I fled from SH with Jeanne and Nicky and took a trip to NanJing during the new year holiday. I've been there once while a kid, the only thing I recall abt that trip is the red lanterns on QingHuai river and the old wall which left the city a historic impression on me.
Jeanne drove us there with her red Cherry, was a nice ride. The sun was shining brightly from behind the clouds. The radiance spraying on to the ground like what we usually see in those holy Christian paintings. I felt as if I was loved, I mean, I FELT.
We arrived our youth hostel located by QinHuai River and near FuZi Temple around 6pm. The location is very convenient. We just walked around the night market in FuZi Temple, and from then on, we started our food journey. It was nice to know that Nicky could eat a lot and is quite adventurous about local food, so Jeanne is very happy about this and kept on saying "try this", "not bad", "eat more lah". Yes, LAH, she's Singaporean lah~
We then took a boat along QingHuai River. The river looks quiet and nice at night, although you can't escape from the neon lights around the river and all those sculptures that people later put there in memory of the famous people, poets, scholars, famous prostitutes, etc.. Yes, you heard that, prostitutes. Nanjing was the capital for more than 10 dynasties, and it was also the capital of prostitution during Ming Dynasty, esp. at the end of Ming n the beginning of Qing. Those prostitutes are much more literate then those you can see now behind the glass doors of those pink-neon-lights salons. To be a prostitute you have to know how to play the musical instruments, chess, calligraphy and painting, plus beauty and submissiveness, almost a perfect girl, huh? But just because they were born from a poor family... Sitting on the boat, I feel going back to that time when life is pleasant and relaxed. And I can't stop thinking why those scholars don't seem happy and have all sorts of concerns in their poems. Maybe people just don't deserve to be totally happy, or... hardness is just anywhere, as well as happiness.
We were still recovering from the NYE party which was totally awesome in MoCa, so we knock out early. The next day, we went to the NJ Massacre Memorial. The park is very nicely built with architectures, statues and atmosphere well fit into the heavy theme.
There are lots paper birds in the memorial, esp. lots from Japanese tourists. Paper birds are a way of bless in Japan.
A site discovered in these years with numerous skeletons buried there. Does that mean people in NanJing are actually live on 300,000 body? This thought make the city feel pretty haunted. Damn the wars!
No peace is free, it needs to be earned.
A couple taking pictures in the memorial. Looks weird.
Later that day, we went to Xuan Wu Lake park.
Wait, not yet. We need to continue our food journey first.
It reads "Hong Kong Peeing Beef Balls".I guess that's because the balls contain soup inside and if you are not careful, the soup might spill. Tastes nice though.
Where the BeiJing Olympics were held.
Nice chill in the boat, then we went on our food journey again!!!
The 8 most famous food for QingHui River. They actually look more impressive than they taste.
Nicky had some awesome noodle, and some not some awesome Chinese sushi (prob. with sticky rice... with no wasabi or vinegar). Jeans had drum stick, awesome, lamb chop, awesome, and a lot of something else, awesome.
Tang2 Hu2 Lu2, literally "sugar gourd".
Originally, they are made by "hawthorn" or "crataegus" coated with heavy sugar
But now, we can just have any fruit, Kiwi, tangerine, anything.
Nicky having his strawberry tang hu lu. Look how happy he is in China.
We wanted to kill the time between dinner and clubbing, then we came across a theater where they show porn all night long for 15 RMB. We went to another hall with 10RMB show tho, and was expecting for some spice.
Anyway. the show was put up by a group of 3 guys and 3 girls. The guys were singing or playing musical instruments while the girls were changing (behind the stage, of coz). The dance was ok, regular club dance put onto a theater stage. They tried to dress revealingly. One girl was too chubby and too dark according to oriental standards, and another girl had her push-up shown while moving her shoulders. But she didn't seem to care.
The audience were mainly male. 4 girls out of about 20 peeps there... and Jean n me are 2 of them.
Jean n I tried to sleep, but the Chinese pop disco was too loud. Anyhoo, Nicky quite enjoyed it, for 1. He's a guy, 2. the show is "very different and quite an experience".
So, it's NY, despite the fact we just had a crazy NYE party in MoCA artlab, we were still ready to go. Jean was "too old" to go, so that left Nicky n me. We went to a place called 1931 (or sth like that). It's basically a bootleg of XinTianDi, while XinTianDi is more a bar/lounge place for the rich bastards, 1931 is more of a crowd of clubs, Chinese ones. We went on a club hop, 4 clubs in all. The 1st one is progressive house, the music is not bad, we had a booze (waited a long time, they hand our $ to the counter outside the club, then came back n give us the change, no idea why they dun hv the cashier in the bar. n the bartender was very laid-back, they were chatting n making our simple drinks VERY slowly), then we r ready to hit the dance floor, then we found there's actually NO, not even a small one. a few ppl is dancing ard their seats. So we left to the 2nd one. N it was too crowded, no ppl were allowed to go in. So the 3rd one, ok, hiphop, tiny dance floor, not bad, but I got to flirt with the bartender to make him bring my beer faster, meh =/ The last one is kinda fun. It was almost 4am, we went to TM (got several TM in SH, never been to any), and, guess what, that was all Chinese pop. A couple of fat Chinese men with tie n suit n their, um, mistresses/lover (?). We were the only ppl doing funny dance there. Anyway, Nicky was one of the 4 foreigners we see the whole night, and all the clubs have a guard standing on the DJ floor, and we are sure the guards can't spin.
Ok, that's pretty much it, we went to TangShan hot spring on our way back to Shanghai, Can't believe I was wearing bikini in this chilly weather. Thanks again to Jean for being our chauffeur.
