Nanchang, China - A Historical City, the City of Heroes where the 1927 Nanchang Uprising Took Place

Though J. did not travel with us for our next leg of our journey in China, he did many things to help us making sure that our travel in China would be as smooth as possible. He booked us a hotel right beside the train station in Nanchang. It was convenient indeed. We got off the train and walked out of the station, voila! We were right in front of the hotel. We had a quick dinner at the mom and pop restaurant and then straight to bed.

Located in the north central part of the Jiangxi Province of China, Nanchang is the capital city of Jiangxi Province. It is known for a significant historical event called the Nanchang Uprising in 1927.

This city was where the People's Liberation Army was born and where the military banner of the Liberation Army was raised. Nanchang was named by the Communist Party government as the City of Heros since 1949.

The next day, it was drizzling. We walked from our hotel to the Bayi Square (August 1 Square). It was not too far away and we were able to ask some passerby for directions of where we should go. We walked by a long wall with stone cravings recording some of the events and sayings of Chines heroes and scholars. Soon after, we were at the Bayi Square which was built in 1977 in memory of the Nanchang Uprising, also known as the Aug 1, 1927 Uprising. The Eight One Square is a huge place with a tall stone mounament standing at the entrance of it. We were awed by the size of the place.

The Bayi Square is the second largest square in China, after Tiananmen Square in Beijing.Since it was drizzing, there were not a lot of visitors. We were able to make out some of the meanings of the stone cravings at the bottom of the mounment. This was where the Chinese Communist Party was born! We were standing and looking at an important chapter of China's history. It had a humbling effect on me.

It was a rainy day and there were only a handful of visitors at the Bayi Square. As the rain continued, we found a mom and pop restaurant in traditional Chinese deco serving local dishes.

It was still drizzling after lunch, so we seeked shelter and visited a couple of shopping malls. They were large and modern comparable to our shopping malls in North America. The food court was spacious with numerous restaurants and eateries offering a myraid of choices of regional and ethnic dishes. Everything smelled and looked delicious. We sat down to rest our feet near a delectable bakery store.

The aroma of the baked goods filled the air. We were surprised to see the varities of choices in the pastries some shops offered and couldn't resisit ordering a couple of the pastries.This was a very different China from what I imagined. We enjoyed a relaxing time at the food court in the mall. RT, Nanchang, China 022024