My Feet Hurt!

Today was a very busy touring day. Our guide had to pick up our official documents so we had the morning free. We decided to follow the canal towards the old wall of the city. It was a beautiful walk through some neighborhoods where people were going about their daily life. We got more than a few stares (white guy + Chinese girl in a backpack = traffic accidents from rubber necking). The canal area was very peaceful and the wall was really cool. Each and every brick is engraved with the name of the maker... a requirement by the emperor who ordered the wall built so that he knew who to blame if the construction was not up to par.





Our guide picked us up at 2:00 and we headed to Sun Yet-sen's Mausoleum which is on the purple mountain... a beautiful oasis in the city. There are 392 steps up to the actual memorial where he is buried. It was a foggy day so it gave the illusion of actually ascending into the clouds. Breathtaking!





The Purple Mountain is also home to tomb of the Ming Emperor who ruled China from Nanjing (about 600 years ago). He is actually the builder of the first Forbidden City and his city was twice as big as the one in Beijing (which his son built). Unfortunately, most of the city is gone now. The Emperor actually had his own tomb and memorial built and he made it very nice for himself :) The path up to the tomb is lined with giant carved stone animals and soldiers. The path is shaped like a curve (unlike "normal" historic buildings which all have very straight lines) because they discovered another more ancient tomb of an emperor from another family while they were building it. The Ming Emperor "allowed" this other emperor to remain and be a guard for his tomb... how generous! This again was so beautiful and peaceful... a must see!





Our final stop was Thanksgiving dinner! I have been dreaming about roast duck since the last time I was in China so that is what we had to celebrate... I would take that over turkey anyway. Yummy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Could have used some pumpkin pie though :)





We walked about 90 miles today and we are exhausted. But, we really enjoyed what we saw and we have come to love Nanjing. It is with heavy hearts that we leave tomorrow. Catherine had a little bit of an off day. She has not had alot of movement (if you know what I mean... wink!) and I think she is not feeling great. She got through it like a trooper though and we are enjoying watching her get stronger and more comfortable with us everyday. She is just such a joy.