Nanjing

So I've spent a couple of days in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province. Not knowing much about the place I tried to focus on the obvious tourist spots which can easily be found by walking towards the highest concentration of Americans.

Nanjing is a damn old city famous for three things (that I know of):

• It was the capital of China during six dynasties



• It was invaded and a large amount of its inhabitants killed or used for cruel experiments by the Japanese during the 1930s



• It is the home town of Sun Yat-sen, founder of the Republic of China
  

Besides visiting spots related to the above three factoids (the war memorial was closed though) I only had time left for a pretty big park close to the new Olympic Stadium (i.e. in the middle of nowhere).

Waiting for a bus that took 45 minutes to show up

Nanjing is one of the three "hot spots" (or is it hot pots?) of China in regards to average yearly temperature, a fact that's hard to dispute these days. The difference compared to the east coast is palpatable.

View from Sun Yat-sen's mausoleum. The locals are bringing out their umbrellas to protect them from the sun

Sometimes it feels as if it's impossible to fully understand China and its culture as a foreigner. Why was there a gigantic poster promoting Italian power metal band Rhapsody of Fire just outside the hotel? I've never heard their music being played here, nor seen their albums in shops.

Why did the guy at the hot pot restaurant assume that when I asked for pork I was referring to thin slices of pigs' feet and not the perfectly fine rolls of ham that the couple at the other table was eating?

What's up with making the victory sign during every photo shoot and why is it so infectious?

The "oh yeah" pose, perfected by billions of Asians