A Day in Nanjing

Almost two weeks ago, a friend of mine had to make a trip to Nanjing. He would be going on business while I would take a day to be alone and wander around Nanjing. I figured wandering around the city would be a fun way to for my day visit. The round trip train would cost 134 RMB ($19.56 US). Once we both arrived in Nanjing, we would go our separate ways.

I brought my tourist map and my man purse to carry all the travel essentials from toilet paper, batteries, camera, snacks, and many other items. It is very typical to see men with these type of bags all around China. I have to admit, they do come in handy when you make trips and they are much smaller than a backpack. Also, I feel my belongings are safer when they are in front of me.

I would get onto the taxi and ask to be taken to the Purple Mountain Scenic Area. I have been to this area before and thought it would be nice to walk around and enjoy the maybe fresh air. Well, the taxi driver would tell me that the area was not available for viewing and I ended being dropped off at the Monk Peak Scenic Area. I would continue walking until I came to a sign that displayed cable cars. I would decide to take a ride on the Zijinshan Ropeway 紫金山索道门. The cable car ride would cost 60 RMB ($8.76 US) for a round trip and 35 RMB ($5.38 US)for a single way.

It was actually a pretty fun trip. It was very slow and quite long. I would pass the Astronomical Observatory Station and stop at the top of the mountain at Monk Peak Station. It was about 448 meters high. As I got closer to the top it would get much colder. I could look out over the city. I would enjoy a sausage on a stick and a tea egg for lunch.

Then, it was a long walk down. Actually, many people would walk up and down the mountain. The cable cars were mostly empty.

There were many people tired from the long walk. Many people would rest after going down alot of the stairs. Above you can see a tired female making her way down the mountain.

I would walk to the observatory station and take a taxi to the shopping mall to look around. It turned out that it was the International Day for Women and the shopping mall was very crowded with many women. Shopping definitely was not the thing to do today. I walked around the shopping center and then it was time to start heading home.

I would eat a nice beef noodle dinner inside the train station and enjoy a return trip on the D train. It was a nice day trip for under 220 RMB ($32.12 US).