Frolics on the Lake

Nanjing, once the sight of a terrible massacre during the Japanese invasion but now a young vibrant city. There are many students and it would appear that people speak more English here than elsewhere (that doesn't mean it's any easier to order food). Our hostel finally has a common room where we met up with some other travellers, some of whom speak mandarin due to the length of their stay. The city has several other claims to fame, it was the capital of China through 6 dynasties and has a purple mountain. However the mountain is more of a hill and as for the colour it was certainly never purple, it's still a pleasant walk because the footpath is for once a real forest trail and not the "civilised" staircase that we've seen in every other natural environment.

Students

We went boating on the peddle boats which was amusing since they are all in need of repair, the peddles squeak around and the rudd can hardly be controlled. We zigzagged across the water with the other travellers and avoided going for a swim in the lake. Of course once we stepped off the boat the rain came down in sheets for around 6 hours so it made no difference. Museum weather but the museum doesn't have much to offer other than more pieces of jade and porcelain which are found in every museum. The most interesting part was a weaving loom which requires two operators, one whom sits on top and pleats together bunches of twine, the other below who is handling the silk.

Stakes

It's glitzy by night, flashing lights singing in the street, loud music from shops and with some random "sexy" shows. The show we negotiated entry into was quite risque for the Chinese, but we found it rather boring since the girls can barely dance and certainly don't smile. Appart from this bad dancing there were some quite amusing comics who leap around the stage wearing all sorts of strange clothing and hairdos (someone pointed out it was a bit camp like benny hill).

We discovered in this town how come the population is still growing so fast even though Chinese families are supposed to have only 1 child. It would seem that the second child can be bought for the modic sum of 6000 RMB (600 euros), this being a small amount compared to what a second child could earn for the family. Only the most modest families cannot afford this now and the government are thinking of increasing the cost. None too late since there are too many people, there's not an awful lot of intimacy. You see people squatting in the toilets since there are no doors, people shout and slam doors at anytime of day or night, etc... Obviously people living here all their lives are used to it but for us it's quite oppresive (well at tourist sites).

Dumb Guard

Chateau au Sud

Eastern Wall

Si with Caroline

What no Steering

Nightime Glamour