The Southern Capital: Nanjing
With such a long history, China is a country that has experienced many extremes: long periods of peace interrupted by brutal civil wars or foreign invasion, enlightened or megalomaniac rulers, national unity or regional independence. China is a nation were people from different regions cannot understand each other’s spoken word, but everyone uses and understands the same writing system.
With that background, Nanjing was an interesting city to visit. Historically, it had been the capital of China three different times, and had been a center of trade and culture throughout it’s history.
The Trip from Shanghai to Nanjing
One the best introductions to China beyond Shanghai was the train trip to Nanjing. Riding on a brand new train and sitting in a window seat, I saw factories, massive apartment buildings under construction, small mining towns, average Chinese taking a break from their work or biking on a small rural road, and hundreds of farm fields, some with workers in traditional Chinese hats (the kind that look like big, wide ice cream cones flipped over on their heads). What struck me was that China is very much a mixture of past and present, like every country I’ve visited. But even more, China is much further ahead than I thought.
Often described as a “developing country”, the China I’ve seen seems ready to take on the term “developed country”. The main thing standing in it’s way is its massive size, and the fact that their per capita GDP (the average annual salary of a Chinese citizen) is less than $5,000 per year. There is no doubt in my mind, though, that China is further ahead than many other developing countries, including India. It has been attempting to modernize for almost 100 years now, and even though there were periods of serious regression (going backwards), they are clearly going full speed ahead.
Nanjing
Built along the Yangtze River, there were many bridges over waterways in the city. As usual, the city developed here because of the access to fresh water.
Nanjing was an interesting city with a lot to see. One of my favorite attractions was Fuzi Temple (or the Temple of Confucius). Although he was a philosopher, and never claimed to be divine, Confucius has been worshiped in China for centuries. His teachings were the basis of Chinese government and have become ingrained not only in Chinese culture, but most East Asian cultures. The temple itself is a good example of traditional Chinese architecture. Known as a pagoda, the curved ceiling is one of the most recognizable features around the world.
Overall, I spent 3 days in Nanjing, and spent most of my time visiting historical sites and museums. But I won’t overwhelm you with those stories. There are better stories to be told about my next city: Xian.
