Nanjing, Day 27

It was our first official free day in Nanjing. Although there was an optional Bike tour of the City, I chose to explore it on my own. I slept in a little, reviewed the new Chinese words we learnt during the week, and went down to the Café to use the Internet.

After having lunch at the ‘Western’ Café on Campus, sometimes the craving of Western food is too hard to resist and it serves as a good break from the daily Chinese food we eat, I ventured of with James and Michael to Fuzi Miao.

Fuzi Miao (20 min cab drive from Nanda) is a huge Market and the Site of one of the Confucius temples in Nanjing. We walked around, trying different Chinese snacks and buying little Chinese souvenirs.

Our bargaining skills in China have definitely improved! I must admit that bargaining in China sounds easier than what it is. It takes time, perseverance, and depending on the shop-owner a little joking around. At the end we were pretty successful and felt satisfied with the prices we got. We bought some bracelets, fans, key-chains, chopsticks, and such souvenirs for our families and friends back home.  

As for walking around next to the two blond boys on the trip, we had to stop for several pictures to be taken. I have a theory that one day our picture will be displayed in the living room of a Chinese home. As for now, the attention we get as foreigners has been pretty funny. People either want your picture and/or they just want to interact with you for a bit.

A 10-year-old boy started talking to us for at least 5 min asking us where we were from and if we liked Nanjing, while his dad was taking a picture of us.

After eating some noodles for dinner at the market, we headed back to campus to make it in time for discussion. We talked about our experience so far at our different Internships and our thoughts on the Nanjing Massacre Museum.

- Alexandra S.