Nanjing has a history that reaches back thousands of years. It served as the capital of ten dynasties in
ancient China. Some of that history can
be seen in the old walls of the city, remnants of a Buddhist temple built 1500
years ago, and impressive relics of ancient civilizations preserved in museums. It was also scarred by bombs and great loss
of life (300,000) from Japanese invasion in the 1930’s. This history exists side by side with a pulse
of modern life that feels more familiar to us “westerners.” The scale of international commerce and
fashion and high standard of living have caught us by surprise.
Our Northwestern students have been making new young friends who
are part of the face of modern China.
These young people devote their lives to study so that they can find
good jobs to support themselves and their parents as they get older. They have
been eager to show our students around the city and take them out to eat and to
see different sites. With limited
English on their parts (and no Chinese on our parts!), there have still been
some good conversations taking place.
By the way, you blog-readers may not hear from us as often as
you’d like since we’re dependent on our access to internet. It’s not an everyday thing!
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| The Ancient |
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| The Familiar |
Enjoy the blogs whenever you can send them! Great to hear what you're experiencing!
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