It's strange to think we're already a quarter done--this week really flew by. Classes continued as usual, and we started doing more cultural activities, mainly a Chinese history lecture on Tuesday followed by two-on-two discussions in both English and Chinese with local government workers on Thursday. We were also paired up with language partners our age at SISU, who we're expected to see at least once a week, and spent the weekend in Nanjing for an overnight trip.
Two other students and I formed a group of three for our language partners, so all six of us (and a friend of my partner) went out for dinner on Friday. They showed us a hotpot restaurant in the mall none of us had ever visited before--it's sponsored by a Chinese pop star, so the walls were covered in artwork of him, the music was exclusively his, and even the napkins came in boxes with his picture on them. It's a little hard to imagine a Justin Bieber-themed restaurant taking off in the U.S., so we were all a little surprised, but the food was amazing, so I can't say we were complaining. I've mainly been sticking to the cheapest food I can find, mostly because it usually tastes better and is more filling anyways, but after that we may have to explore the mall area a little more.
Visiting Nanjing was a great experience, but definitely very busy. Nanjing was previously the capital of a number of Chinese dynasties (南京 literally translates to "Southern Capital"), so it has numerous museums, mausoleums, and memorials (oof that was very unintended alliteration), and a much more traditional feel than Shanghai, which is more industrial, populated, and somewhat more westernized. It's also a four hour bus ride from SISU, so we definitely did lots of traveling in not a lot of time.
Over the course of two days, we visited Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum, the Presidential Palace, the Mausoleum of the Ming Emperor, and the Nanjing Massacre Memorial. I've never been particularly interested in history, so I can't say I was ever really able to keep all of the Chinese dynasties and even the more modern-day rebellions straight, so seeing thousands of years of history laid out in one city is a little overwhelming. Personally, I think the most interesting was the memorial, which outlines the Nanjing Massacre (otherwise known as the Rape of Nanking) of the 1930s. It also highlights the lives, families, and legacies of survivors who are still alive today.
Well, as per usual, I continue to be terrible at taking pictures, so I included what I have (I apologize for being the worst). But in other news, we have a trip to Yuyuan Garden tomorrow, a two-day trip to Hangzhou this weekend, and today is the Dragon Boat Festival, so it sounds like it's only getting busier from here on out. Thanks for reading if you've made it this far and I'll post again next week!