According to the driver, it had been raining in Nanjing nonstop before we arrived — but during the three days we spent with Xiao Li, not a single drop fell. Over three days, we had a light tour of Nanjing — visited every place we wanted to, tasted everything we had in mind. The sugarcane juice and freshly pan-fried dumplings were truly delightful.
Jiming Temple was packed with people, especially those praying to the God of Wealth. Laomendong was full of small shops, and the elderly man painting palms had great skills. Fuzimiao didn’t have much to offer, apart from the boat rides and lantern fair. The roadside crispy biscuits, stinky tofu, and sweet taro soup were all delicious. We were worried about being late for dinner, so we took a cab — but a 3.3 km ride took 40 minutes. After that, we completely gave up on taxis for the rest of the trip.
The Nanjing Museum was the first place where we rented an audio guide. We learned the background of some artifacts and saw some odd items — the finely crafted Qing dynasty clocks particularly caught our attention. The beef dumplings and braised beef at Liji Halal Restaurant were amazing, but the recommended beef wontons were rather ordinary.
We had our only bowl of duck blood vermicelli soup in Kexiang — the place was frequented by locals and tasted great. We bought some fried lotus root cakes without knowing what they were until after paying — turns out, they’re meant to be stir-fried. Also grabbed some green rice cakes and water chestnut jelly from Aunt Xu. Sugarcane juice with lemon slices was incredibly refreshing — felt like I could drink one at every stand we passed. We visited Hongshan Zoo during off-peak hours — totally worth the ticket price. We saw black bears playing around and all sorts of clever primates. The constant uphill and downhill walks were exhausting. When we got to the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum, it was already closed, so we spontaneously decided to walk halfway around Xuanwu Lake instead. The breeze was nice — it would have been perfect if we weren’t bundled up in heavy winter pants. We originally planned to eat at Nanjing Impressions, but there were over 200 tables ahead of us, so we switched to a Hangzhou restaurant — also very good. That night, we visited a massage place where the masseur was excellent. On the way out, we spotted a dumpling shop with fresh dumplings going into the pan — couldn’t resist and ended up having a midnight snack.
The Sanxian noodle shop we randomly found after failing to get into Yexin Snacks was quite good — it didn’t even have a name on Maps. The roast duck from a roadside stall was also delicious — the chef’s cutting board was worn into a dent. Ming Xiaoling wasn’t very interesting, but the free photo before climbing the city wall was a nice touch. Meihua Mountain was beautiful, and it was the first time I saw plum blossoms in my life. After coming down, we spontaneously went to Nanjing Impressions — the Royal Pickled Pepper Chicken was tasty, but the rest of the dishes were similar to the disappointing experience we had in Shanghai. Two Sundae cones wrapped up our trip to Nanjing.
Sometimes, street food stalls rival the internet-famous spots. Small local eateries with a touch of everyday life are well worth visiting — experiencing where locals dine is a special kind of joy.
The whole trip was all about spontaneity — apart from the advance reservation for the Nanjing Museum, everything else was decided on the fly, including canceling the plan to visit Yangzhou. We originally wanted to visit *同里/甪直* upon returning to Suzhou but were too exhausted, so we postponed our return train. Back in Suzhou, we had an offline Papa John’s meal and then spontaneously took a stroll around Jinji Lake.
Time to buckle down and study. This might be the last break where I have the freedom (perhaps I shouldn’t be *too* free) to travel at will. I’ll cherish every trip ahead and every reunion with Xiao Li.