Nanjing Excursion! (pt 1)

Today was our last trip outside of Shanghai, to a city a little over an hour away, Nanjing! After taking the early morning bullet train there, we first went to the Presidential Palace, which was for the President of the Republic of China (before the president's office was moved to Taiwan).

After wandering around the palace and its gardens, we headed to the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum. 392 steps later, we reached the vault at the top of the staircase. The stairs, according to our tour guide, symbolized Sun Yat-sen's respect for all others. That despite being on a higher level, he regarded others as if they had as much to offer as he did. The way the stairs are designed, in fact, prevents you from actually being able to see the stairs from where you stand at the peak, showing Sun Yat-sen's ability to disregard these differences. It was exhaustingly hot, but from that peak you could see all across Nanjing, which made it well worth it.

(picture credits for the last photo go to Meilyn, one of our program leaders!)
 

We later went to explore more of the nearby sights, but my good friend, Trinity, is going to narrate the second half of our trip in her blog post. So go read that too once it's posted!

 

-Maia Brydon