This year during Golden Week, lots of students traveled to new cities, took short trips to Shanghai and Suzhou, or went to visit old friends in other parts of China. I decided to stay in Nanjing and get to know the city a little better.
Nanjing has a long history, and served as the capital at different points in Chinese history. There are numerous museums and historical activities around the city. Different groups of students went to Purple Mountain to see Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum, to the old Presidential Palace, and to the Nanjing Museum.
In an effort to escape the infamous Golden Week crowds, it was fun to explore some of the less touristy areas of Nanjing. The co-directors and other staff at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center encouraged students to go for walks around the center to see the city’s different neighborhoods. One neighborhood, the Xuanwu Lake area, has a beautiful park and is just a short walk from campus. Although we’d been there before, Golden Week was a great time to go because everyone was out enjoying the last few weeks of summer weather with their friends and family.
Several of us also took advantage of the sales at some local shops during Golden Week. We went to a tea shop in the art district of Nanjing and enjoyed different types of tea and small snacks. After learning about the different teas, we each had the opportunity to make and serve the tea ourselves. Although it was unexpectedly difficult, it was great to learn together!
Of course, as Golden Week came to an end, classes picked up again and the weather began to get colder. As we get busier, it was great to have a week off during the beginning of the semester to spend getting to know the people at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center and Nanjing!
Written by Hope Parker, Master of Arts in International Studies ’20
