Although Nanjing is the most populous City in Jiangsu Province, it is still less dense than Shanghai. As Nanjing is situated in a valley, it has extreme climate which is characterized by high temperatures of over 40 Deg Celsius in summer and up to negative 10 Deg Celsius in winter. When temperatures are above 40 Deg Celsius, the people will not need to report to work or school.
Nanjing is also a military base where the military offices are located. The standing guards outside some of the military buildings will also act as enforcement officers during the time they are not standing guard. They will patrol the Nanjing city to check on the behaviour of other military officers.
There are also many sports schools in Nanjing. Many of the renowned athletes are trained in Nanjing.
Mei Ling Palace
Song Mei Ling (宋美龄) is the youngest of the Soong Sisters and is also the wife of Chiang Kai Sek – the first President of Taiwan. The Soong family was one of the wealthiest families in China. The three sisters had the privilege of receiving their education in the States. Thus, Song Mei Ling was much influenced by the western culture and lifestyle. On the other hand, Chiang Kai Sek was brought up in a traditional Chinese family.
Mei Ling Palace is the residence of Song Mei Ling and Chiang Kai Sek while Chiang Kai Sek was the president of China, succeeding after Sun Yat Sen. It is about 3.5-storey high situated in lush greenery on a hill top. It hash Chinese architecture on the exterior, with phoenix carvings in the balcony and pointed roof. Its interior decoration reflects the influence of Western culture with even a room for praying as both of them are Christians.
Square City
Square City is so named because it is square where the memorial template of Zhu Yuan Zhang (朱元璋), first emperor of Ming Dynasty, was erected.
The memorial template is a heavy slab of stone documenting the laureates of Zhu Yuan Zhang by his grandson. The memorial template was placed on top of the third son of the Dragon King - Bi4 Xi1. Bi Xi has a dragon head and a turtle’s body because he is known to carry very heavy things. Hence, the memorial templates or tombs of many emperors are placed on Bi Xi.
The English engravings on the side of the stone slab are clues of China being invaded by the other countries previously, which resulted in the giving up of Hong Kong and Macau previously.
Opposite of Square City is the Da Hong Gate (Da4 Hong2 Men2). It used to be part of the City Wall as well. To prevent cheating on the materials used, the workers who constructed each slab of brick had to engrave their names on the bricks to identify them as the makers. In the event that the bricks were found to be dysfunctional, they could then be traced to the maker. Part of the wall has also been destroyed by the various wars.
(The engravings of the brick layer's name on the brick)
Confucius Temple
As Nanjing used to be the Capitol in olden times, official exams for the selection of scholars were held in Nanjing. Before entering the exams halls, they would visit the nearby Confucius Temple (夫子庙) and pray for good results.
Now, the streets outside Confucius Temple are bustling with activities. There are rows of shops in shophouses. Behind the shop houses is a huge night bazaar which sells low-price T-shirts, bags, shoes and CDs.
This is indeed a shopping heaven.
Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge
Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge is the pride of many Chinese. It was originally meant to be designed and built by the Russians. However, the Russians decided to pull out of the project mid-way and took away all the blueprints. The Chinese had to take over the design, source for suitable materials and construct the bridge themselves.
It can be summarized with digit 1 to 10.
1 – It is the first bridge across Yangtze River.
2 – It has is double decker – the upper level is for the vehicles and the lower level is for the train.
3 – There are 3 flags on top of the bridge towers which is one of the remaining clues of the Cultural revolution which summarized Mao Ze Dong’s Great Leap Forward vision for China.
4 & 5 – The vehicle lane of the bridge is 4.5 miles long.
6 & 7 – The train lane of the bridge is 6.7 miles long.
8 – The bridge tower is 80 meters long.
9 – It has 9 piers in the river supporting the bridge.
10 – It takes 10 years to complete the construction.
Bi Feng Tang
Bi Feng Tang is a renowned eatery from Hong Kong for Chinese cuisine. I have visited 2 Bi Feng Tang restaurants while I was in China – Nanjing and Shanghai. Personally, I prefer the Shanghai outlet as the food is more similar to what we normally see in Crystal Jade. Nanjing outlet offers more unique dishes which we do not see in Singapore.
(Pan-fried Dumpling with Tofu fillings and Jiu3 Cai4 Pancakes )
(Siew Mai – the siew mais are filled with glutinous rice instead of meat. )
(Har Kow have very fresh prawns as fillings. )
Reflective Art
The pictures that you have seen below are created by drawing into little glass spheres. The area that contains the painting is very small. The minuscule picture is enlarged from the double layer of glass. In order to ensure that the picture show the right way up, the picture has to be painted in a mirror image.
The greatest piece is the Along the River During Qing Ming Festival (Qing1 Ming2 Shang2 He2 Tu2; 清明上河图). The original piece is found in the National Palace Museum.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:QingMingShangHeTu_Big.jpg
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