The Old Wall at Nanjing

After church, Grandad took the crew on a bit of a "walkabout". The original Old Wall at Nanjing was built over 2400 years ago. Originally it was 33.5 km long, but now it is only 19. Average height is about the same as a 4-storey house. Only 8 gates remain out of the original 13.

It was neat how the Wall utilizes the naturally occurring wall in places.

Everyone wanted a picture with some real life bamboo.

The river was scenic.

We watched a model off in these trees getting photographed. It was funny to watch her trying to walk through the tall grass/bracken in her heels and hose.

The kids were approached several times for photo ops. Many Chinese have never seen anyone with blond hair and/or blue eyes. They thought the children were "bootiful" and wanted pictures with them. Austen and Miranda were photographed the most. Bentley liked to tease Austen about all his "boyfriends".

The Chinese give new meaning to the saying, "Letting it all hang out." Everywhere we went we loved the colourful balconies strewn with the family's laundry drying in the sun. My mother-in-law had one student who wrote in his journal on a rainy day, "My laundry was basking in the sun. Now it is basking in the rain." (Or something like that.) When my sister-in-law was visiting, she too found the laundry interesting and took a picture. Some university students watching her looked up to see what she was taking a picture of. Apparently they didn't think the laundry was photo-worthy.

There are often caged birds hanging from street lamps. It was a very long walk, but we all enjoyed it. And it made the pot roast meal back at the apartment taste so good.

The Chinese are very resourceful. Here is an example of Chinese "razor wire" - broken glass set in cement.