I noticed that I've been here before and didn't take any pictures, which was a silly decision, so I decided to be a tourist today and change that. This is Bayi Square in Nanchang, a large public square where people...do things. There are usually kids blowing bubbles or people flying kites. Others take pictures with the various memorial structures, like the one pictured here.
For more information on Bayi Square, you can go to this lovely, short Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayi_Square .
For more information on the historical context of Bayi Square and why it even exists, you can go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanchang_Uprising .
The TL;DR version is that here on August 1, 1927, Communists first rebelled against the Nationalist party currently in power. This was one of the earliest skirmishes which eventually led to war between the two factions. (also you have no idea how dumb I felt when I realized that the name 'Bayi' comes from the characters 八一 ('ba' and 'yi') which are numbers and mean '8' and '1' respectively...aaand look at the date that this stuff went down. see it. SEE IT WITH YOUR OWN EYES. FEEL HOW I FELT)
For more information on Bayi Square, you can go to this lovely, short Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayi_Square .
For more information on the historical context of Bayi Square and why it even exists, you can go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanchang_Uprising .
The TL;DR version is that here on August 1, 1927, Communists first rebelled against the Nationalist party currently in power. This was one of the earliest skirmishes which eventually led to war between the two factions. (also you have no idea how dumb I felt when I realized that the name 'Bayi' comes from the characters 八一 ('ba' and 'yi') which are numbers and mean '8' and '1' respectively...aaand look at the date that this stuff went down. see it. SEE IT WITH YOUR OWN EYES. FEEL HOW I FELT)
Anyways, I then did the one obvious thing any person would do after visiting a place filled with Chinese spirit - go to Wal-Mart! Specifically, I went to see if I could find deodorant, and needless to say, that search was unsuccessful (I was even prepared to pay the ridiculously high price!). Instead, I spent at least a good half hour in the pen/pencil/journal aisle.
There are some restaurants in the same center where Wal-Mart is, mostly Chinese. There are a couple of Western ones, like KFC. Also, Cynthia and Elise, I'm not proud to say that I ALMOST went for the Papa John's (I really want pizza :c). Which, speaking of pizza, you know how there are deli display cases in grocery stores? Yup, plenty of those in Wal-Mart, one of which had PIZZA. I was tempted there as well, but actually settled on some other Chinese food, which ended up being quite tasty! It's strange, in America people seem to tend to avoid Wal-Mart if they can, but this Wal-Mart is more like a Super Target, or a big HEB.
Speaking of Western merchandise, it was a bit comforting to see those in store. I would smile to myself as I recognized the brand names...and then frown in disgust when I saw the prices. Western items are expensive! My lunch from Wal-Mart which lasted me two meals was ¥12, but you know, why get that when I can get a bag of Fritos for ¥26? Luckily, I'm not craving chips.
No comments:
Post a Comment