Ming city walls of Nanjing
The people of Nanjing have been the friendliest I’ve encountered in China so far. Shanghaiese are friendly, but with the prevalent tea scam and hundreds of art students pestering you to see their gallery, sometimes it’s hard to pick out the folks who are just looking to chat. I’ve found Chinese tourists on holiday to be so inviting and friendly, the hard part is distinguishing the nice folks from the scammers.
When I arrived in Nanjing (formerly Nanking) tonight I was approached by three people offering to help me find my way, one girl even getting on her phone to track down my hostel. Good start.
The highlight of Nanjing is definitely the old Ming city walls that still stand around the old city proper. About 60% of them still remain and once made up the largest city fortification the world has ever known. Everyone always thinks about the Great Wall, but China has a bunch of lesser known city walls that are just as extraordinary. The walls here are huge and when intact reached nearly 34km all around. Needless to say Nanjing was and still is massive.
The best way to see the wall is busing up to Xuanwu Lake and walk along the southern shore until the wall suddenly emerges from the trees to your left. It´s about 80 feet tall here so you can´t miss it.
Walk along the wall toward the pagoda at Jining temple. It´s 5yuan to get in and 5 to climb the pagoda. This is an active Buddhist monastery for women and a perfect spot to relax and let the chanting of Sutras calm your mind.
Tags: Eurasia: Marco Polo-in' it, Nanjing, Nanjing/Suzhou
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Great stuff bud. Take care and keep up the quality writing. I know I’ll regret not joining you for the rest of my days. And if you ever get lonely out there don’t worry, everyone’s got chlymidia!