Day 7: Nanjing, Saturday, June 23, 2012

Today was our resting day and we had the opportunity to explore Nanjing on our own schedule. Some slept until 4 pm in the afternoon while others explored the city and its surrounding. Popular activities included a boat ride on the Xuanwu Lake, a hike in the nearby mountain park, a visit to the Confucius Temple or a meal at one of the Western-style restaurants. It was also a holiday in China with dragon boat races and people taking leisurely strolls through the parks.

Also the cats knew it was a resting day (Photo: Heike Mayer)

Taking a nap (Photo: Heike Mayer)

Some of us decided to explore the Sun Yat-Sen Mausoleum in the Purple-Gold Mountain area. Sun Yat-Sen (1866-1924) has become the father of the Chinese Revolution. Originally from Nanjing, he began to travel early in his life. At 13, Sun Yat-Sen visited his brother in Hawaii where he also attended an Anglican school. Later he studied medicine in Hong Kong. 1894 he founded the Revolutionary League, a group that promoted nationalist ideas and tried to undermine Qing rule in the late 19^th century. Sun Yat-Sen continued his travels and started to rally support from emigrated Chinese throughout the Pacific Rim and the United States. His travels and exposures to ideas and cultures beyond China made him what some have called a “pan-Asian cosmopolitan”. The Revolutionary League (and its follow up group, the Kuomintang or `Party of the National People`) had several goals: Abolishment of the Manchu leadership (Qing dynasty), restoration of Chinese leadership and the creation of a Republic of China, parliamentary democracy, and ultimately the realization of socialist ideas about ownership and equity. He also authored several important papers and books, among them are his Three Principles of the People (1925, San min zhu yi), which outlined the following goals: a national revolution, abolishment of unequal treaties and freedom from foreign control (including Britain, France, the US and other Western powers); the importance of the nation, which stands above the individual; ownership of land to guarantee food supply. In essence, Sun engaged in a critical discussion with Marxian ideas and rejected its main points, essentially calling for a unique Chinese way. Many Chinese visited the memorial and we had the impression that many are rediscovering him. At least counting by their numbers, the memorial seemed to be a popular spot to visit.

The Sun Yat-Sen Memorial (Photo: Heike Mayer)

Sun Yat-Sen (Photo: Heike Mayer)

Yangtze river (Photo: Heike Mayer)

Bridge over the Yangtze river (Photo: Heike Mayer)

Nanjing is the capital of the Jiangsu province and the area is rich in waterways that lead to the Yangtze river. The city still boasts many intact remnants of the Ming city wall and it has served twice as the nation`s capital (during Ming dynasty 1368-1644 and as the capital of the Republic of China in the early years of the 20<sup>th</sup> century).  The city is also known for the Nanjing massacre when the Japanese occupied Nanjing and killed between 200,000 and 300,000 Chinese civilians. Nanjing`s location on the South-bank of the Yangtze river offers also unique glimpses of this massive waterway. We visited the Yangtze River bridge, which was built in 1968. The 4.5 km long bridge is a double-decker with a 4-lane-road on top and a train line below.

It didn`t matter that a boat got stuck on the leisurely boat ride on the lake or some still had songs in their head from the Karaoke night before, the resting day was a welcome distraction.

Step count on our pedometer: 15,011 

Heinz Zumbühl, Heike Mayer