Nanjing Friends

I really enjoyed my time in Nanjing. Shao Long and Fan Yi introduced me to the city's rich and inspiring history. The city has a wonderful mixture of contemporary architecture mixed in with historic buildings and some very nice small parks to compliment the Zhongshan Scenic Area. One thing I enjoyed about the current layout of the city is that the city is on a human scale. You don't feel overshadowed by too many tall buildings; there is enough space between the tall buildings that you can actually see the architecture from the street level. I will put up some photos of the city in later posts.

But for this post I want to introduce my friends, both those I met at UMSL and new friends I met in Nanjing, who were so generous to me. Shao Long helped me get from place to place. Without him I would have been lost. Plus, he took me to the Presidential Palace, where I learned about Dr Sun Yat-Sen, the founder of modern China. Fan Yi also helped me with logistics, plus walked me all over the Zhangshan Scenic Area. It is a beautiful park, but I would recommend seeing it in several trips. There is so much to see.

I would like to make a special note about Dong Yan's sister, Dong Jing, and her family. I stayed in their apartment while I was in Nanjing. They were such gracious hosts. Dong Jing and her husband Gan Shaojun always made sure I had everything I needed before they went off to work. Dongdong, their son, let me use his room while I was there. Then there was Gan Shaojun's mother who served me such "haochi" (delicious) food while I was there. They were wonderful hosts and a great family. I can't thank them enough.