My Nanjing - George Bernwanger

George Bernwanger                         
D4.2/3 body integr mangr PDC

We have two daughters 6, and 9 years old. They went to British International School of Nanjing. They really enjoyed it.

 British School Football League spring 2010

British International School bus picked up my children at the gate of our subdivision. Children are required to wear uniform everyday at BIS.

We had Dr. Zhang to come to our house once a week for massage. My daughter got a short massage once in a while too. The cost was relatively cheap, around 70RMB (12USD) per hour for massage at our house.

My maid (ayi) for the past 2 years. My children love her!

 

SOS doctor Juergen took cast off my daughters arm.

 

My going away party in August 2010. We made so many good friends from different countries during our 5 year in Nanjing. We had so much fun together exploring Nanjing.

Cultural Differences in China

Contributor: Stuart Taylor
CE EESE/Eng Dir China 

These images show the differences between Western and Eastern cultures in a very simple way

Blue=West  Red=East

Way of Life

Sundays on the Road

  

Party

  

 

Travelling

Three meals a day
  

Transportation

The Boss

Elderly in day to day life

Moods and Weather

Contacts

 

   

My Nanjing - Chris Kuchel

Chris Kuchel                             
Senior Regional Purchasing Manager - Body and Exterior



When we first arrived in Nanjing it was a major culture shock.  You can't get everything you get at home, things don't work the same as at home, you have late-night conference calls every week, etc.  Some things you get used to and there's no issue, while others will always annoy you.  If you focus on these things, you will never be happy.  Once we recognised the number of really good things available here that we wouldn't get back home, we were happy.  So, we have a comfortable house and someone else does the gardening, we get weekly massages, have our children babysat most Saturday nights so we can go out, and we travel to exotic places many times every year.
A few illustrations.  We're from Australia so it takes forever and costs the earth to get anywhere.  Our four year old has already been to 15 countries.  In the last 12 months, our family has visited Thailand, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, US and Canada.  We would never have been able to experience that otherwise.
Since we have a housekeeper and the compound we live in is fully serviced, it means that our weekends are focused on friends and family.  Friday night is often very quiet for us, but Saturdays and Sundays typically consist of heading out for a walk or bike riding, play with the kids in the park, play on the Wii, swimming in Summer, shopping as required, catching up with friends or getting a meal out.

My Nanjing - Chen Kung

Chen Kung
Supervisor - VP Eng & PM
REC PD-Body Engineering Dept.


Hometown: USA

 

When asked about Nanjing, I often respond by saying "there's no other place in China I'd rather be."  The experience truly has been an adventure and there's no doubt in my mind that we made the right decision to come here.



Biking - top of Purple Mtn



In the past 2 years, Tracy and I have adjusted quite well.  Bolstered by the ISE incentives, we have been able to manage the hardships that come along with working and living in a foreign country.  There a 

re even moments when it starts to feel like home.  I think a good way to take stock of everything that Nanjing has to offer is to think about everything you would do if you only had a limited time left in Nanjing (sort of like a bucket list but not as dramatic or absolute).  The following is my Nanjing bucket list I would like to share with others:

Biking in Tong Shan

- Bike to the top of every "mountain" in Nanjing
- Organize a BBQ with friends/co-workers
- Hold a Nanjing-rules mahjong marathon
- Play a round of golf at Sofitel
- Invite friends over to clear out the humidor
- Tour the city on electric bikes with out-of-town visitors
- Join a foosball tournament in Shanghai
- Find the guy that kicks trees for no apparent   reason and post it on Youtube

Foosball Tourney

 


 



Nanjing Attractions - Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge 1#

The Yangtze River Bridge, which was constructed between 1960 and 1968, is the third bridge built to span the Yangtze River after the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge and the Baishatuo Yangtze River Bridge (in Chongqing City). As the longest bridge with the dual functions of highway and railway listed in the Guinness Book of World Records, it is the first bridge in China solely designed and constructed by Chinese.

The significant double-deck construction is made up of the main bridge portion which spans 1,577 meters (about 1,725 yards) and the bridge approach which measures 3,012 meters (about 3,294 yards). The upper deck of the bridge is a highway with a span of 4,589 meters (about 5,019 yards). There are sidewalks on either side of the highway and each measures over two meters (about two yards) in width. The lower deck holds a twin-track railway with a length of 6,772 meters (about 7,406 yards) and a width of 14 meters (about 15 yards) that allows two trains to run in different directions.

The bridge has nine piers altogether, among which the tallest one is 85 meters (about 279 feet) with the base area of about 400 square meters (478 square yards), larger than a basketball court. There are 200 cast iron reliefs inlayed on the banisters on the two sides of the highway as well as 150 pairs of street lamps along the sidewalks on the main section of the bridge. Two bridge towers are located respectively at each end of the bridge each with a height of 70 meters (about 230 feet). They contain elevators which enable personal access to both decks of the bridge as well as the watchtowers. Under the southern bridge tower there is a beautiful park.

The bridge at night is extremely charming. The illumination of 1,024 floodlights on the banisters, 540 halogen lights on the bridge towers and 150 pairs of lamps of the sidewalks make the bridge look like a pearl string lying on the Yangtze River.

The completion of the bridge has reduced the river crossing time from about two hours by ferry to the course of only several minutes, which is much more convenient for communication between the two banks of the Yangtze River.

Nanjing Attractions - Zhonghua Gate

Zhonghua Gate (Chinese Gate) is the south gate of Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province. A precious cultural relic, Zhonghua Gate has the double distinction of being the biggest castle-style city gate in China and a structural element of the most complicated castle in the world. It is the castle's magnificent scale, delicate structure, and the great skill with which it was built that bequeath it an important place in China's military and architectural traditions.

Construction of the castle took twenty-one years, from 1366 to 1387. The gate, originally called the 'Gate of Gathering Treasure' carries a legend from the time of its creation in the early Ming Dynasty. According to the legend, when Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), had the gate built, the ground kept sinking. The gate collapsed again and again. It was not until a treasure bowl was buried under the gate that it stood firm. In 1931, to commemorate the revolution of 1911 and the Republic of China (1919-1949) that emerged as a result, the Gate of Gathering Treasure was renamed Zhonghua Gate. In Chinese Pinyin, Republic of China is written as Zhonghua Minguo.
Nanjing was the capital of China during the Ming Dynasty under the reign of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. (Zhu Di, the son of Zhu Yuanzhang, moved the capital to Beijing in 1420.) In 1366, Zhu Yuanzhang began to build a wall around the city of Nanjing to defend it from attack. The Gate of Gathering Treasure (Zhonghua Gate) was built on the site of a previous gate, the south gate of the city built during the Later Tang Dynasty (923 - 936). The new gate, the grandest among the thirteen gates of the new castle, was an architecturally complex structure composed of three closed courtyards and four arched doors serving as the entrance. There were double paneled wooden doors and with additional stone door set behind. If the enemy broke through the wooden doors, they could be separated and trapped in the three closed courtyards upon dropping the stone doors.

Twenty-seven tunnels were built in the castle to store large quantities of food and weapons and to hold approximately 3000 soldiers. Wide and steep ramps were built on the east and west side to allow people to carry materials upward. The entire structure was built with massive bricks mortared together with special cement made from lime, sticky rice juice and tung oil. In order to guarantee the quality of the construction, every brick underwent a strict quality control process. The brick makers and builders were ordered to mark their names on each brick. Even today, it is possible to find Chinese characters and numbers on the bricks. No doubt, this detailed attention to quality of construction is one of the reasons why the condition of the castle remains so remarkably good today.

Nanjing Attractions - Nanjing City Wall

Nanjing City Wall is one of the key historical and cultural remains of Ming Dynasty under state protection. It is a masterpiece of China's ancient architecture. With an original perimeter of about 35 kilometers (22miles), the City Wall has a height 14-21 meters (46-67 feet). The footing has a width of 14 meters (about 46 feet). The present remains have a length of about 21 kilometers (13 miles). Nanjing is one of the few cities in China that still have old city walls, and Nanjing's City Wall is better preserved with most part still remained. Even though it has a history of about 600 years it is still spectacular and of great value in terms of cultural relics protection.

In 1366 AD Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), accepted the suggestion of a chancellor to build the City Wall. After 21 years of painstaking constriction, he wall was finally completed in 1386. According to historical records, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered 118 counties of 20 states in 5 provinces to make bricks. Each brick weighs about 10 kilograms with a length of 40-50 centimeters, a width of 20 centimeters and a height of 10 centimeters. The bricks are inscribed with the names of officials who were responsible for the quality of the bricks. Up to 350 million bricks were used to build the wall.

The City Wall is made up of four parts. From the outside first there is Outer City, Inner City, Imperial City and Palace City. In 1390, Outer City was built with a length of 180 kilometers (112 miles) in a diamond shape to strengthen defenses though it does not exist any more and only the names of the 18 gates are still used now. The City Wall we can see today is mainly the relic of the Inner City.The Imperial City was built to protect the Palace City, which is nicknamed 'Forbidden City' as it is the centre of the four walls.

Located on the Southern Bank of the Yangtze River with abundant rainfall, rolling hills and meandering rivers, it is a difficult task to undertake such a huge project. However, the ancient Chinese conquered all the difficulties with their skills and built the walls by using materials appropriate for the terrain, creating Nanjing's City Wall with ever better scheme, physical feature and supreme location

The wall is an important cultural relic for the inscriptions on the bricks. The inscriptions come in two forms. One is from scholars and officials, the other from the artisan or folk people. The characters of the former is beautiful and elegant and contains the major calligraphic styles, the origin of one of the characters styles even cannot be traced. From here, you can see how Chinese characters developed and understand the multiculturalism of the Ming Dynasty. These inscriptions act like a historical scroll, recording the changes of the wall over dynasties. It provides an indispensable record for the study of Nanjing history.

Nanjing citizens attach great importance to the work of protecting the wall because the wall symbolizes the history of Nanjing. Nanjing Municipal Government built a five-meter wide side path at Jiefangmen Gate for visitors to ascend. Although the completion of the Nanjing City Wall can not compete with the City Wall of Xi'an, it is still the longest one in the World.

Best Time to visit:
The best months to visit are June and December.