Shanghai to Nanjing

Time to head for Nanjing. We were getting fairly adept at getting around Chinese train stations. For the ‘soft seat’ passenger, you get your own soft seat waiting area complete with A/C and soft sofas and no competing with the throngs of people outside. We watched in horror as this 3 year old ran up and down the aisles of the lounge screaming and then to our true horror, found that she and her parents were sitting in the seats ahead of us on the train. The child was a true monster- she never stopped talking or moving and her parents did absolutely nothing to calm her down. What is to become of China as they raise an entire nation of only children?
Nanjing was one of China’s capitals, first in the early years of the Ming Dynasty and secondly as capital of the PRC in the early 20th C. Like other Chinese cities, there were lots of skyscrapers and cranes building more skyscrapers and apartment buildings.
We checked into our hotel and then tried to make our train arrangements to get out. Every soft seat was sold out- only hard seat was available. John had a brilliant idea and requested soft sleeper. Two seats were available for the 5:35 am train and we grabbed them. Then, we headed to the top of the JinLing Hotel and its’ revolving restaurant for a great view and some cold wine. We were quickly surrounded by a group of Chinese “middle managers” and their wives. It was hard to tell if they were party officials or police or just jerks, but they were collectively horrifying. The men clumped together, hawkering, talking too loud, and had a swagger of “entitlement”. Their women looked like they just came out of the fields. One of them was picking her nose at the table.
We started talking to the new chef at the restaurant, a man from Germany. He had traveled throughout Asia consulting and setting up restaurants for 5 star hotels. He was just as disgusted as we were with the hawkering and told us some great stories about dealing with the Chinese. He said that they need 16 hours of sleep and 5 meals a day. He also teased them mercilessly about the fact that they have a 3000-year-old civilization and still use two sticks to eat.
We ended our evening at their new Italian restaurant, Bella Napoli…..not great, but not noodles.