Hi Guys! My day 2 in Nanjing was fun. Our classes haven't started yet, so a friend and I spend the day exploring. The first place we went to was a Buddhist temple called jī míng sì (鸡鸣寺). You probably recognize the 鸡 as meaning "chicken" or "rooster" 鸣 is an interesting character. See how it is made up of the mouth radical plus the bird radical? It basically means any noise a bird makes (chirp-chirp, tweet-tweet, etc. Usually it is used to mean cock-a-doodle-doo). 寺 means a Buddhist temple. So, we could translate the name of the temple as "the temple of the crowing rooster" or something like that. The temple was small but very beautiful. When we got there the monks and nuns were chanting scripture, which was nice to listen to. I'm not Buddhist, but I like visiting different types of temples and churches because they are always so calm and peaceful. Here's a video I took at the temple:
After that we walked to the lake in the middle of Nanjing, called 玄武湖 Xuánwǔ Hú. It was a long long walk (my legs are really sore now) but the lake was beautiful. There were lots of people walking around there, and other people out on the lake in paddle boats. Within the park there were temples, pagodas, pavilions, gardens, teahouses, restaurants, a small zoo, and other attractions. Here is a map so you can see what it looks like. I was excited to visit the lake because of its name. In ancient China they used to believe in 4 spirit animals that ruled the 4 directions:
North - 玄武 - xuán wǔ - black turtle with a snake wrapped around it
South -朱雀 - zhū què - red bird
East - 青龙 - qīng lóng - Azure dragon
West - 白虎 - bái hǔ - white tiger
Pretty cool, huh? Here's a picture:
North - 玄武 - xuán wǔ - black turtle with a snake wrapped around it
South -朱雀 - zhū què - red bird
East - 青龙 - qīng lóng - Azure dragon
West - 白虎 - bái hǔ - white tiger
Pretty cool, huh? Here's a picture: