Daytrip to Jintan

So, Jintan used to be a its own city, and then it got absorbed into Changzhou, making it most western district of that city. It's also not as developed as the rest of Changzhou. Even though it's now part of the city, you can only get to here via long distance bus, and it takes about an hour. 

The bus station here is tiny. I normally take pictures of it when I arrive. It makes taking a taxi back easier when you don't know how to say "bus station" in Chinese. For all the traveling I do, you would think I would have learned that essential bit of survival Chinese by now. 

So, this is along Dongmendajie, the main street. The weather was nice, except very cold. 

It's still the Spring Festival holidays. So, most shops and restaurants are closed all over China. I was surprised, though, to see street vendors still out, about, and hawking their wares.

My first attempt to find something cultural was a flop. This is something connected to the Taiping Tian Guo -- the "Christian" attempt to take over China that resulted in one of the most bloody civil wars in human history. This happened roughly at the same time America had its own civil war. The Taiping in English was called "The Heavenly Kingdom." It was a homegrown Christianity, not something brought to China like Protestantism or Catholicism. Europeans in China were not so eager to support what they considered as a "weird variant" of Christianity. 

Amazingly enough, this is a Christian church and an Islamic Mosque. They are neighbors. I saw something similar to this last time I went to Danyang. Something happening twice is still the realm of coincidence, but if I see this occur in another city, it will be a pattern -- likely the result of municipal zoning. 

According to Google Maps, this is Yuantong Nunnery. Only, I saw no nuns, just priests. 

There is the usual Buddhist iconography here. This is a hall of luohan statues. In Changzhou, I have only seen two other temples that have this many. 

I climbed the seven floor pagoda to get a good look at the skyline. 

Jintan's Revolutionary Martyr's Memorial and cemetery was nearby. Usually, cemeteries or mausoleums tend to be close to Buddhist temples. 

On my way back to the bus station, I passed through the commercial center. It was set up as a makeshift amusement park for kids. Spring Festival is a time where families spend a lot of time together, and so special attractions are set up. Turns out, none of the kids were interested in riding the camel. The horse was more popular. 

Finally, it was back to the bus station. Unfortunately for me, there was a very fat Chinese dude sitting next to me that smiled like fish and stinky tofu. I was a bit smashed up against the window. I had also walked more than ten kilometers today, so I just passed out for an hour as my way of putting up with claustrophobic seating arrangement. Such are the joys of long distance bus travel.