8.16.2014

欢迎你到南京 - welcome to nanjing

Nanjing, my new home!

So far, so good. A little background, Nanjing was the capitol for the Republic of China pre-Mao (which is why there's lots of Sun Yatsen stuff here), and the site of some pretty horrible war crimes, but aside form that, there's alot of culture and history here that is non-political. Nanjing has a ton of traditional arts and burial mounds and historical areas. It's also an enormously green city with two lakes, a mountain and five or six large parks within the city. It's also a huge center for education, with quite a few well known universities.

My first five days were spent living at a hotel in the new Olympic Park area (the Youth Olympic Games started today). Hotel breakfast was free and .... interesting.

Tofu noodles, stir-fried veggies, pumpkin, sweet deep fried fish. and melon. Other options included rice porridge, roast duck, pickled things (cucumbers, garlic, tofu, fish), fried rice, fried noodles, potatoes, broccoli, and a dozen kinds of dumplings.
After taking care of some stuff like setting up bank accounts and meeting some co-workers, I was antsy and walked around town. I'll make a post for 新街口/Xinjiekou (City Center) and  夫子庙/Fuzimiao (Confucius Temple) next. But first.....

Things Japan Could Learn from China

1. Trash cans - How novel, China has discovered how to have trash cans available on sidewalks more than once every 2 kilometers. In Japan, if you buy a drink from a vending machine, you better chug that thing cause you need to throw it in the bin beside the machine or carry the bottle for the next 45 minutes when you find the next trash can.

My apartment complex alone has like.... twenty. 

2. Life after 10 pm - I couldn't believe there were malls and shops and cafes open past 10, and last order at most restaurants seems to be later than 10:30. 
This mall was open til 10:30, so I could buy a phone. Also, the sign says no dogs, but I ran across a few cockapoos.
3. Fruit - I eat it every day and I'm not broke.

4. Vegetables - Cause no one REALLY wants to grill a single sliver of cabbage at yakiniku to feel like they ate vegetables

Things I Need to Bring From Japan

1. Sashimi

2. One-Cup Sake

3. Japanese toilets - I miss you, self-cleaning machines. (I had a picture to justify this sense of loss, but I'm too nice to show you the toilet I found.)

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