Looking up at the Pearl.
Looking down.
Recently I explored the Oriental Pearl (indoor rollercoaster, arcade, museum, revolving restaurant, skyscraper and radio tower – all in one) with a couple American friends on my scholarship program. Even though I’d already been to the Pearl once, it was still great to go back and look at the city with a “birds-eye-view.”
Me.
An interesting pedestrian walkway.
The construction is ongoing.
Last week my NSLI-Y scholarship group from Shanghai travelled
to Nanjing, the ex-capital of China and a city that boasts thousands of years
of history. Along with the other Americans from the Beijing NSLI-Y group, we went
to popular tourists sites such as the Sun Yat-sen mausoleum, the Nanjing
massacre memorial, and KTV (karaoke). We volunteered at several local YMCAs and
elementary schools and taught young children and disabled students English.
School girls in Nanjing.
On our first night in Nanjing we ate hotpot, performed KTV
(karaoke) and got to know our fellow NSLI-Y students based in Beijing.
Hotpot.
At the first YMCA we visited, we performed songs and dances
for elderly people and engaged in conversations with them to learn about their
lives as Nanjingians. The elderly Chinese also put on quite a show for us with
their sword dances, Tai qi routines and exuberant style of singing.
Dancing grandmothers.
During the next two days we volunteered at a different YMCA,
one for people ranging in ages from 16 to 60 with mental illnesses. We were
able to interact with them by playing with Playdough, performing charades and sharing
songs. We ended up learning their school song and we taught them “If you’re Happy
and You Know It.” We were each assigned partners; my partner happened to really
like basketball and had a lot of knowledge about the NBA.
Volunteering in Nanjing.
Later in the week we volunteered at a rural elementary
school just outside of Nanjing. We taught them a little bit of English, read
them “The Cat in the Hat,” played bingo and made picture frames to commemorate
our visit. They also performed a quick Kung-fu routine for us. For lunch we got
to eat at one of the children’s homes. At yet another YMCA, we taught kids
English and choreographed performances with the kids, including some funny
dances and English and Chinese songs.
In the classroom.
Lunch with one of the Nanjing student's family.
For cultural and historical enhancement of the trip, we went
to the Nanjing Massacre Memorial. This memorial was built as a reminder of the
Japanese attack on Nanjing in 1937, where over 300,000 Chinese were killed. The
exhibits in the memorial were quite graphic showing the actual remains of
slaughtered Chinese citizens and described in detail their deaths. It was a
somber place to visit, but also had a message of peace. We also climbed the
many stairs of Sun Yat-sen’s tomb and explored his mausoleum.
Inside the Nanjing Massacre Memorial.
Nanjing Massacre Memorial.
Sun Yat-sen’s tomb.
Sadly we had to leave this new city and our new Beijing
friends. We didn’t get to explore on our own very much, but that’s okay because
all-in-all it was a pretty good trip. Luckily we’ll get to reunite with our
new Beijing friends in a couple weeks in Hangzhou, another city in China
that we get to explore during the end of our long break.
Beijing and Shanghai NSLI-Y groups in Nanjing.
Tomorrow I leave for Zhejiang province with my host father
and brother (host mother has to stay home and work). We will visit with my host
family’s family and friends and celebrate the Chinese New Year! According to my
host dad the main activity is eating; I already like the sound of it. My last
trip to Zhejiang in the fall was pretty fun. Maybe if all of the people I met
last time in Zhejiang still remember me, it’ll be even more exciting this time!
