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China, September 2005 Day 5 The phone rang at 7:30 a.m. while we were still in our separate twin bed. It was Paul Chiang's niece here to show us around town. We rushed down stairs and were greeted by Big Sister Chiang (that's what I called her because I can't remember Chinese names and it's good manners and tradition besides). BSC started off the morning by finding breakfast for us in the form of noodle soups. Stop 1, Bean got a beef noodle soup and I got shredded pork with pickled mustard greens. They were both good and half-way through, we traded. He was enthusiastic about this form of breakfast. S2, Yue Jiang Lou, a replica pagoda, built upon the ruins of an earlier pagoda. We climbed all the way to the top and were rewarded with views of the city as well as the Yangtze River. S3, Ming Xiao Ling, tomb of emperor Zhu Yuan Zhang, on the other side of the hill from Sun Yat Sen's mausoleum. There is a wide cobbled path leading up to a large structure with a tunnel and a flight of stairs up to... nothing. Just a brick wall. Later, when we got back to the hotel, we caught a program on TV explaining that no one really knows where the emperor is buried and excavation of the site is unlikely because of the damage heat and humidity might cause to the artifacts currently sealed in a tomb. Water seeps out from the inside of the tunnel, giving it a damp coolness that causes more skittish people to think of hauntings. I, however, was glad for the respite from the heat. Poobie decided to go on the walk around the top of the hill and when he got back, we went to the path of stone animals. This tree-lined path has pairs of animals in identical poses facing each other. Horses, camels, elephants, lions and some mythical animals as well, kilin and "unicorns." BSC encouraged us to climb up and take pictures atop the animals. So we climbed around and goofed off and took pictures. More than half-way down the path we saw a sign explaining that the tomb and the statues dated from 1383... They are more than 700 years old! We felt bad about climbing all over them, but couldn't take it back. S4, Lunch time and we went close to the Confucius temple and had a 20 course meal for RMB 58 per person. Each course was very small, perhaps one spring roll or one bun, a small bowl of noodles or soup, but all of it was very well-made and delicious. And good thing each course was only one or two bites. Poobie liked it a lot, saying that he was glad it wasn't just an assortment of exotic meats or fried things (reference dinner Day 3 and night market Day 4). After lunch we took a walk around the Confucius Temple. They were redoing the roof tiles and just as we stepped over the threshold, a giant bag of grout fell down behind us and splattered us a bit. The gewgaw vendors all started yelling at the workers for splattering the tourists. It was kind of funny. On the way out, we spied a McDonald's ice cream walk-up window. Since we had been dying for a "safe" soft-serve cone for several days, we succumbed to the temptation. I got a coke float and Bean got a cone. We walked around a couple more historical buildings, but as we had been going since 7:30 a.m., we started to fade from fatigue and heat. BSC had to pick-up her son from school, and we headed back to the hotel. She headed out with son in tow to grab some ice cream. My parents were at the hotel when we got back with lots of crab so we had crab for dinner that night. After dinner we all had foot massages and then went to bed.
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