I decided to explore the very old part of Nanjing in the area of San Shan Jie and to have a look for old houses that I understood to be there. There were plenty of them but they were mostly crumbling and not terribly architecturally interesting. However I did find a couple, one of which is over 100 years old (not very old in the UK but old here where everything old is knocked down in favour of new).
People were very friendly and I was given fruit and offers of hot water and a sit down on a low stool. the streets were very narrow indeed and when I managed to squeeze myself through a door into a courtyard there was often old wooden panelling, lattice woodwork and carved stone detailing.
On my way out of the maze of narrow alleyways I found a group of women making a fuss of a small baby and I couldn’t resist the opportunity of showing you what a Nanjing baby looks like in late autumn. It was a warm day, I had put my jacket in my bag and was walking around in shirt sleeves… a lovely sunny autumn day in Nanjing.
This poor child was wrapped up like it was going to the Antarctic! It was like looking at a ball of clothes and a head poking out of the top…. a bit like a cottage loaf I suppose. The poor child got so frightened of me when I laughed at it, that it started crying and I had to leave.