We flew from Xi'an to Nanjing the day after with one of China's domestic airlines. Dad arranged for one of the taxi drivers that picked us up a couple of days ago to come pick us up and he did!
Breakfast onboard was quite sad but I still scoffed it down... I am starting to understand where my thunder thighs came from.............. SIGH!
Fried rice (or really, steamed plain rice with a few corn and peas mixed in), orange segments, cookies and a cup of tea. It was quite a short flight - just over an hour.
Hotel at Nanjing was the best out of all the ones we stayed at. Obviously, the price was up there as well - second only to Xi'an. We stayed on the executive level so we had access to the executive lounge. We went there to relax while waiting for our room to be ready.
Free fooooood and more importantly, WIFI access FINALLY!! Helllllooooooo Facebook. They also had Happy Hour from 5 to 8 everyday so we ended up going there twice every day. There were fruits, drinks, biscuits and nuts on offer all the time and a few more hot options for Happy Hour. So good.
The hotel was very very central. One minute's walk from the subway station and 5 minutes' walk from all the major shopping malls. We headed straight for the mall and got lunch. Nothing special enough to warrant talking about.
We then hailed a cab and went to Confucius Temple, a tourist area crammed full of food stalls and souvenir shops.
A wishing tree right outside the temple I think. So basically you right your wishes on the red pieces of cloth and then throw them up onto the tree.
The area was right next to QinHuai River, basically a river. I don't really know why it was such a big deal because it didn't seem that amazing to me.
Anyhoo the parents decided that we MUST go for a tour of the river so we hopped in a riverboat and waited for the tour to start.
and waited.....
and waited some more......
The boat operator refused to start the tour until the boat was full!!!! It took a good 15 minutes before the boat filled up. Meanwhile, there were lots of tourists trying to take photos of the scenic spot. The people were the most blatant, walking right down to the cordoned off area to take a photo with the boats. The operator said they need to bugger off because they were freeloaders and the lady basically yelled at him like a shrew in a dialect that I didn't understand unfortunately. I would guess that she probably said something like, we only want to take a photo, what's your problem? Anyway, the operator retreated like a gutless wonder and these blatant people took their time snapping away and giggling at the photos they took and continuing on for a good 5 minutes. I gave them my best Hii withering look.
We saw the ancient Nanjing city wall as Nanjing is also one of the best ancient capitals of China. We didn't bother going there since we've been to the one in Xi'an.
After dinner at some average restaurant, we decided to take the subway home.
Subway token instead of a card. Note that we went on bus, train, subway, rickshaw, tuk tuk tricycle and aeroplanes on this trip.
We got back to the hotel and realised Housekeeping had been and performed their turndown service!!! Slippers on a mat next to the bed and a tray of goodies. Spare bed not shown here.
Tray of goodies.
Sachet of magnolia which was changed to fresh flowers the next night.
Biscuits (truffles the next night)
We went and checked out 中山陵 Sun Yat Sen Mausoleum. The place was free of charge so the only thing they could charge was the price for electrical carts as it was a huge area.
There were about 3 levels of pavilions with the last one being the longest so we only got to the middle bit heheh.
明孝陵 Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum was next.
Written by Kangxi Emperor
Tortoise at the bottom of the plaque even had a backside on the other side heheh.
Written by Qianlong Emperor I think.
明孝陵 Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum is the tomb of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming Dynasty. Legend says that in order to prevent robbery of the tomb, 13 identical processions of funeral troops started from 13 city gates to obscure the real burying site.
This was the way to the tomb which we didn't bother going to...
Saw these signs of food at the mall which I thought were amusing... only because they look nothing like what we would expect these "high class" food to look like.
New Zealand Natural!!!!!!!!!!!!
The hotel service really was topnotch. We got home to a handwritten (with very pretty Chinese handwriting) note saying they have done what we asked and brought up a fitness ball and fixed something.
These english schools had outlets in the subway stations where you could test your english skills by answering a series of questions. I am happy to report that i scored 10 out of 10. Bahahah.
Pedestrian mall at Nanjing with entrance to the underground mall. Each city we went to had huuuuge underground malls jampacked with stalls selling hip clothing aimed at those in their twenties (or people in their thirties who refused to grow up).
Funny resting area right outside the toilets in the underground mall.
Next and final stop - Shanghai!!!
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