Tradition has it that on Boxing Day we are all subjected to a walk 
up a hill or along a disused railway line. Across the UK people are out and about walking off Christmas. Not that I had a lot of Christmas to walk off but I decided to have a quiet day on my own. the government has removed the entrance fee for Sun Yat Sen’s mausoleum and so I decided to go and have a look. There were hoards of people there no doubt attracted by the free entrance as well as the uncommonly sunny December day. Getting off the Metro at Muxuyuan station I followed a gentle stream of people to a small car park where I found a tourist bus – you know the ones which look like a child’s train with no sides and just a canopy above. For 5 yuan I decided I could afford not to walk up to the main gate.
The walk up to the mausoleum was up 
numerous steps but the day was nice and the promise of a good view from the top kept me going. At the top I turned to look for Nanjing city centre but all I could see for haze and as I strained I could make out a few of the downtown sky scrapers poking their heads above what I took to be pollution. the mausoleum itself was a bit of a disappointment – you couldn’t go in, just look at a statue of the founder of modern day China.
Back at the bottom of the hill I decided to make a day of it and pay the 70 yuan to get into the Ming tombs and purple cloud lake. I didn’t bother with the tombs again but enjoy walking along the entrance to the tombs lined with stone creatures. On reaching the purple cloud lake I could see men and women bathing. Even though the day was bright and sunny it was far too cold for any sane person to bathe, but bathing is what they were doing.
All around the lake are signs warning people not to swim in the lake but the authorities have built steps going into the water for bathers so what’s that all about?
Having my fill of peace and quiet I returned refreshed and ready to face another stint in the dust, noise and spit covered pavements of Nanjing.