CSMT Day 6, Nanjing

Train from Shanghai to Nanjing

Today, we took the train from Shanghai to Nanjing.

It was quite an experience, as the train station was very crowded and definitely NOT big-suitcase friendly. Since at this point I was hauling more luggage than anyone else, it was especially fun for me.

Once on the train, though, it was quite nice. The train was modern, and actually reminded me of the one in the Chunnel between England and France (though slower and not, uh, underwater...)

I was hoping to get some nice pics of the countryside, but the train was going so fast, and the sides of the track were lined with trees (probably to reduce the sound of the train), so I didn't get many pics. I guess I'll have to make a countryside tour one of these days ;)

Once in Nanjing, we had lunch, including a specialty of Nanjing - "cold salted duck" which sounds disgusting but is quite good. Then it was off to the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial.

The memorial is a very beautiful park, and well worth the visit. While we were there, we met some junior high students from Shanghai, and naturally asked them what search engine they used. They were unanimous in saying that they normally used Baidu for "fun stuff", but their teacher liked Google, and they also used Google for research and study. Interesting.

After the park, we went (you guessed it) shopping. Brooke was still on a mission to find a suitcase. The thing that I noticed most about Nanjing is that it's very nice - modern, lots of greenery and parks, clean. Our first stop was a shopping mall (including an entire department devoted to merchandise for the 2008 Beijing Olympics).

Next, we took the subway to the Confucius Temple, which is more of a shopping area than a temple, IMO. Oh, I eventually found a temple, but the area is mostly a set of shopping streets ala Nanjing Road and Xiangyang Road Market. The temple, honestly, was a disappointment, especially after the really nice one in Shanghai. Nonetheless, the shopping and atmosphere was very pleasant.

After the temple area, we headed back to the hotel for a good nights sleep - after all, tomorrow is SES China!

Before we could tuck in, we got notice that there was a welcoming party for select SES guests (and all of the CSMT members happened to be on the list) so off we went. It was a very nice meet and greet, though I went through a LOT of business cards (or name cards, as they are often referred to in China).

After the party, Brooke (who is a journalist) managed to convince Stephen Noton to give an interview, and David and I tagged along. By this time, I was exhaused and almost asleep, but Stephen had enough interesting information that I managed to stay awake. ;) You'll hear all about it from Brooke, no doubt.

Finally, we went back to the hotel (New Century Hotel) and grabbed some sleep.

Ian

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