Shanghai Aviation Course - Day 2 (Nanjing/Suzhou)
I always try to keep promises. At last, Day 2!
The second morning. We left Nanjing on this day and went to Suzhou. But we went to several places first.
View from inside the hotel. We were having breakfast, I think.
And so we have gathered, preparing to leave the hotel.
The scenery outside.
More scenery. That's one nice looking temple.
Construction site! This looks crazy, though, the way they demolish those houses.
Hammering away!
The Great Leader, Mao.
"By uniting, we can achieve bigger goals!"
This Nanjing-Yangtze bridge was built in 1968, or so I heard. It was built by China alone during the turbulent era (if I'm not wrong during the Cultural Revolution) and hence is many Chinese people's pride.
Damn windy outside. It was around 14 deg C I think.
View.
Under the bright Sun (evident from my squinting), the temperature is still cold for me. One of the rare shots of myself (I hate taking photos of myself), this was taken by the DC of NCC (Air).
I guess China is still developing. At a very rapid pace, though.
Temple.
And here, we visit the Nanjing University of Aeronautics (I think). Saw some planes, including those that the students designed themselves.
It seems the air intake is from the nose of the aeroplane.
More planes.
Engines! It looks old, must be a turbojet.
If I remember correctly, this plane is made of fibreglass, is light, and used for flying training. And I think it was designed by the students.
Outside the campus. After which we went to another place.
Ah. We all know this date. We were going to visit the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall the previous day, but then the tour guide changed plans, only to find out that it was closed on that day (Monday). As a Chinese Singaporean, sometimes I just don't know whether to hate the Japanese or not, thanks to those atrocities they committed, despite my recent interest in their culture. And still, the Japanese refused to acknowledge the existence of such brutality.
Statues of people running away from the Imperial Japanese Army. Women and children not spared.
So after that, we went to the Presidential Palace. This palace has a long history, built in the Ming Dynasty.
The surrounding.
I heard from the tour guide that is a library. What a unique design!
Inside the palace.
A huge palace indeed.
Taiping Rebels! They don't cut their hair. Anyway they're rebels against the Qing Dynasty. The leader believed he was the brother of Jesus and went against the Qing, causing the Taiping Revolution, where I think the rebels took control of several Southern cities (Beijing was the capital at that time). They took Nanjing and if I'm not wrong made this palace the base. The Qing won, but after a very long fight.
Before and after the attempted revolution, it was a place for some Qing viceroy I think.
And this is after the overthrow of the Qing. The guy's Sun Yat Sen. Still respected throughout China although he started the Kuomintang.
Chiang Kai-shek. By this time China was almost unified until the control of Kuomintang, after that turbulent warlord era. They shifted the capital to Nanjing. This place was then used as the office for him.
Qing uniform.
A model of the huge palace.
Sun Yat Sen.
We're still inside the palace, but there's a huge change in architecture style. This is distinctively Western, must have been built during the ROC era.
Office.
After this, we began a long journey to Suzhou.
I had to take this, hardly see this in Singapore. It's a cooling tower!
Better looking apartments.
Hokkien food! But I've never tried them before.
The hotel we stayed in in Suzhou.
And so that wraps up the second day in China.
:)Labels: Shanghai
人之命,若无意,何生乎?15:31