to the south.

Nanjing is steamy in summer and cold in winter, but the weather was lovely when we visited (mid 20s).

Nanjing has tasted greatness: it was China’s capital under the first two Ming Emperors (1368 – 1420) and then again under the Republic of China 1912 - 16; then later 1927-37 and 1945 – 49.

It became the capital of the Taiping rebellion 1850 – 1864. The leader was Hong Xiu Quan who proclaimed himself the “younger brother of Jesus”. His motley crew was able to take over a large part of Southern China before the Qing Emperor’s armies were finally able to defeat him – ironically (because they had just lost the 2nd Opium War) the Chinese had to rely on help from the “Ever Victorious Army” first commanded by American soldier-of-fortune Frederick Townsend Ward (1831 – 62) who died in battle, and then by British officer Charles (‘Chinese’) Gordon (1833 – 1885) who later found fame in the Siege of Khartoum.

Nanjing seemed to have lots of parks. Something that struck us was how green and lush vegetation was here, compared to Qingdao. Lots of beautiful big trees. Many of the streets are lined with old wutong trees – very attractive.

14 May 2015 (Thursday)	Afternoon 12 noon finished teaching my Graduate F2 class. Rushed home, changed. 12.30 pm caught the bus to Qingdao City. 2.30 pm fast train to the new Nanjing South Railway Station; arrived at 8pm (about 1,450 km; stops in Weifang, Zibo, Jinan; Taian; Xuzhou; cost $65 each). Subway to city, then bus to the Jasmine Youth Hostel. The hostel was in a side-street off Shanghai Road. Good location. Cost $27.50 per night for a basic twin room with bathroom.
15 May 2015 (Friday)	Morning Visited the old Presidential Palace. Sun Yat Sen (aka Sun Zhong Shan) had an office there during he short tenure as Provisional President of the Republic of China (1 January - 10 March 1912). Later Chiang Kai Shek (aka Jiang Jie Shi) and the Kuomintang Party used these offices (1927 – 37 and then again 1945 - 1949). Lovely Ming Garden in the grounds. We then visited the Nanjing City Library, across the street from the Presidential Palace. Impressive modern building. If a city’s library is a reflection of its cultural depth, then Nanjing has it all. Afternoon We took the subway to the Memorial Hall of the Nanjing Massacre. If you think the War Memorial in Canberra is impressive, have a look at this stunning museum. Brilliant architecture. It was raining outside, dark & gloomy inside; it sets off perfectly gruesome scenes of killing, rape and looting. Over 300,000 civilians and disarmed soldiers were murdered over a 6 week period after the conquest of Nanjing by Japanese Army in December 1937. When we visited Japan two years ago we found a highly-cultured, super-polite society; yet during WW2 they often exhibited incredible brutality. How to explain this apparent contradiction? Evening We met up with old friend Melanie who is managing the Goethe Institute in Nanjing. Excellent dinner at Bellini’s Italian restaurant.
16 May 2015 (Saturday)	Morning Has a quick look at the campus of Nanjing Normal University (founded in 1922). Beautiful big trees and gardens. Lots of old folk, and children – this is an ‘old style’ campus, but with a lot of character. Bus to the huge Sun Yat Sen Mausoleum located on the slopes of Purple Mountain overlooking Nanjing. We got there early, to beat the crowds – a futile wish - all major attractions in China are always crowded! Bus to Zhong Hua Gate to look at the southern part of Nanjing City Wall. An estimated 200,000 workers spent 20 years constructing this magnificent Wall (1368 – 1388; 12 m high, 7 m wide at the top; originally about 33 km). All that effort meant little when the third Ming Emperor decided to re-locate the capital to Beijing! Afternoon Taiping Museum (Taiping Tianguo = Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace). Tells the story of the Taiping rebellion 1850 – 64. The rebel leader was Hong Xiu Quan who proclaimed himself “younger brother of Jesus”. This whacko took on the Qing Dynasty and conquered a large part of southern China; he made Nanjing the capital of his Heavenly Kingdom. He was finally defeated in 1864. Every city has temples to Confucius – here it is called the Fuzi Miao. Interesting displays. The area surrounding the Fuzi Temple is a lively pedestrian area; old-style architecture, lots of street food, souvenirs, boat rides. Good fun. Evening Dinner at Pisa Pizza. Later met up with Melanie at Brewers Bar (where the Nanjing cricketers meet).
17 May 2015 (Sunday)	Morning Took the subway back to Nanjing South Railway Station. Breakfast at KFC. Our fast train left right on time at 10.38am, and we arrived in Qingdao at 4.02pm. Bus back to Huangdao; we were in our apartment on campus by 5.15pm. So ended our memorable trip to Nanjing.

Here are some photos.

Our carriage in the fast train. Very comfortable. Food trolley and also a dining car - but difficult to find a seat there. The journey of 1,450 km took 5.5 hours. Five stops going down, six on the return. The countryside is fully cultivated - hardly a vacant patch of land the whole way.

Our top speed was 310 km/hour. Amazingly smooth. It cost $65 one way, second class. 90% full.

The new Nanjing South Railway Station. Enormous - everything is built to cater for big numbers.

Lots of beautiful trees in Nanjing, such as these old wutong trees.

Presidential Palace

main entrance to the old Presidential Palace (see notes above).

Sun Yat Sen is widely respected.

This diorama showed Chiang Kai Shek with the three famous Soong sisters - Sun Yat Sen married Soong ching Ling (who later became a Vice President of the PRC) and Chiang married the youngest sister, Soong Mei Ling.

Nanjing Public Library

The impressive Nanjing City Public Library.

One of the public reading areas in the Library.

Sun Yat Sen Mausoleum

400 stairs led up to the Mausoleum. It was already crowded at 9.30am on a Saturday morning.

Inside the Mausoleum, a big statue of Sun Yat Sen. The walls are inscribed with his writings (shades of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC).

Nanjing City Wall

Vera looking at a map of the magnificent Nanjing City Wall. It was originally 33 km, but some parts have been knocked down.

The Wall is 7 meters wide on the top.

Taiping Museum

Main entrance to the Taiping Museum (see text above).

A picture of Hong Xiu Quan, leader of the Taiping rebellion. A whacko, but a genius.

The Taiping rebellion started in the south (Guanxi and Guangdong) and moved up. At their height, the Taiping controlled a large part of southern China.

A more detailed map showing the route of the Taiping armies. The Qing armies finally defeated the Taiping in 1864 after a seven month siege of Nanjing.

American adventurer-extraordinaire Frederick Ward (photographed in 1861) fought with the Qing armies. He was wounded 14 times in various battles and developed a reputation for indestructibility. But his luck finally ran out and he died in the Battle of Cixi in 1862. A real "Indiana Jones" type character.

British officer Charles Gordon took command of the Ever Victorious Army after Ward's death. The Qing Emperor honored him as a "Tidu Captain-General" for his role in defeating the Taiping - here he is shown in ceremonial dress.