Visiting Zijinshan

With Tom feeling awful from the choices he made at the restaurant yesterday, we decided today would be a great day to climb a ton of steps at the nearby mountain in Nanjing, Zijinshan (Purple-Gold Mountain).


Our day began with 42 dumplings at an establishment on "cheap street" as per Lee's recommendation. They served maybe twenty different kinds of dumplings ranging from egg and leek to beef and carrot, and the rather distasteful pork and seafood. We ordered five different kinds and they all came on the same plate, making each bite a surprise. Nothing like biting into some raunchy seafood when you are hoping for something a little more appetizing, like the typical pork and leek.

After finishing up brunch, we headed to a local pharmacist to get Tom some medication for his intense and periodic stomach pains. It seems they gave him pills of concentrated garlic. So far they appear to be rather ineffective at helping with his stomach pains, but very effective at making his breath smell awful.


To the mountain! For the first time, and certainly not the last, we decided to take a cab. It was as Tom put it, "the most comfortable cab ride I've ever had, aside from the clear violations of traffic laws." The cabbie is surrounded by this plastic cage, as shown in the preceding photograph, and the air conditioning was blasting. The only communication made during the twenty minute trip was when Tom and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows as we continually made left and right lane changes with the right turn signal on for two minutes straight.


When we arrived at our destination, the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, we began preparing our minds for the climb ahead of us. There were 392 steps ahead of us, and we would be walking up each one. Tom had the rather brilliant idea of filming the walk up so we could make a sped-up video of it later, but it turns out Windows Live Movie Maker does not support that feature, so we'll have to make it when we get back.


It turned out the climb wasn't too bad, although we were sweating profusely by the end. The view at the top was pretty awesome, if you ignored all the cheap merchants peddling goods around this man's tomb. It was somewhat surprising to see the lack of courtesy people showed given where we were, as there were people spitting saliva and gum wherever they pleased.


Not feeling completely satisfied with the number of stairs we had currently encountered, we decided it would be best if we went to the top of the 9-story Linggu Pagoda. After reaching the fifth or sixth floor, you stop expecting it to end and accept the grind ahead. We recorded a video of this too, so hopefully that turns out when we get a chance to edit it.


While there wasn't much to see at the top of the pagoda (besides a beautiful mountain view from one side), it was still very nice to be up that high, breathing almost fresh air for the first time in nearly a week (we love you Canada).

By the time we got down, we realized it was time to get back to the city since we had been invited to have homemade Swedish meatballs made by one of Lee's friends. They were tasty and we had a great time hanging out with a bunch of foreigners who hailed from Australia, France, Sweden, Germany and Spain (if I recall correctly). Dinner led to clubbing at the foreigner-favored spot Mazzo, where foreigners drink for free all night.

It was a good day (insert Ice Cube beat).

Welcome to Nanjing

Nanjing has been a great time so far. Lee has treated us very well and has made our stay very comfortable. Yesterday we arrived shortly after 1pm and pissed the afternoon away drinking beer on the steps at 3 RMB ($0.50 CAD) per 568mL bottle. This was followed by peking duck, which I was unfortunately unable to enjoy as I was not feeling well (stomach issues -- not drinking issues!). Today, I feel fine. Oops.

I began the day with a daring adventure: leaving the apartment without Tom. Traveling China without being able to speak Chinese is not at all advisable. I somehow managed to score a sandwich for breakfast at this nearby western-friendly cafe while Tom dozed away happily at home.

Feeling ready for more speechless interaction, I attempted to get my laundry done. Up to this point, my instructions for doing this were, "Take your laundry to the lady at X and say 'wash and dry'." After I found the lady, who works deep beneath a neighbouring building to the apartment we're staying in, I followed the instructions to a tee. They were clearly insufficient as I was soon inundated with incomprehensible syllables and arm gestures that somehow translated to "where is your detergent?"

As it turns out, one needs to bring detergent with them to the laundry lady, who will then tell you how much the washing and drying will cost. Upon finding out this value, you go to the main desk of the apartment and buy the corresponding amount of laundry tickets. These tickets are then given to the laundry lady hours later when going to retrieve your clothing (given she is actually around-- she tends to wander away).


Laundry aside, Tom and I spent the better part of the day wandering the shopping district of Nanjing. There were countless multi-story malls to be explored and seemingly just as many McDonalds and KFCs. We refrained from eating at those places today; instead, we opted for a Chinese restaurant hidden behind some buildings. We would never have even seen it if it wasn't for the lady handing out coupons nearby. It was there that the following video took place.



We eventually found our way back to our landing spot and met up with Lee for dinner, which prompted the question of what to do next. The only obvious answer was to try getting a foot massage. Lee knew a place.

I immediately expressed my dissent as I am a fairly ticklish person and I've never had much success with receiving a massage. Nonsense. This was unlike other massages. We decided to have "the works", which amounted to a full hour of foot massaging and a little bit of back and shoulder work (including a knee to the spine). It was painful at times, and apparently unbearably so for Tom as at one point he screamed "NO!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!". Lee and I laughed. Coincidentally, Tom had nicknamed his masseuse The Punisher before she ever laid a hand on him. Anyway, at the end of the hour, Lee and I felt great (I think Tom was still reeling from the pain). Highly recommended! It cost $10 (60 RMB).

Feeling completely relaxed, we had no desire to do anything more. Good night.

On the train to Nanjing (video)

Upon arriving in Nanjing, the train station was packed!