Day 7
It is ~1,200 km (~750 miles) from Beijing to Nanjing. The train left Beijing at 9:42 pm the night before, and arrived in Nanjing at 6:54 am in the morning, just in time for breakfast. We had breakfast at our hotel with my aunt, uncle and my cousin Ping after we checked into our room. I hadn't seen them for 15 years, and they didn't change a bit, which is remarkable since my aunt and uncle are both in their 70s now. They looked healthy and full of energy just like they used to.
1. Our hotel. It is a restaurant and hotel. We chose this hotel because it is only 5 minutes walk to my aunt's home. And its restaurant is one of the best in town.
2. Our room. It is normally 168 RMB/night, but there are 8 rooms reserved for promotional price at 128 RMB/night (~$17) everyday, which we got one. The room was available when we arrived, so we could check in immediately. To check in Chinese hotels (at least this one and some other ones we had stayed), we had to prepay all the nights we were going to stay in cash plus ~100 RMB deposit for key card and telephone usage (even local calls are charged by the minutes). Credit card usage is still not everywhere in China.
3. The bathroom.
4. Shower area. This is the part that I don't like. Taking a shower will make the toilet area wet and slippery. It is really a bad design.
5. View at night from our room. The hotel is only two blocks away from Xin Jie Kou, the famous shopping area in Nanjing.
6. Breakfast menu.
7. Breakfast was one steamer of Tang Bao (5 RMB) plus one bowl of small wonton soup (2 RMB), for a total of just under $1. Tang Bao is like Bao Zi in Beijing, except it has extra juice inside. Just one bite into this thing, we thought we were in heaven. This is the best new thing Dave and I had it on the whole trip.
8. Small wonton soup. I thought my dad made the best wonton in the world until I had this. It is so good. The wrapper was so thin that it melted in the mouth.
9. Walking to my aunt's home.
10. My aunt's door. Those stamps are advertisements for A/C, plumbing, drilling contractors. Their stamps were everywhere in the hallway. In fact, My aunt had her outside wall repainted just recently, but the stamps came back within days, worse than ever on freshly painted white wall.
11. Wedding convoy seen on the way walking.
12. Xin Jie Kou, the famous shopping area in Nanjing.
13. Flower arrangement with sports figure on top, Xin Jie Kou area.
14. Flower arrangement with sports figure on top, Xin Jie Kou area.
15. Papa John's Pizza near Xin Jie Kou. We saw a lot of McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut in China. This is the first time we saw a Papa John's.
(To be continued)
It is ~1,200 km (~750 miles) from Beijing to Nanjing. The train left Beijing at 9:42 pm the night before, and arrived in Nanjing at 6:54 am in the morning, just in time for breakfast. We had breakfast at our hotel with my aunt, uncle and my cousin Ping after we checked into our room. I hadn't seen them for 15 years, and they didn't change a bit, which is remarkable since my aunt and uncle are both in their 70s now. They looked healthy and full of energy just like they used to.
1. Our hotel. It is a restaurant and hotel. We chose this hotel because it is only 5 minutes walk to my aunt's home. And its restaurant is one of the best in town.
2. Our room. It is normally 168 RMB/night, but there are 8 rooms reserved for promotional price at 128 RMB/night (~$17) everyday, which we got one. The room was available when we arrived, so we could check in immediately. To check in Chinese hotels (at least this one and some other ones we had stayed), we had to prepay all the nights we were going to stay in cash plus ~100 RMB deposit for key card and telephone usage (even local calls are charged by the minutes). Credit card usage is still not everywhere in China.
3. The bathroom.
4. Shower area. This is the part that I don't like. Taking a shower will make the toilet area wet and slippery. It is really a bad design.
5. View at night from our room. The hotel is only two blocks away from Xin Jie Kou, the famous shopping area in Nanjing.
6. Breakfast menu.
7. Breakfast was one steamer of Tang Bao (5 RMB) plus one bowl of small wonton soup (2 RMB), for a total of just under $1. Tang Bao is like Bao Zi in Beijing, except it has extra juice inside. Just one bite into this thing, we thought we were in heaven. This is the best new thing Dave and I had it on the whole trip.
8. Small wonton soup. I thought my dad made the best wonton in the world until I had this. It is so good. The wrapper was so thin that it melted in the mouth.
9. Walking to my aunt's home.
10. My aunt's door. Those stamps are advertisements for A/C, plumbing, drilling contractors. Their stamps were everywhere in the hallway. In fact, My aunt had her outside wall repainted just recently, but the stamps came back within days, worse than ever on freshly painted white wall.
11. Wedding convoy seen on the way walking.
12. Xin Jie Kou, the famous shopping area in Nanjing.
13. Flower arrangement with sports figure on top, Xin Jie Kou area.
14. Flower arrangement with sports figure on top, Xin Jie Kou area.
15. Papa John's Pizza near Xin Jie Kou. We saw a lot of McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut in China. This is the first time we saw a Papa John's.
(To be continued)
