The rest were still chatting over breakfast while I had my quiet time. The group converse in Chinese most of the time so I could not really participate in the conversations.
Today Siong Po told us that we would be visiting memorial sites. Along the way, I see mature maple trees everywhere lining the streets. It was kind of exciting to finally get to see the tree I have always wanted to see. Apart from that, there were lots of fir, alpine, spruce, gingko and willow trees. The air in Nanjing is rather cool.
First we visited the Nanjing Massacre Memorial where 300,000 people died during the pre-WW2 Japanese invasion into China. The place is so solemn, dark and stark, and dedicated to peace with very modern architecture.
Then it was on to the Presidential Palace of Chiang Kai Shek. The palace is so well taken care of both the building interiors and the gardens. It is so full of history.
Nanjing is a mixed city of old and new, rich and poor.
Finally we went to Zhongshan Park where the world heritage - the Ming and Ching tombs are located. This park is so immense it took us half a day and yet we did not manage to cover the whole place.
All in all, we walked through the day, looking at Chinese history from the Ming dynasty to the modern day, and even got lost after dark in the park. We huffed and puffed our way back to the carpark after walking in circles, in the dark.
