Nanjing - City with a tragic past

While visiting Nanjing in 2010 I was made aware of the atrocities committed on the Chinese people by the invading Japanese in 1937.

Some of you may have heard of the Nanking Massacre (the name of the city was changed to Nanjing some time late during the 20^th century).

In 1937 Nanking was the capital of China. Approximately 300km west of Shanghai, it was a prime target of the Japanese Imperial Forces.

Nanking at that time was surrounded by a massive city wall. The Japanese succeeded in breaking through the wall and invading the city itself. According to Chinese records, as many as 300,000 (three hundred thousand) Chinese people were killed. Many more were left injured and traumatised.

After WWII Nanjing recovered and is now a city of more than 8 million, with an additional 5+million in the entire province of Jiangsu.

I visited the Nanjing Massacre Memorial and was amazed by the shear size and detail the memorial displays. If you decide to visit (and you should!!!) please treat it with the honor it deserves. 

It is a very solemn place, and local Chinese treat it with reverence. I was struck by the many artifacts such as Japanese weapons and other items left behind by the invading forces.

There are photos of victims covering huge walls, audio recordings of witness commentaries playing in the background, and letters documenting the events during the invasion.

The most disturbing, yet telling, part of the memorial is the hall that was built over a shallow mass grave following executions.  You can walk around this grave covering approximately 400 square metres (that's my estimate and I could be wrong...nonetheless it was impressive.

Skeleton in the original ground, around which is built the memorial

 

The official website dedicated to the Nanjing Massacre memorial is http://www.nj1937.org/english/default.asp

I also visited Janzi Ji (Swallow Rock) on the banks of the Yangtze River, on the outskirts of Nanjing. It was the site of part of the Nanjing Massacre where it is reported that Japanese soldiers forced men women and children to jump to their deaths by forcing them off the cliff face.

Hobbit steps leading to a small monestary at Janzi Ji (Swallow Rock)

Me on the steps Janzi Ji

View of Yangtze River

From the top of the cliff face you can look over the Yangtze River. If you go in summer, make sure you take drinking water! There are little shops at the base of the hill, near the main road, so buy a couple of bottles and be prepared  for a hike.  Like many historical attractions in China, the steps leading up and down the cliffs are so narrow in some places you almost need to have the feet of a hobbit to negotiate them safely.

Apart from the dark history, it’s a quiet, out of the way “tourist attraction” that apparently doesn’t get over crowded by tourists.  I guess one reason is transport to and from the site is hard to pinpoint. Well, we caught a taxi there, which was easy enough. However getting back meant walking for a mile or so and jumping in front of the first poor unsuspecting taxi that appeared. 

From time to time a local cabbie in a little 3-wheeler can be found. (It's more like a lawnmower with a roof, and two guys in the backseat is a tight fit. Assurances to eachother that we don't think of each other "that way" were repeated a few times...particularly when we hit a bump in the road while hurtling along at a face-breaking speed of 20 miles an hour). We found one, jumped in the back seat and went up the road adjacent to the river to find another walkway, and caves meandering through a mountain.

Our local "taxi" driver. It's a snug fit for two burly guys to fit in the back, especially when we hit a bump in the road.