Briefly, Nanjing – Lost in Nanjing

The afternoon was bright and it was becoming very hot.  I headed to the southwestern part of the city looking for food.  The plan was to visit the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Jiangdongmen after lunch.

I was looking for Liji Restaurant, which serves Islamic cuisine.

Then I got lost.  For an hour or so, I went back and forth on a large cross section, trying to find my way to the small residential neighborhood in which the famous restaurant has established its presence.  When I finally found it, I thought to myself, the food had better worth the effort.

At the restaurant, it was going to be another hour of wait because there was a huge queue for the food.  Eventually, I did have the lunch that I wanted, and I thought that the food was well-worth the effort.  I will talk about this restaurant in the Nanjing food entry.

A trip to Nanjing would not complete if one has not seen the Memorial Hall.  I cannot emphasize this point more.  It is a testament to a very important and painful part of Nanjing’s history.

It was about 2:30pm when I finished lunch.  Immediately I headed off to the Memorial Hall.  To my disappointment, the queue there was so long that it would take a three-hour wait before being admitted.  That meant that I would have to rush through the exhibits before the Memorial Hall closed for the day.  I took no time to make a decision, I must shuffle my itinerary, and come back another day.

The next intended site to visit was the Mochou Lake.  I would never have enough of in-city natural wonders, so seeing two lakes in the same day served me well.  Moreover, the Mochou Lake comes with a legend of its own.  Its Chinese name “mochou” means “not to be sad.”  There are stories behind the naming of the lake.

To my great disappointment, the Mochou Lake also closed for renovation.  Perhaps I should just head back to the hotel to rest for the day, I thought.  But I told myself to move on, because 1.  I might only visit Nanjing once; 2.  There is blogging to do.

Despite the unexpected disappointments, I gathered a very good sense of Nanjing as a city.  By the time I found my way between multiple sites in Jianye District, the southwestern part of the city, I had full confidence that I could navigate all around the city on buses and the subway.

So I forged ahead to the Presidential Palace.