Our train arrived at Nanjing (南京) around 6am and we got to our hotel around 6:30 and our rooms were not available, but there was also no place for us to go as all the tourist areas don't open until 8am. While Charlotte used a public computer to try and book our next hotel I slept on the lobby couch. Once 8am came around we decided to leave our large bags at the front desk and walk around the old town area of Nanjing. We went to the oldest Confucius temple in the country(南京夫子廟), but there wasn't much there. Charlotte then went to another museum(贡院), but it wasn't worth me going in without really knowing the history so I waited outside. We then grabbed a late breakfast/early lunch and headed back and got our hotel room.
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| From 77 Days in China |
Arriving at the train station
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| From 77 Days in China |
Entrance to Old Town(古秦淮)
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| From 77 Days in China |
Confucius Temple
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| From 77 Days in China |
Charlotte in front of an alley that has some sort of historical significance that I don't know
We spent the afternoon at a museum about the history of the Rape of Nanjing(南京大屠殺). Obviously it was a very depressing museum, but it was also very informative. It was amazing though how many Chinese families came with their small children when the museum is filled with huge pictures of executions and dismembered bodies. While it was very informative it is always interesting in what is left out when they discuss history, for example when they discussed the end of WWII they repetitively said "When Japan had no choice but to surrender", always avoiding any details on why they surrendered, only stating that while China was not a direct reason for their surrender, they would not have surrendered without the large role that China played. Also while they never had any problem discussing the horrible things that Japan did, they avoided any mention of the Nazi regime only showing positive things, including showing a humanitarian award signed by Adolf Hitler and given to John Rabe, a German in Nanjing who saved a lot of lives and pleaded Hitler for help. However they then said that he went home after the war and died in Berlin, they left out how first he was arrested by the Nazi party for talking negatively about the Japanese, then after the war he was arrested by the Russians and British for being a Nazi before finally being released. At the end of the museum they were discussing the treaties after the war and had flags of multiple nations including the USA, however I did notice something weird and noticed 2 stars where missing. This of course was because Alaska and Hawaii weren't states, but this was not a normal 48 star flag, instead they simply put tape over 2 of the stars.
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| From 77 Days in China |
Outside the Nanjing museum
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| From 77 Days in China |
Statue outside the museum
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| From 77 Days in China |
An area dedicated to peace, including an eternal flame
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