Purple Mountain

Friends,

I'm sorry it's been so long since my last post! School has been totally overwhelming. Right about now, I really wish I wasn't taking 20 units. I find myself so exhausted by the end of the day that I can barely keep my eyes open long enough to finish all my homework! All of my Chinese explorations and adventures are going to have to wait until the weekend.

the tomb of Sun Yat-sen

Last weekend we went up to Purple Mountain as a group. It was terribly unorganized, which most of you know drives me absolutely insane! I will most likely not be participating in future group activities. However, despite the insanity, we managed to have a pretty exciting trip! Purple Mountain is on the outskirts of Nanjing and is where the tombs of China's most important political leaders are. We were able to go into the tomb of China's first president, as well as the memorial palace of the Ming Dynasty. Every monument was further and further up the mountain. It was tiring and my legs were jello by the end, but it was totally worth it!

there he lies

memorial of the Ming Dynasty (tombs are blocked within the mountain)

After exploring the tombs, everyone was pretty hot and tired so most people went home. A group of about 10 of us, along with our two professors, went on a hike through the woods (we saw tons of crazy bugs) and found a lake where people were swimming. It was absolutely beautiful!! I wish I had better pictures, but you just had to be there. So we all stripped down (we had our suits, just in case) and jumped in! We swam around with the fishes for a bit and then headed home. It was a wonderful way to end the day :)

men in speedos congregate in the middle of the lake

the sign we didn't see until after we jumped in

One of the most interesting things about Nanjing is that no one uses diapers for their babies. They think it's expensive and wasteful. Instead, they cut a hole in the butt of their child's clothes so that they can just go potty wherever/whenever they want. THIS IS NOT A JOKE! It's totally serious and everyone does it! I took the liberty of taking a photograph (discreetly) as proof for all of you back home that this really is happening. I'm sorry if this offends anyone, I was just caught so off guard and wanted to share this experience with you all.














I am looking forward to another fun weekend, so I should have plenty to share with you all next week! Love and miss you terribly!!


Zaijian,
Crystal


P.S. I getting really good at Mandarin! Someone actually understood me yesterday!