Nanjing’s People Mountain
Dr Sun Yat Sen’s Mausoleum – under seige
Off to the side of Nanjing is a patch of green. That green is Zhongshan, a miniature range of hills, home to a few parks, Linggu Pagoda, the Ming Tomb, Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum and a tour-de-force-of-Chinese antitourism at it’s very best.
The history and the people that ruin it
This is the absolute pinnacle. This is what puts Nanjing on the map. They’ve managed to infest a couple hills with masses and masses of the sightseeing human.
A quiet stroll through the forest with my friends
At one point there must have been some trodden paths through the woods. Now they’ve paved the whole thing so that the actual woods are out of reach. Good thing because on a weekend, hordes of tourist snapshot their way shoulder-to-shoulder along each and every span of badly laid concrete.
Some folks don’t get the appeal of a stroll the forest. No bother. Here’s a fleet of oversize golf karts careening around like it’s a woodlands rally. There’s a couple companies vying for attention and you bet! they’ve got horns. It’s like being followed around all day by an aggressive Chinese caddy because, well, that’s what it is.
One of the great antitourism wonders of China
Through a gap in the trees and all we could do at the foot of the stairs was stand and applaud. They’ve done it. They’ve managed to make a human scale replica of a termite mound. Amazing.
Preparing for battle
Amongst the general worker-tourists are shepherding guides toting stuffed toys on sticks. Armies of OAPs in battle-baseball-caps phalanx through the crowds as photograph after photograph is entirely wasted.
Must. Photograph. Four. Characters
And they’re willing to make man-mountains to get a crooked shot of four Chinese characters written on a wall.
Finding peace behind the castle walls
Fortunately there’s a relative oasis of calm on Zhongshan behind the 70RMB admission gates where the golf carts can’t roam free. Even in 555AD they must have had the human-horde problem because old Ming went and put his house on a 30 meter plinth and built the world’s largest garden wall in a circle around his garden.
Some of the prettier stuff, fortunately next to the exit turnstyles
That and the ripped off aztec terraces are admittedly the historic and aesthetic highlight of the mountain, perhaps embroidered thanks to their proximity to Zhongshan’s south western exit. We escaped.
I just spent an incredible weekend walking through mountain forest tea plantations, bbq and beers on the lake shore watching the sun set, wandering a beautiful (gated) park. Just two hours outside of Shanghai and hardly any tourists. Amazing!
that doesn’t sound anti-touristic at all! Pls send dets.
It’s Changshu, Jiangsu where I work during the week.I thought it was all KTVs and factories until last weekend when I finally made time to explore.
Shang lake has a gated park which is perhaps a little bit concocted, but not overly so and very pleasant nonetheless. Took a 15 kuai boat tour of the crane breeding grounds (got to steer the boat myself). Lots of stuff to see in general, an easy afternoon’s time if the weather’s nice.
Yu Mountain is also great. Hardly any tourists when I was there despite the amazing weather. You can take a bus to the top and check out the view over Shang Lake, then wander through the tea plantations all the way down. Takes a couple hours.
Changshu’s old-town is also terribly charming. The old buildings have been renovated properly and are functional (unlike Shanghai’s old town). There are small canals throughout the city. Amazing!
Best part? You can crash at my place.
Oh, the other best part is the beer boat. On your way out to Shang Lake (rmb25 in a taxi) you’ll pass a bar shack next to a barge with tables and chairs set out. Make sure to head back that way around sunset for cheap carlsberg pints on the shore. May be impossible to get a taxi back to town at night, but the 45 minute walk is very pleasant.
Haha – this looks amazing. I can’t wait until China properly opens the tourist doors and all of them can come to Europe. That will be awesome.
This sounds awesome – thanks. Definitely up for a trip out to your Ranch!
The day is definitely coming. We are doomed. They will come and entirely cover Buckingham Palace in wasted daylight camera flashes.