A Month in China ~ Part Two

Hello sweet friends...
As promised, here is part two...
 I am delighted to be writing about the day we spent in Nanjing.

This was probably my favourite part of the month I spent in China...

Nanjing, formerly known as Nanking and once the capital of China, is 143 km from Hefei which is where my dad lives and works.
 It is the capital of the Jiangsu province and is recognized as one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China...

The delightful thing about Nanjing is that there are many beautiful ancient heritage sites to visit...

We were able to visit Nanjing's City Wall and gardens (One of China's other 'great walls') as well as the Confucius Temple.

Nanjing is a beautiful city and I would definitely go back to continue exploring should I have the opportunity of traveling to China again!

We left our apartment in Hefei early Sunday morning and arrived at the train station half an hour before our train was scheduled to depart...
After queuing for our tickets, going through security and finding the correct gate, we made it to our train with about three minutes to spare.
High speed trains wait for no man...we made a mental note to give ourselves more time in the future!

I loved the train ride to Nanjing; I found it so smooth and comfortable and being able to watch the gorgeous countryside go by was an absolute treat!

It was also thrilling to go over the Yangtze River bridge - I learnt about the Yangtze River years ago and never thought I'd have the opportunity to see it with my own eyes!


^Nanjing South Railway Station

After about an hour we arrived at Nanjing South Railway Station.

We were overwhelmed at the size and grandeur of this railway station...

^Riding the underground was fantastic!

After coffee at Starbucks we made our way to the underground subway and caught the metro to Fuzimao Station which is quite near the Confucius Temple.
I must just add that I loved riding the metro and the fact that it is such a cheap means of travel made the experience all the more enjoyable!

It took us awhile to make our way out of the subway and to find the correct route to the temple, but on the way we did some shopping.

I found some beautiful scarves for my sisters and a silk scarf for myself.

I also bought a set of porcelain chopsticks and various other treasures such as postcards...

^There are so many beautiful old trees in Nanjing!

We enjoyed visiting the temple even though it didn't hold any special meaning for us considering we are Christians.
I briefly studied Confucius several years ago, so it was quite exciting to visit this temple for that reason.

We enjoyed exploring the area around the temple for an hour or so, then we took the subway again to find a place to eat....

After lunch we took the subway to a station close to the Nanjing City Wall...

We walked a fair distance once leaving the station, but this was a treat as Nanjing is a beautiful city and has a great many amazing sights to enjoy!

^View of the lake from the one part of the city wall...


^View from the other side of the city wall...



I was delighted to have the opportunity to walk on the city wall - it was the one thing I really wanted to do whilst I was in China!

^There is a small shop on the wall...I found some gorgeous washi tape (for my travel journal) and postcards there...

^The Jinming temple can be seen from the city wall.


^Look at that tall building in the distance!  It is called the Zifeng Tower and is the tallest building in Nanjing at 450 m in height.


^Oh, hello!

It was really hot that day, so we only walked on the wall for about half an hour before going down to the gardens for an ice cream.
We enjoyed sitting at the water's edge and taking in the scenery...

^Taking a well-earned rest!

Should you ever go to Nanjing, I would highly recommend taking the time to enjoy the gardens surrounding the wall!  

We would have loved to have stayed longer and walked around a bit...

We had actually hoped to stay in Nanjing overnight so as to continue exploring the following day, but our accommodation didn't work out (long story), so we ended up changing our tickets and catching the late train home...
It was just as well - we were absolutely exhausted after a whole day of sunshine and sightseeing!
{{smiles}}

And thus ended a truly wonderful, memorable day in Nanjing...
I am hoping to stop in with part three next week...until then, blessings to you, dear readers!

Oh and a warm welcome to my new followers...it is a joy to have you along for this journey!

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