May Day Travel Notes
"The Confucian Temple in Nanjing is not as grand as the one in Suzhou."
A brief record of a trip to Nanjing and Shanghai.
Arriving in Nanjing on the 28th, I had dinner with a few classmates from Nanjing University, then walked around Xuanwu Lake afterward, deliberately seeking out the eeriest and most shadowy paths. On the 29th, a friend and I climbed Zijin Mountain: first Ming Xiaoling, then Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, then Linggu Temple, and finally scrambling through the wilder parts of the mountain. We recited poetry and songs the whole way, gazing from the heights into the distance—deeply satisfying.
On the 30th I went out alone. The Da Bao’en Temple ruins and the Ming city walls were rather dull; along the way I kept overhearing tour guides feeding their groups all sorts of fanciful nonsense. Then came Confucius Temple, where I dripped cream on my camera lens at a tea shop. The Confucian Temple in Nanjing is not as grand as the one in Suzhou. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Historical Museum was rich with material. The Museum of the Six Dynasties had almost no actual Six Dynasties remains—just walls covered in passages copied from books, recounting the all-too-familiar Su Jun’s Rebellion, Huan Wen’s Northern Expeditions, and Hou Jing’s Chaos. Plum Garden wasn’t particularly interesting either.
On May 2nd I went to Shanghai for CP29—the morning was chaotic. I cosplayed March 7th, fulfilling a long-cherished wish, and took many photos. I only visited the Touhou, VOCALOID, and Genshin Impact areas—skipped EVA and Fengling Yuxiu, which I regret. Collected stamps with fellow Honkai: Star Rail fans. Rumor has it Mi Shan Wu is coming to CP30 next year—I’m looking forward to it and plan to queue overnight.
On the morning of the 3rd I visited Shanghai Jiao Tong University first—unfortunately I didn’t get to pay respects at a certain great figure’s relics. In the afternoon it was Fudan, where I spent the entire afternoon playing Uno—so engrossed I forgot all about leaving.
That evening I went to ShanghaiTech to retrieve my stored luggage. An hour later I started receiving all kinds of messages: my wallet and student ID had fallen in various spots around ShanghaiTech campus, been picked up by different students, and through numerous channels reached a QQ group for Jilin University students. It seemed like every college student in Shanghai had heard about an unlucky student from Jilin University losing his wallet and student ID.