I started my morning with the perfect bubble tea. A lot of Americans talk about an excellent cup of coffee, which I wish I could appreciate but really can't--this bubble tea would be my equivalent. Bubble tea has a lot of components to it--the right tea, amount of milk, sugar, and the boba. Many places screw up the boba, it's either too hard, not thoroughly cooked, or maybe overly cooked. That right balance of soft and chewy requires that the boba be fresh--good bubble tea places make sure their boba were cooked in the last hour or so. The other common is bubble tea that is overly sweet. This isn't as much of an issue in Asia.
My bubble tea this morning was perfect in every way. I was originally going to drink it on my way to the train station, but it was so good that I had to sit down and really savor it. So here I am, enjoying my bubble tea in the common area of my hostel.
So far, Nanjing may be my favorite city. This could however, be because I'm staying at a really excellent location, near Fuzu Temple, which has a night market and a beautiful river. Unlike Beijing, it's not crowded. The river is gorgeous and jade green, with older style houses with red lanterns hung outside. I thought it was already pretty during the day, but at night it was magic. The lanterns glowed red, and lights by the river had been turned on. Golden boats sailed slowly down the canals. Nanjing is breathtaking by night.
I have mixed feelings about traveling alone. There is certainly a sense of peace to it. For sure I like the flexibility, and when I come across a particularly beautiful place, it almost feels like a secret that only I (and a bunch of other tourists I guess) have discovered. It seems special and private. At the same time, I wish I could capture that moment and share it with people. Best thing so far is a camera, but that doesn't do these places Justice. It can't capture smells or sounds, temperature or breezes, for example.
Yesterday, I went to the Zhijin Mountain area. My cousins had been worried that I wouldn't find my hotel, but I asked for directions and found it quite easily. Zhijin literally means purple gold, and I can see why the mountain has that name. My first stop was the Sun Yat Sen Mausoleum. He is one of the political figures that both Communists and Nationalists alike respect. There are 392 steps and a long walkway up to his tomb, which overlooks the city of Nanjing. I hadn't been expecting the view, I was just plodding up the stairs to the blue temple like building. When I turned around, I saw a mountain that glittered. It really did look like it was made of gold, it shone and sparkled in the sun. The city lay sprawled out. I forgot to mention that Nanjing was finally where I saw the sky in China. On the train into Nanjing from rainy Qingdao, the sky had cleared up, and the clouds hung so low that it seemed like you could reach up and grab a handful. Misty Qingdao was pretty in its own way, with wooden ships drifting on the sea, almost like a scene out of Pirates of the Caribbean. A bit ghostly, but beautiful. Nanjing's blue sky though--it put me in a good mood right away.
Supposedly a lot of Taiwanese go to Nanjing because it was the capital under the Nationalists. I ate something funny at some point, so I had already been feeling sick on the train, and was sick yesterday. I went to a temple in that area, and would have explored more, but had a bad stomach ache. I ended up just going to the hostel to rest. My hostel is nice, not super clean, and I did see a roach, but it's not bad for the price. At least I have air conditioning, and I overlook the river.
Nanjing is hot compared to the North, but not so bad compared to New York. In the evening, I walked through the night market. I was going to eat light because of my stomach ache, but oh my God the food! Stinky tofu, bean thread noodles, crab dumplings, and smoked duck. Smoked duck is supposedly the specialty in Nanjing. Desserts were made in the shape of cute ducks, pigs, cartoon characters, flowers, etc. Dessert is not something that needs extra garnishing to get people to eat it, but they went that extra mile. I caved an had some bean thread noodles in a curry soup, and red bean soup with chewy dumpling things. So thus my stomach still has not recovered. The bubble tea probably isn't going to help either, but oh well. I did resist getting stinky tofu, duck and dumplings, which I know would have had a bad effect. Also, I forgot to mention in my last post, Qingdao's specialty is a squid dumpling, and the skin of the dumpling is made with dough mixed with squid ink. Very good. Dumplings in China are fantastic, absolutely nothing like them in the States. In America we just have pork usually. Bleh. My favorites dumplings are filled with turnip and carrots, or zucchini, or the squid ones.
I plan to visit the Nanjing Massacre Memorial today, and take a night time boat ride through the canals. What a beautiful city.
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