On to Nanjing

Oct 29

This morning at 7:40 Bruce Lee drives us to the train station.  We will be traveling to Nanjing by high speed train traveling at 300 km/hr.  The trip take 70 minutes, we are offered a beverage and a snack.

  Nanjing is a much smaller city (compared to Shanghai) with a population of only 7 million.  It is situated on the south bank of the Yangtze River.

We go with Gerald to the Cargill plant and meet several of his work colleagues.  Everyone is so kind and welcoming. Jyl, Sid and I are provided with a driver that speaks no English and a tour guide, Gordon, that speaks a bit of English.

We head out to a 20 acre park where the Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum is located. 

  Dr. Sun Yat-sen led the democratic revolution in 1911 that brought down the Qing Dynasty ending 2000 years of the Chinese feudal monarchy system.

We inspect some of the maintenance equipment! 

From there we head to the Confucius Temple.

  We spend some time walking the tourist shops and small markets in the area.  We notice the hanging 'salted ducks' in one of the shops!

  We had a very interesting insight into how the ancient Chinese governments choose officials when we visited the Jiangnan Gongyuan, the largest examination school in China.  The examination school housed a destiny decided event organized by the government.  It was a method for a nationwide examination for selecting  talents.  The Imperial Examination was regularly held in ancient China and was related to every family in China.  To 'win' or 'pass'  the nationwide event was a great honor.  The exam only took place in Nanjing.  The examinees entered the complex and could not come out until the end of the exam, which generally would last several days. Their eating, sleeping and preparation of the examinees amid the examination would be taken here. The individual exam area is nothing more that a hovel.  The Gongyuan became  sacred and mysterious.  The Imperial Examination became a life turning point, representing superiority and lifelong wealth.  Successful candidates from a regularly held examination numbered over 1,000,000.  One of the signs also mention that eventually the process became corrupt and 'idiots with money' were being selected!

In the evening we join Gerald's work group for a beautiful Chinese dinner. All 18 guests are seated at a round table in one room.  The table is massive (as is the table cloth!)  We are well fed with an unimaginable (and often unidentifiable) amount of courses and many toasts!

At this time I am overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness being shown to us.