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“One word: hot, hot, HOT!” |
One word: hot, hot, HOT! Nanchang boils in the summer heat. We knew it would be hot but nothing could prepare us for the oven blast that first staggered us when we exited the airport yesterday. Beautiful blue skies, not too much smog (your lungs burn in Beijing) and today a high of 39. Armed with this knowledge, and not enough sunblock, we headed out today at 10.30 for what turned out to be a 4 hour walk all around the city.
It didn't take long for us to stand out like sore thumbs. I'm sure many schoolchildren will remember today as the day they saw the two "whities" for the first time in their lives. While lots of folks stopped and stared at us openly, the overwhelming response was a smile and the odd "Hello!". We're pretty much in the boonies here - the city's not even in our Fodor's guide (thick as a brick). With "only" 4 million people, this is a small town for China.
I stopped for a second to catch my breath on a streetcorner (Chuck) and two young girls came up, saying "Hello! Hello!" and giggling the whole time. I asked them if they spoke English, in my best Mandarin (something like "Nee hway shwa ying-wen-ma?" to which they replied something like "so-so"). I wanted to know how to ask a merchant "How much?" and they obliged with "Duo show tsien" which I promptly forgot and have been asking Magda how to say since then. I gave them each a Canada pin and they were very happy to receive the gift. A highlight of the day. We also were subject to a few taunts and jeers but hey, not knowing the language means you can just walk away. Most everyone smiles, especially if you say "Nee how" - "How are you?".
We made our way down to the more southerly end of town (once Magda made sense of the map - I was totally lost) and found a very impressive temple. Using my newly polished "Duo show tsien?", and getting the reply of 20 Yuan (about $3), we went in and had a look around. The temple has tight, steep, narrow stairs and is 8-sided. We climbed up and were both out of breath well before the top, struggling with what had to be 40-45 degree heat (very low humidity though, at least compared to Ottawa). The view was pretty amazing from the top, and more than a few native tourists smiled and gave us a thumbs-up on our way to the top.
After the tower we stopped in the main temple on the grounds. Low and wide, pagoda-roofed, with incense burning out in front, it was very impressive. Three gold-sheathed statues stood behind a rail, lording over the main entrance. I tried to take a picture (Chuck) but was quickly waved off - no photos, but video was OK.
By this time we were pretty toasted - the sun was high and we figured I was quickly moving from "whitey" to "reddie", as in sunburn. Both of us were pretty winded by this point so, map in hand, and gigantic water bottle at our side, we trudged back to the hotel, flopping into the pool to cool off for an hour or so.
Four hours in 40+ temps means we were done for the day.
previous travel blog entry
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