2018-08-19

【Aiden in English】

        The most annoying thing about the summer in Nanjing is the humidity. It's hot already. Then top it off with a constant layer of warm steam-like moisture coating your skins and you get the daily climate of Nanjing. It's the feeling of being hot and wet, yet somewhat dry at the same time. Your body is confused, so it sweats, adding to the already building layer of water on the skin. Your mind, also confused, wonders when the next shop with air conditioning will appear. Once it does, and it most likely has WiFi as well, you make up an excuse to buy something useless or regretful in order to escape the heat for just a moment. And the cycle continues.

        We made it to Nanjing by the way. We arrived early in the morning, 12:00 am and drove to a nearby hotel to sleep five hours due to jet lag. Finishing up the rest drive to Nanjing, we got a terrific boutique hotel, Flower Trace (Huaji), located in the Old East Gate. It's really a double-edged sword: a good location meant a hard time finding the hotel, but we sorted that out quickly. 

        Food. That's why I'm here. Well, Nanjing cuisine isn't particularly highlighted by the rest of the world, resulting in many great dishes falling through the cracks. I guess today was a bit of education for the uneducated, taught by none other than my mom. Normally I would complain, but when it comes to food, the only complaint is based on the taste. My hopes are high on that aspect.

        Perhaps they were a little bit too high. Due to the relative location geographically, much of Nanjing and Beijing had similar cuisines. Furthermore, the first meal I tried resulted in a lot of fritters and congee, which normally is good, but not is this case. However, later that night, mom and I explored the Confucian Temple District, consisting of the best street food and fantastic nightlife. After eating some nostalgic meals, a walk through the rain ensued, which didn't help with the humidity. 

        I can't stop thinking about how the city looked like a dystopian future where skies are constantly drizzling and the air smelled of smoke. The first sight that characterizes the area is the color red, which holds its own standing amongst other Chinese colors as the fortunate. Lanterns, hundreds dangling from strings stretched across rooftops, sprinkled the black sky canvas with red glows. Shops, bustling with people, took on the effect, emitting a red glare of their own. The last bit of red might be from my sleep deprivation, but I'll never know. Furthermore, rainwater reflected much of the surroundings, pretty much filling my vision with red.

        The next scent to be hit would be smell. That's quite obvious with the number of open shops and lack of enclosed restaurants. Once again, China's main attraction points don't normally have many shops other than food, so the scent does get a bit intoxicating. Regardless, my mouth watered, resulting in the eventual sitting down and ordering.

        The night did get spoiled by rain, but not enough to completely soak the trip. Tomorrow would be the first day without much walking, which I can't wait because I have much summer work to catch up on. Maybe, just maybe, I can also satisfy some cravings I've been having lately.

【紅霞譯文】

        南京夏天悶得夠嗆，氣溫本身就高，體表如同敷着蒸籠般恆溫保濕膜，每天備受酷暑煎熬，你又熱又潮，同時還有點烘乾的感覺，總之渾身上下無所適從，濕漉漉的肌膚掛滿汗珠；腦袋瓜也不知所措，光想着什麼時候可以走到帶有空調的地方歇歇腳，一旦踏入開放冷氣的場所，保不齊還能上網，你大可找個理由買點沒用的或多餘的東西，趁機躲開熱浪涼快一會兒，日復一日這樣過生活。

        順便說一下，我們到了南京，不過時針已過午夜時分，因此乾脆趕到附近的酒店留宿，因為時差僅睡了五個鐘頭。第二天我們繼續上路直奔南京，入住古城老門東一家上好的民俗精品酒店──花跡酒店，老門東牌坊兩側有一副著名楹聯：“市井坊間盡染六朝煙水氣，布衣將相合書千古大文章”。其實熱門的地方各有利弊：鬧市區地理位置絕佳，但往往找起來比較麻煩，幸好我們很快便理順了頭緒。

        吃，是吸引我到此一游的原因，可以說金陵明肴獨一無二，世上沒有多少珍饈美饌能與之相比，今天對一位閱歷膚淺的人進行實地現身說教的不是別人而正是老媽。我愛抱怨，但只要涉及到吃的東西，發不發牢騷取決於味道好壞，對於南京茶樓酒肆我寄予了很高希望。

        也許期待值有點過高。由於北京與南京之間相對距離，兩地的特色美食十分接近，更何況第一頓我們吃的東西主要是油條煎餅稀粥，照理說挺有地方風味，但身在十朝古都南京，舌尖上的金陵值得仔細品嘗。於是當天晚上，我和媽媽跑去夫子廟挖掘秦淮八絕，那裡江南傳統的亭台樓閣楹聯燈幌，街邊小吃譽滿全城，夜生活也豐富多彩。待我們吃罷記憶中那些家鄉美食，不覺天上下起了小雨，甭指望濕度有何好轉。

        我禁不住陷入沉思，這座城市的天氣預報怎麼淨是反烏托邦式負面報道，毛毛細雨轉細雨毛毛，空氣中煙霧繚繞。乍看上去夫子廟到處一派紅彤彤，紅色是中國最被推崇的吉祥顏色，數以百計的燈籠高高懸掛於屋頂之間，在黑色夜幕下閃耀着火熱光芒；商店裡熙熙攘攘，燈籠照在人頭上散發出耀眼的紅光，最後一束可能來自我那雙因缺覺而布滿血絲的眼睛，反正我迷迷瞪瞪。再說，雨水一股腦兒把周圍一切全都折射在我的眼前，晚間夫子廟街景照樣紅勝火。

        接下來誘人的氣味撲鼻而來，顯然這跟開放式牌檔而非封閉式餐廳有關，國內主要旅遊景區除了吃的餐館沒有太多商店好逛，因此香味愈發勾人心魂，不管怎樣，我饞得直流口水，還是坐下來趕緊點菜為妙。

        夜晚下的這場雨打亂了我們腳步，但尚不至於讓整個逛街計劃泡湯。明天大概算頭一回毋需走很多路，我求之不得，畢竟還有不少暑假作業得抓緊動手。興許，只是興許而已，我仍口福不淺，像最近幾天這樣再搓上一頓。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2017: Best of the Rhine, Germany(德國萊茵河—美味佳餚)

2017: Rüdesheim the Chief Wine Industry, DEU(德國呂德斯海姆—酒城)

2017: Rhine—Trechtingshausen to Bingen, DEU(德國萊茵河—從隼堡到女先知)

2017: Rhine—Lorch to Niederheimbach, DEU(德國萊茵河—從死亡島到桑內克堡)

2017: Rhine—Kaub to Bacharach, DEU(德國萊茵河—從皇宮城堡到維爾納禮拜堂)

2017: Oberwesel—Schonburg & Ochsenturm, DEU(德國上韋瑟爾—申堡與牛塔)

2017: Loreley—Father Rhine, Germany(德國蘿莉萊女妖石—萊茵河之父)

2017: Rhine—Bornhofen to St Goar, DEU(德國萊茵河—從鼠堡到貓堡)

2017: Rhine—Spay to Boppard, DEU(德國萊茵河—從雷司令到葡萄種植園)

2017: Rhine—Koblenz to Lahnstein, DEU(德國萊茵河—從德意志之角到防禦重鎮)

2017: Marksburg—WWII Only Survivor, DEU(德國萊茵河上二戰獨存的馬克堡)

2017: Braubach—Marksburg Castle, Germany(德國布勞巴赫—馬克城堡)

2014: YMCA Camp─Dodgeball-2(基督教青年會夏令營─躲避球之二)

Crosslink(相關博文):

China(出遊中國)