Nanjing (2), The Presidential Palace and the Massacre Museum: South East China Part 2

A Not Entirely Convincing Omni-Palace, the 'Rape of Nanjing' and Duck's Blood Soup

We are stone
high five
(Slogan seen on a tee-shirt, Presidential Palace, Nanjing)

The Presidential Palace?

China

After a better night’s sleep but an identical poor breakfast, we set off with S and Mr D for the presidential palace in central Nanjing. Originally a Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) palace, we were told, it had also been used by the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), the leaders of the Taiping rebellion, Dr Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek. During some of that time Nanjing (lit Southern Capital) had been the capital of China, but when the communists finally won in the civil war in 1951 Mao chose to move the capital permanently to Beijing (Northern Capital).

Tourists milled around multitudinously, but apart from us all were Chinese; westerners, it appears, rarely visit Nanjing. For 20 years after the civil war, the government had no interest in Chinese history and Mao actively encouraged the destruction of ancient monuments. In today’s China, regional governments over-reacting to their earlier vandalism are assiduously restoring, rebuilding and sometimes even faking the past. This may explain why, despite the palace’s size and pulling power, it rated only one line in my twelve year old Rough Guide. I look forward to a more balanced approach.

Lynne outside the Presidential Palace, Nanjing

The Ming Garden and the Stone Boat

At the western end is the Ming garden. A traditional Chinese garden has four elements, stones, water, buildings and finally, almost as an afterthought, plants.

Ming Garden, Presidential Palace, Nanjing

This garden certainly qualifies, it even has a stone boat to rival the marble boat of Beijing's Summer Palace, though the crowds meant we did not see it in the quiet seclusion envisaged by the designers.

Stone boat, Ming Garden, Presidential Palace, Nanjing

The Offices of Dr Sun Yat-Sen and of Chiang Kai-shek

Beyond the garden are Dr Sun Yat-sen’s offices and outside is a statue of the great man himself.

Dr Sun Yat-sen, First president of the Chinese Republic

Inside we saw various rooms including his modest private office...

Sun Yat-sen's office, Presidential Palace, Nanjing
The sign on the desk has his name as Sun Zhong Shan, the modern pinyin version, but he has gone down in history under his Wade-Giles transliteration so I am sticking to Sun Yat-sen

...and the meeting room.

Sun Yat-sen's meeting room, Presidential Palace, Nanjing

We moved on to Chiang Kai-shek's offices...

Chiang Kai-shek's Offices, Presidential Palace, Nanjing

...where I had to wrestle with the crowd (the Chinese sense of personal space is not the same as ours, but when in Nanjing….) to get a photo of the inside of CKS’s office. It is not a great picture, but I worked for it, so here it is.

Chiang Kai-sheks' personal office, Presidential Palace, Nanjing

After Mao won the civil war, CKS retreated to the island of Taiwan. Here he set up a rival Republic of China glaring at Mao's People's Republic of China across the Taiwan straits, each faction claiming the territory of the other. With American support CKS's Republic of China held China's UN seat and position as a permanent member of the Security Council until 1971. The authoritarian CKS died in 1975 since when Taiwan has progressed to multi-party democracy and prosperity. It still claims to be the 'real' Republic of China but has agreed the '3 noes' policy with the mainland, ' no unification, no independence and no use of force'.

Round the next part of the garden is the Taiping area. The way the historical sections are adjacent but not overlapping confirmed my suspicion that this is more a carefully constructed museum than a real palace.

More of the Ming garden on the way to the Taiping throne room
Presidential Palace, Nanjing

The Taiping 'Heavenly Kingdom'

In the 17th century the Ming dynasty ran out of steam and was replaced by the Qing dynasty in Beijing in 1644, extending their rule to Nanjing in 1683. Peaking in power in the late 18th century, the Qing rulers encountered difficulties in the 19th and faced several uprisings. The largest was the Taiping rebellion of 1850 when a group of farmers and land owners seized control over a great swathe of southern China and set up the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom under Hong Xiuquan, the younger brother of Jesus Christ (or so he claimed). They chose Nanjing as their capital and the throne room of Hong Xiuquan has been lovingly restored - or recreated.

Throne room of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

The current official line approves of the Taiping Movement describing it as nationalist/proto-communist. Their kingdom, though, was 'heavenly' in name only, the 14 year rebellion and civil war were marked by great brutality. With estimates of the dead ranging from 20 to 70 million it was the bloodiest civil war and largest conflict of the 19th century. The Qing forces were ineffectual until in-fighting weakened the Heavenly Kingdom and in 1864 the Emperor eventually regained control with the assistance of the French and British including the ‘Ever Victorious Army’ led by General Charles 'Chinese' Gordon (later better known as Gordon of Khartoum).

The Qing Empire petered out in 1912 and Dr Sun Yat-sen briefly became president of a new republic.

We left the presidential palace via more gardens and the stables.

Stables, Presidential Palace, Nanjing

The 1937 Japanese Invasion and the Nanjing Massacre

Americans date the Second World War from 1941 when they were attacked by the Japanese; the Chinese date it from the Japanese invasion of 1937. Shanghai fell in August 1937 and the invaders moved on towards Nanjing, Chiang Kai-shek’s capital. CKS did not want to make a stand here and retreated 1,400km up the Yangtze to Chongqing which would become the war time capital. Mao and CKS paused their civil war to fight the Japanese (resuming it in 1945).

Shanghai, Nanjing and Chongqing
In pinyin transliteration 'q' is pronounced 'ch'. The older Wade-Giles system referred to Nanking and Chungking

The Japanese reached Nanjing in December 1937. The massive medieval walls provided little protection from a modern army and on the 13th of December, after several days of air raids, they breached the walls and took the city. There followed six weeks of destruction, looting, mass murder and gang rape, an event known as the Nanjing Massacre.

The Massacre Museum and Memorial

The Massacre Museum and memorial to the victims is near the presidential palace, behind a massive if not entirely successful sculpture of a mother holding a dead child.

Memorial outside the Massacre Museum, Nanjing

The pebbles represent the multitude of the dead, and in the subterranean museum the story is told in stygian gloom to a soundtrack of bombing and shooting. The figure 300,000, the number of the dead, is repeated everywhere as the story is told through pictures, artefacts, the testimony of survivors and, occasionally, even of the perpetrators. Like the killing field in Phnom Penh or the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, it is a place to shake your faith in humanity.

The pebbles as numerous as the dead, Memorial to the Nanjing Massacre

The Nanjing Massacre created an unlikely hero. Most of the international community left Nanjing before the Japanese arrived, but some stayed including several American missionaries and Siemens' representative in China, John Rabe, who was German and a Nazi party member. Under Rabe’s leadership they negotiated with the Japanese to set up the International Protection Zone where they safely sheltered some 200,000 non-military personnel.

Rabe returned to Germany in 1938 and continued to press the Chinese case until he was arrested by the Gestapo. He was released by the influence of Siemens for whom he worked for the rest of the war. Post-war he was denounced as a Nazi, lost his job and was put on a 'denazification programme'. He died in poverty in 1950.

John Rabe (picture nicked from Wikipedia)
Humanitarian and Nazi - an epitaph he shares with Oskar Schindler (and nobody else)

We finally emerged into the sunlight beside the footprints of some of the survivors. There are just over one hundred officially recognized survivors left, one less than yesterday, so S told us. The death of a survivor makes the news in Nanjing.

The footprints of the survivors

For the sake of balance I should add that the official Chinese figure of 300,000 dead is disputed. Some Japanese nationalists deny there was any massacre, and there has never been an official apology, which rankles with the Chinese in general and Nanjingers in particular. Independent estimates put the figure anywhere between 40,000 and 250,000. The true number is unknown and unknowable, but even 40,000 is a lot of innocent people. Suffice it to say it was one of the worst atrocities carried out by a regular army in modern times and there were those who could, and should, have stopped it. War crimes trials were held later but most senior officers escaped prosecution.

Finally we passed through two cavernous halls where the remains of several thousand victims have been found. Partially excavated, their bleached bones look reproachfully up at the world. I am not sure that it is how I would have treated the dead, but everybody filed through in solemn and respectful silence.

I felt emotionally battered but also a little troubled. In The Railway Man, Eric Lomax told of his mistreatment by the Japanese on the Burma Railway. He wrote 'we must never forget, but we must now forgive.' It is not up to me to offer forgiveness on behalf of British PoWs, still less the people of Nanjing, but I would have liked to see the memorial take at least a token step in that direction. Of course the Japanese could help by owning up and apologising.

Exiting the Massacre Memorial, Nanjing

Duck Blood Soup

In the world outside the birds were singing and the sun was just warm enough to tempt me to remove my pullover. 'What would you like for lunch?' S asked, completing the strange change of gear. After yesterday’s salt water duck it was time for Nanjing’s other specialty, what guide books call duck blood soup and S called duck’s bloody noodles.

S suggested a noodle shop near the Yuejiang Tower, so afterwards we could climb the tower see the view of the Yangtze Bridge we could not find yesterday and then walk home.

The noodle shop was in a sparsely attended shopping mall. Next-door was the Cheese Pub, its outside tables and chairs unoccupied. I have no idea what they sold, but I doubt it was cheese.

Noodle shop, Nanjing

S ordered for us and insisted we also have a steamer of pork dumplings, because that is what you eat with the soup. Then she left us to enjoy.

S queues to order our noodles while Lynne hangs around

The noodles were covered with a broth in which floated some tofu, diamond shaped pieces of scarlet jelly, presumably the duck blood, and various other parts of the fowl - liver, gizzard, finely chopped intestines etc. I should like to report that it was unexpectedly delicious or as disgusting as it sounds. In fact it was neither. It was pleasant enough, but hardly memorable - a good way of using up trifles that would otherwise go to waste.

Duck blood soup and a steamer of dumplings
The red splodges in my bowl are chilli sauce from the pot on the table, not blood

Yuejiang Tower and the Yangtze River

From the restaurant we could see Yuejiang Tower on the top of its hill. From this side the steps up to the ticket office were obvious, and there were plenty more steps afterwards.

Yuejiang Tower, Nanjing

The tower typifies the current Chinese attitude to antiquities. Standing inside a corner of the city wall which here does a northward bulge, it was designed in the 14th century along with the wall, but the emperor ran out of money and it was never built. When the city authorities started rebuilding parts of the wall destroyed by the Japanese they decided to build the tower as well. It was opened to the public in 2001.

S had warned us that our path would bring us to the tower at second floor level and that we had to go down some steps to enter. These narrow steps were hidden by foliage but indicated by a sign, the English version of which read 'Therewith to the Floor.' We may not have interpreted that without S’s warning.

Inside the Yuejiang Tower

What S did not tell us was that the lift would be out of order. Yuejiang mean ‘enjoy the river’ so we slogged up all seven storeys to the viewing platform to be rewarded with a misty view of the Yangtze, the world's longest double decker road/rail bridge and the port of Nanjing - sizeable container ships have no difficulty making it this far up-river.

The Yangtze, the bridge and shipping, Nanjing

And on the other side we could look over the haze (or pollution) shrouded city.

Nanjing shrouded in mist

We could see where we went wrong yesterday and the route home. Although the sign posting was not always helpful we found our way without mishap.

S talking us into dumplings as well as noodles meant we did not want to eat in the evening, so instead we walked up to the local Carrefour to see what a French supermarket chain was making of the Chinese market. They sold all the things you might expect including a range of French wines at high but not unreasonable prices and there was a big promotion on olive oil - well, the British have taken to it, so why not the Chinese?

South East China

Part 1: Nanjing (1) Sun Yat Sen, The Zhonghua Gate and Salt Water Duck
Part 2: Nanjing (2) The Presidential Palace and the Massacre Museum
Part 3: Suzhou (1) The 7-Mile Shantang and a Mandarin Fish Cut like a Squirrel
Part 4: Suzhou (2) The Humble Administrator's Garden and Other Gems
Part 5: Suzhou (3) the Lingering Garden and the City Gate
Part 6: Hangzhou (1) West Lake, Lingyin Temple and Longjing Tea
Part 7: Hangzhou (2) Nanxun Water Town and Statues in the Street
Part 8: Wuyishan (1) Xiamei Ancient Village
Part 9: Wuyishan (2) Bamboo Rafts and Tianyou Peak
Part 10: Xiamen and Gulangyu Island
Part 11: The Tulou of Fujian

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Hong Kong and Macau (7 More Posts)

Nanjing (1) Sun Yat Sen, The Zhonghua Gate and Salt Water Duck: South East China Part 1

A Mausoleum, a Massive Defence, a Local Speciality and a Confucian Temple

'Do not saepk louldy'
(Slogan seen on a tee shirt, Hong Kong to Nanjing flight)

11-Nov-2016

Arriving in Nanjing

China

Staffordshire to Nanjing via Manchester and Hong Kong is a monstrous journey, fifteen minutes short of 24 hours door to door. It largely went to plan, though the thirty minute circumnavigation of the roundabout at junction 15 of the M6 was not the best half hour of our lives.

We met our guide, S, at the airport and Mr D, her driver, took us the 25km into the city along an 8 lane highway first past fields, then a forest of high rise apartments, a vast university campus with art gallery, library and gymnasium, and finally a Volkswagen factory before reaching the city walls. The traffic had built steadily as we neared the centre. Nanjing (‘southern capital’ - c.f. Beijing, ‘northern capital’) has some 8 million inhabitants and behind the walls were the towers of any major modern city. We worked our way through the traffic to our hotel in the city’s north-western corner.

Jiangsu Province in Eastern China

A Poor Hotel but Good Restaurants

We have stayed in many Chinese three star hotels over the years. In rural areas they can be spartan, though often the best available, while in cities they are usually entirely adequate good. Our Nanjing hotel was the probably worst we have stayed in. The décor was tired, our carpet was badly stained and it had an odd feature we have encountered once before - a transparent bathroom. There was a blind, but only half a door.

Our hotel room and its interesting bathroom
There was a blind to pull down, but who thought a glass bathroom was a good design idea?

S had indicated a nearby road which had, she said, many restaurants and after a short sleep we decided to check it out. Nanjing has a first world infrastructure, but at ground level it is more basic, and we found ourselves walking through what may have been a red light district. ‘Restaurant road’, though, lived up to its billing. There were dozens of them, from street vendors with various things on sticks, through scruffy holes-in-the-wall up to some smart fish restaurants.

We wandered back for more rest.

Since picking at an airline lunch we had eaten nothing and by 7 o’clock, although neither of us felt hungry, we needed to go out and do something.

A bit of Nanjing's city wall
I know its not a great photograph, but it is largely in focus and was taken from a moving car after being awake for 25 hours. I think that is an achievement of sorts

We chose a bright-looking restaurant largely for the picture menu on the wall. Only inside did we realised it specialised in hotpots, cook-your-own meals which require the diner to tick off their choices from a list – an almost insurmountable problem for us illiterates - and we could not reach the pictures without climbing over other diners.

Our waitress spotted the problem and quickly produced an iPad with pictures and prices of the non-hotpot dishes. This is the new China. Flicking through, we selected a dish of squid (we hoped), which looked big enough for two. It soon arrived and was both a good size and indeed squid (we once ordered pig’s trotters from a picture menu in the belief they were beef ribs) in a soy-based broth with angels’ hair noodles. It was simple, elegant and just what we needed. With two beers – Snow 'Draft’ (actually in half litre bottles) is a sad, feeble brew but was all they had - it came to under £8.

Nanjing within Jiangsu Province

12/11/2016

The Mausoleum of China's First Post-Imperial Leader

Our night’s sleep was hampered by bodily uncertainties about what time it really was. Morning looked cool and misty but was the mist just water or had each droplet, saturated with pollutants, formed round a nucleus of particulates?

Nanjing in the morning - it is probably pollution

Normally we like a Chinese breakfast but today we were offered little more than rice, noodles, bean soup, tea eggs, steamed buns and a choice of hot orange juice or milk; the Chinese drink tea all day but not necessarily at breakfast.

S arrived on time and Mr D drove us along where the northern section of the city wall had once been, to the railway station where we took delivery of our tickets for Monday. Obtaining a ticket, or even entering a station, requires the production of an identity card – or passport in our case.

Beyond the station, the wall reappeared behind Xuanwu Lake, originally a medieval reservoir, now the centrepiece of a park. We were heading east of the city to the wooded slopes of Zijin Shan, (Purple-gold Mountain); unfortunately so was everybody else. It was the first dry Saturday for two weeks and the whole of Nanjing was intent on climbing the 450m peak or visiting the botanical gardens, the Ming tombs, or any other of the district’s attractions. Turning left at the lights onto the narrow parkland road took an age, and it was slow going once we had got there. Chinese traffic jams are not helped by the local driving style in which consideration for others does not feature.

Mr D drove us to the car park of the mausoleum of Dr Sun Yat-sen, the biggest and most distant attraction. From here we walked through an avenue of plane trees to the mausoleum.

Through the avenue of plane tress to the mausoleum of Dr Sun Yat-sen, Nanjing

Having visited Sun Yat-sen's house in Shanghai in 2008 we knew he is treated with almost religious reverence, both in the People’s Republic and in Taiwan, so we were suprised it seemed much quieter here after the earlier madness. We soon discovered this was a false impression and the crowds were immense – it was not just a Saturday but also Sun Yat-sen's 150th birthday.

The entrance to the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum park

The path inside is lined with snow cedars interspersed with osmanthus bushes. The fragrance of osmanthus had been a feature of our 2010 trip to Guilin and would have been here had we been a month earlier.

In January 1912, as the Qing Empire began to collapse, Sun was elected president of the provisional government in Nanjing. Unfortunately it was  Beijing's military commander Yuan Shikhai who had forced the emperor’s abdication, and having grasped power he was reluctant to let go. In March Sun resigned to avoid civil war.

In 1919 as war lords threatened to fragment the country, he co-founded the Guomindang – the Nationalist Party – and for the next six years worked to bring together the many disparate progressive groups, realising the communists must be included for there to be any chance of success.

He died in Beijing in 1925 aged only 58 and was buried in a crystal coffin. He had expressed the wish to be buried in Nanjing, so when his mausoleum was completed in 1929 his body was brought from Beijing. The plane trees were planted to provide a processional route for his coffin.

The mausoleum sits 392 steps up a hill. The 3 is for his three principles (nationalism, democracy and care for the people), 9 is the largest, hence most important digit and 2 represents the linked Communist party and Guomindang.

The pavilion after the first 100 steps

After the first 100 steps there is a pavilion from which you can look up and see the next 292.

Some of the last 292 steps, Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, Nanjing

Nearing the top my legs began to wish he had fewer principles. Looking down, when you eventually arrive, the steps cannot be seen. This, apparently symbolises the good Doctor’s wish not looking down on the people. I do not understand; it is obvious to those at the top that everyone else is below them regardless of the visibility of the steps.

Looking down from Sun Yat-sen's mausoleum, all but the topmost steps are hidden from view

Joining the queue we filed round the great man’s statue and photographed it from the permitted location. There are always flowers here, but his birthday meant a bumper crop. Behind the statue is the mausoleum itself, which is not open to the public. Inside is a replica of the Crystal coffin, while the man himself lies several meters below in a more standard casket.

Sun Yat-sen in his mausoleum

The 1937 Japanese attack on Nanjing will feature in the next post, but as a taster we passed a shot-up urn on the descent.

Damaged urn, Sun Yat-sen's mausoleum

From the mausoleum an easier journey back into central Nanjing allowed time to ponder what might have happened if Sun Yat-sen had lived longer. Could he have prevented the Guomindang under the conservative Chiang Kai-shek (who was his brother-in-law) fighting a civil war against the communists? Hostilities paused during WW2 as they united against the Japanese but resumed afterwards leading to Mao's victory in 1949 and Chiang Kai-shek’s retreat to Taiwan where he set up the Republic of China. The ROC and Mao’s Peoples’ Republic of China glowered at each other across the Taiwan Strait, each claiming jurisdiction over the other’s territory. Supported by the USA, the ROC held the Chinese UN seat, including their permanent seat on the Security Council until 1971.

The Nanjing City Wall and the Zhonghua Gate

We entered central Nanjing through the wall. Although some parts are older, the walls were mostly built by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (r1328-98) the founder of the Ming dynasty. They were 36km long and unlike the rectangular walls of Datong or Xi'an they curved round a potato shaped city apparently dangling from the southern bank of the Yangzi.

The Zhonghua Gate is claimed to be the biggest city gate in the world. Looking through the tunnel you see four sections, each once protected by a substantial wooden gate. In theory once the attackers had broken through, a stone gate slid down behind them, trapping them and allowing the defenders to mop up at their leisure. With four such killing chambers the gate was considered impregnable – not that anybody was stupid enough to check that out, at least not until the rules of the game changed in the 20th century.

Looking through the Zhonghua Gate, Nanjing

There are steps to the top for men and shallower steps for cavalry - the walls were wide enough for six mounted men to ride abreast.

Model of the Zhonghua Gate, Nanjing

From the top we could look beyond the city. In the 1980s, when the population was under 2 million, Nanjing remained within its walls. The current 8 million inhabitants spill some distance into what was once the countryside beyond.

Outside the walls of Nanjing

And we could look back at the city inside, at towers of the business district….

The Nanjing business distict

…and the low rise buildings of the rebuilt ‘old’ quarter.

The 'Old' quarter of Nanjing

We walked a little way along the wall, which here is new. Of the original 36km, 21 are original, of the rest, some is missing, but parts have been rebuilt.

Along the Nanjing city wall near the Zhonghua gate

WW2 started in 1939, when Britain and France declared war on Germany over the invasion of Poland. But in Azerbaijan, it started in July 1941 when the Germans attacked the Soviet Union and in America everyone knows the correct date is December 8th 1941, the day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. In China WW2 started in July 1937 with the Japanese invaded. Conveniently, everybody agrees it ended in 1945.

The Japanese took Nanjing in December 1937. They came through the Zhonghua gate, though they did not need to take it, modern weaponry was sufficient to reduce the wall on either side to rubble. What followed is known as the Rape of Nanjing, which features in the next post and explain why the city has so few old buildings.

Nanjing's Confucian Temple District

Next we headed for the Confucian Temple district, an area of old style one or two storey buildings round the Confucian Temple. It looks like a recently built simulation of old China, because that is exactly what it is.

Lynne at the entrance to the Confucian Temple district, Nanjing

Salt Water Duck

We had previously discussed Nanjing's food specialities with S. ‘Duck is popular,’ she said. ‘There is salt water duck, which you might like to try and duck’s bloody noodles* which you probably won’t.’ We are made of sterner stuff, but thought it best to start with salt water duck - a reference to cooking method rather than habitat.

S took us to a small restaurant and stayed to help with the ordering, which was important as the system involved buying a card for an appropriate figure (we chose 100yuan) and then sticking your head through a series of hatches to select different parts of your meal, the cost being swiped off the card as you go.

The restaurant, Confucian Temple district, Nanjing

We chose salt water duck – it comes in slices and is served cold - and a vegetable salad. It did not look much so S insisted we needed a bowl of noodle soup as well. After indecision at the noodle counter S decided for us, though her selection, with its strong woodland flavour of wild mushrooms, would not have been our choice – had we been capable of making one. The duck was pale, very tender and full of bones; pleasant enough but (and I would say this very quietly in Nanjing) not a patch on Beijing duck.

Lynne with salt water duck, vegetable salad and a bowl of noodle soup, Nanjing

Lunch over, we returned our card, took our change and went out to explore the district.

The rebuilt Confucian Temple, Nanjing

The Rebuilt Confucian Temple and the Examination System

The Confucian Temple has been rebuilt and the city fathers are currently also rebuilding the examination cells. From the 9th century until 1905 advancement in the Chinese civil service was based entirely on examinations in Confucian principles. Those who passed at county level became local officials while the very best came here for the provincial examinations. Each candidate was allotted a cell just big enough for a desk which could be reconstructed as a bed at night. The examinations lasted a week and they had to bring with them all they needed including their food. The successful became provincial officials, while the very best went on to the Imperial examinations with the chance to really make it big and become a mandarin.

Rebuilt Confucian Examination Centre, with the cells down the left hand side

We walked round the nearby stalls. Everybody knows that beans improve brain power and The most efficacious are called ‘mandarin beans.’ The stallholder will bag you up a couple of hundred grams for 20 Yuan - a tiny price to pay for a life of wealth and power.

Want some Mandarin beans? Nanjing

Other stalls were frying ‘stinky tofu’ which has many regional variations. The Nanjing version is said to be mild though the cloacal pen and ink seemed strong enough to us. There were also Nanjing duck stalls, I attempted to photograph a pile of ducks, pale and unhealthy looking beasts compared to their Beijing cousins, but two passing ladies hijacked the auto-focus without my noticing. Still, they make a pleasing picture - and the ducks are there in the background.

Two Nanjing ladies - and a pile of salt water ducks

We spent some time in the temple quarter among the shops and beside the canal, but nothing is as old as it pretends to be.

Canal and dragon screen, Confucian Temple District, Nanjing

A Walk in the Park and another Restauramt Visit

We returned to our hotel in mid-afternoon. Our itinerary had included a drive across the world's longest double-decker road/rail bridge spanning the Yangzi a few hundred metres north of our hotel. The bridge was closed for repairs (road and a metro tunnels are still available) but S suggested we could get a good view from a hill in a nearby park. There was enough light left for this expedition but we failed to find the right route and decided to seek further advice tomorrow.

We failed to find the viewpoint, but it was a good walk in the park

Later we walked back down the street of a thousand restaurants to another restaurant with pictorial menus.

Nanjing's many tourists are overwhelmingly Chinese - we had seen four other westerners all day - and it is still possible to cause a stir here by marching into a restaurant in possession of round eyes and a big nose. The days when this might cause fear or even hostility are long gone and we quickly gathered four young waitresses round our table all smiling and eager to help as we leafed through the pictures. They made suggestions and shook their heads when we selected dishes that were unavailable. Eventually we all agreed on shredded pork, which arrived with sliced spring onions and pancakes - a poor man's Beijing duck - and a huge dish of morning glory with garlic, ginger, pork lardons and ample chillies. Half way through one of the dishes they had said was ‘off’ arrived. We pointed out the error (by mime) and after a conference they agreed and took it away. I hope none of them got into trouble as they had all been so helpful. Actually, the cubes of belly pork in a highly glazed sauce were beautifully presented and part of me wanted to eat them as well, but even gluttony has its limits.

And so (burp) to bed.

Nanjing at night

*Wikipedia calls it 'duck blood soup'.

South East China

Part 1: Nanjing (1) Sun Yat Sen, The Zhonghua Gate and Salt Water Duck
Part 2: Nanjing (2) The Presidential Palace and the Massacre Museum
Part 3: Suzhou (1) The 7-Mile Shantang and a Mandarin Fish Cut like a Squirrel
Part 4: Suzhou (2) The Humble Administrator's Garden and Other Gems
Part 5: Suzhou (3) the Lingering Garden and the City Gate
Part 6: Hangzhou (1) West Lake, Lingyin Temple and Longjing Tea
Part 7: Hangzhou (2) Nanxun Water Town and Statues in the Street
Part 8: Wuyishan (1) Xiamei Ancient Village
Part 9: Wuyishan (2) Bamboo Rafts and Tianyou Peak
Part 10: Xiamen and Gulangyu Island
Part 11: The Tulou of Fujian

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Hong Kong and Macau (7 More Posts)

The Boxes of Carvoeiro: Algarve 7

Junction Boxes, Paint and Some Imagination

Carvoeiro
Not an unspoiled fishing village - there are none left in the Algarve - but a small town whose geography has helped it retain some of its character and charm

Junction boxes are everywhere but Portuguese towns seem to have an inordinate number of them. Drab and grey, they are magnets for graffiti and fly posting....

Boxes in Lagoa - drab as you like

... but not in Carvoeiro.

Fish, what would you expect? Boxes of Carvoeiro

The painting was the idea of Phil Francis a British resident of Carvoeiro for almost three decades. With the support of the local authority, he extracted permission from Energias de Portugal who own the boxes, teamed up with Helder José, a German/Portuguese professional graffiti artist and set to work at the end of last year.

A touch of the Jackson Pollocks: Boxes of Carvoiero

And they have been busy. I photographed 55 boxes in a hour's walk up and down the main streets and I doubt I got them all. Because of the way the paintings are juxtaposed it took me a while to spot the themes, but they are there. There is local architecture...

Local architecture: Boxes of Carvoeiro

...sometimes with a cat.

Local architecture with cats: Boxes of Carvoeiro

Traditional Algarve chimneys are well represented...

Traditional Algarve Chimney: Boxes of Carvoeiro

...as are azulejo tiles.

Painted tiles: Boxes of Carvoeiro

...and there is a series of local views, like this one of the beach.

Carvoeiro Beach: Boxes of Carvoeiro

Local characters also feature, like Tia Olympia (Aunty Olympia)...

Tia Olympia: Boxes of Carvoeiro

...and João Peludo (Hairy John).

João Peludo: Boxes of Carvoeiro

There is a series on local fauna....

Frog: Carvoeiro Boxes

....while other paintings relate to where they are, like this alembic outside a booze shop.

Alembic outside a booze shop: Boxes of Carvoeiro

I particularly like this one as the theme continues up the wall above and links across to the advertisement at the side...

Carvoeiro Boxes

....and finally (for a touch of controversy)I wonder if the placing of a Virgin Mother and a stork on adjacent boxes was entirely accidental.

No comment; Boxes of Carvoeiro

There are more, but that is a representative selection. I am indebted to Alyson and Dave Sheldrake's Algarve Blog for some of the information in this post.

In a Similar Vein

Statues Without Plinths (2023)
Socialist Realism: In Praise of Bad Art (2022)
The Boxes of Carvoeiro (2016)

Algarve Posts

The Algarve: Delights and Depredations(2010)
Mexilhoeira Grande and a Long Lost Cousin (2013)
The West Coast (2013)
Lagos (2014)
Castro Marim and Vila Real do Santo António (2015)
The Boxes of Carvoeiro (2016)
Mertola and Alcoutim: Strongholds by the Guadiana River (2017) - Also under Alentejo
Silves, Former Capital of the Algarve (2018)
Drinking the Algarve (2022)
Eating the Algarve (2024)