Nanjing

Sometimes when I undertake a long journey, regardless of the mode of transportation I end up feeling dizzy. Not alarmingly so, just enough to convince me that I should not do too much. Thus my first day in Nanjing was spent not doing too much. Riding buses mostly, but I did walk through a very nice park. Unfortunately the wind was very cold and, coupled with the dizziness from yesterday’s train travel I decided that would be my only venture out.

Wait! I’m getting ahead of myself!

Bolstered by yesterday’s positive experiences – meeting Theresa and Emre, finding that nice restaurant and tasting hot ginger coca cola for the first time, and locating Metro without having to try, I hit the streets full of anticipation.

First things first: buy a train or bus ticket. Thanks to Theresa I know how to get to the train station but, as it turns out I didn’t have to go there. Along the way to the subway station I spied a kiosk that sells train tickets. I was able to buy my ticket there without having to hassle with a crowded station and shouting attendants.

Small aside: my hearing is getting terrible! In part that is because I went to my share of rock’n’roll concerts in my youth, but also I find that, if my allergies don’t behave it affects the pressure on my ears, making it hard to hear things. When I get in loud environments I have trouble hearing somebody speak. Therefore I was doubly grateful that I did not have to buy my ticket at the train station.

I should take a picture of a train station ticketing office, so you can see what I mean. They are great, echoing halls where people shout through the windows to the ticketing agents, they shout on their cellphones and they shout at each other. They shout when they don’t get their desired ticket. They make quite the ruckus, I tell you.

OK, back to the story now. Nanjing really seems to be a town that agrees with me! First, the good luck of my first day there, and now that luck seems to persist while buying the train ticket. Let’s see what else I can score positively on.

That is when I jumped on some random bus, found that lovely park and walked around. That is when the dizziness manifested itself and I decided to just sit on buses for the rest of the day and view the city from that vantage point.

That is when I discovered that Nanjing has so much to offer one cannot possibly see it all in one stay. I knew that this city was rife with history, it having been the capital of China during 6 dynasties and the site of the Nanking Massacre, when the Japanese slaughtered every man, woman and child in the city on their way through the country during WWII. It is the capital of Jiangsu Province and will host the Summer Youth Olympics in 2014.

Nanjing feels like Berlin, Germany. A regal, long established city with a distinctive chronicle, Nanjing has a noble, timeless feel to it. In part because it is not built up like other Chinese megalopoli and in part because of its long history, Nanjing feels like it can and will endure for centuries. Even aged birch trees lining the streets appear to have been there forever.

The air here is remarkably clean. All industry is confined to the outskirts of the city and there is only minimal construction. In fact, when China’s central government bureau approached Nanjing’s political body about tearing down and rebuilding some of the older apartment communities the residents and the local government rebelled. That is why the skyline is relatively uncluttered. The buses are all well maintained for being the waddling things that they are, although they are not as uniform or well kept as the buses in Shenzhen. This city has 3 established subway lines and 3 train stations: two at the outskirts of the city and the main one at city center. All of this works to keep the air in Nanjing free of pollutants.

That had a very positive effect on me. I found that, within one day of my arrival there I had no allergy symptoms whatsoever. But I was tired. So tired in fact that I did not think I could brave another restaurant or stand another moment of cold. I returned to my hotel room and had one of my linseed bread sandwiches, along with a bowl of noodles I had bought for my train ride. That, some mandarin oranges and a cookie would do for my dinner.

The next day is when the bottom dropped out. Thinking I’d try the hotel cafeteria’s breakfast, I made my way to the second floor, where the hostess stopped dead in her tracks upon the sight of me. I asked her if I could still get breakfast; it was going on 9:30AM. She replied well, we don’t have much left. Before I could go see what was left she asked me if I had a coupon. “No, but I have my room card” I answered. “You can’t use your room card. You have to go downstairs and get a coupon from the front desk” she informed me, and then turned around and left.

That’s strange! The day before, when I asked the desk clerk where I could get food she said there were plenty of restaurants around but she did not tell me about the hotel’s restaurant, and certainly did not say a word about coupons. Well, I’ll just go and find someplace else to eat. There was this nifty restaurant that looked like it was carved out of the hill not far from the hotel. It had blue painted doors and white facing, and one had to climb a narrow set of stairs to get there. I saw it from the bus window yesterday. I wanted to get there, so I climbed.

The hostess met me at the doorway and asked me if I wanted coffee. “No, I’d rather have tea” I replied and, before I could say I wanted to order food as well, she directed me upstairs and closed the door in my face! I went upstairs and found only a beverage menu. If I were only thirsty, I would have been happy to stay there; the atmosphere was cozy and inviting, for all that the hostess was rude. But I really did want lunch so I left after telling the waitress I wanted food as well as drink. I thought about opening the door to the lower level and just walking in but decided to not patronize this establishment at all.

I’m not used to being snubbed. Usually the Chinese are all very friendly and open to me. I found the people of Nanjing to be abrupt and in fact rather rude. I thought about that as I looked through the bus window. There did not seem to be many people smiling or enjoying life. The bus passengers seemed harried and downtrodden. Women especially seemed misfortunate. In every other city I’ve been to women, especially elderly women tended to congregate and chatter away. Middle aged women like to dance in the street or at public squares come sundown. Here there seemed to be more lonely older women and women traveling singly. Interesting observation…

I wonder if all this standoffishness had something to do with my being a foreigner? There are many students from other nations studying at the great and renown University of Nanjing and there is a good chance that the locals were fed up with foreigners getting drunk and ugly… that is, presuming those students do in fact conduct themselves that way. Maybe native Nanjingers just don’t like people who are not native Nanjingers? That wouldn’t explain the lack of smiles and women chattering together, but it would certainly explain why they were unfriendly to this non-native face.

In desperation I sought out foreigners and posed the question to them: do they find Nanjing to be unfriendly? One person I talked with named Paul said that he found the people of Nanjing to be pleasant, and he has lived here for 6 years. For him it was the people of Shanghai that seemed rude and abrupt. From there, he and I enjoyed very pleasant and stimulating conversation.

As always when visiting a new place I try to sample the local fare. There were not many restaurants boasting local cuisine that were open and I found no street vendors at all. It was probably because I was there during the biggest holiday season this country celebrates but, even at that park I went to the first day I was here there were virtually no vendors selling food.

I ended up eating most of my meals at restaurants that target foreigners. Emma’s was one, and the other was a sportsbar whose name I can’t remember. I do remember the food was delicious though.

In spite of those negative experiences I like Nanjing and have every intention of returning in the Spring, when the weather warms up. For now it is time to catch a train, head back to Wuhan and get ready for a wedding.

Not mine.