MARCH 2022
www.thenanjinger.com
THE NANJINGER | VOLUME 12 ISSUE 05 | MARCH 2022
6
Contributors
7
Nanjing Nomads
8
Editorial
9
Poem; Convergence
10 Dream Weaver; Fly Me High through the Starry Skies 14 Chinese Dream Theory; The First Sage of the Nation Interprets 16 The Pasta Aquarium 21 The Gavel Dreams of Death; Dealing with Desires to Commit Crimes
23 Great Nanjingers (20)
Godfather of Science & Technology across the Strait; Li Guoding
24 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu takes Nanjing by Storm 26 Strainer Hotline to Yunnan;Like Drinking Sweet Potato Skin
27 Capital Constructs (4) Jinling Library
28 Our Space 35 Metro Map
THE NANJINGER | 2022.03
THE NANJINGER | VOLUME 12 ISSUE 05 | MARCH 2022
6
THE NANJINGER | 2022.03
THE NANJINGER | VOLUME 12 ISSUE 05 | MARCH 2022
Editorial
Silent Lucidity
F
irst up, say hello to Lillian Chen, making her debut in The Nanjinger this month and getting the background on the success story that is the Nanjing BJJ Academy (p.24-25). Onto our theme for this month, where our new regular fiction series continues with its second outing. In this issue, long-term Nanjinger, Morgan Gallup Zhu, takes the reigns (p.16-19). Elsewhere, do the Chinese interpret our subconscious, midnight mental ramblings
differently than theorists in the West? You bet they do, as Chesna Goel finds out herein (p. 14). Finally, Triona Ryan also tackles our slumbers in this issue, and as she notes, Martin Luther King had one, you have one and I have one. What on Earth is she talking about? (p.10-12). Welcome to “Dreams” from The Nanjinger.
Ed.
S
can the QR Code to visit The Nanjinger on WeChat, from where you can download a free PDF of this issue, find a full list of distribution points for hard copies or arrange a subscription to have The Nanjinger delivered to your home or office! This magazine is part of a family of English publications that together reach a large proportion of the foreign population living in Nanjing, along with a good dash of locals, comprising: The Nanjinger City Guide www.thenanjinger.com Facebook, WeChat, Twitter & Instagram
All of the above are owned and operated by HeFu Media, the Chinese subsidiary of SinoConnexion Ltd; www.sinoconnexion.com
8
THE NANJINGER | 2022.03
Desert sands sweep, spread through city streets, erasing, eroding barriers between the rising worlds of structured uniformity and the formless, ever-changing wastes beyondwhere wander shades of oft-forgotten dreams: primordial voices echoing from within the trillion shells that carpet these ancient lands; these arid seas. Out there beyond the ouds and musks; beyond the cavernous palaces and playboy cars; out there, ancestral memories slumbershadows of sea-faring canaanites, their sinewy youth lost, swallowed by the deep where once they foraged for pearls; lungs tight, fit to burst, in their desire to find the fragile, crystalline beads of opportunity.
By M ait iu Bralligan ‘2 2
How alien, how inexorably distant this all seems to me. Presumptively, I close my eyes and see instead the well-worn paths of my own heritage: grass fringed ruts scratched across fallow fields, misty glens and rain soaked fells; hearing the wind whip through the heather, whispering Wordsworthian rhyme, and in the distance a peal of village bells. But my pastoral dream is broken by the call to prayer that shimmers through the haze. Yet maybe, in that I catch some glimmer of numinous past: fantoms in the fading footprints- on the dune or on the hill; in jongleurs melodies or the muezzin’s adhan; impressed in shifting sands or afloat in coastal tides. There - unfamiliar foreign pasts yet resonate temporarily aligned.
9
THE NANJINGER | VOLUME 12 ISSUE 05 | MARCH 2022
FLY ME HIGH THROUGH THE STARRY SKIES
Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly [Langston Hughes]
By Triona Ryan
10
THE NANJINGER | 2022.03
M
y dog dreams. I watch him, micro spasms of muscle power him through heroic dog epics of the ectoplasm of consciousness, barking at dream squirrels in dream trees. I also dream, but these bubbles of subliminal thought vanish at the first auditory intrusion of the conscious world; the alarm clock. Oh, how I abhor thee. The siren sends my dreams scuttling back into the darkness, their wisdom between their legs. I cannot remember my dream squirrels. The ones that do leave flashes are those which repeat themselves, like flashcards. I dream of running, of standing on top of the highest tower built before the industrial revolution. It is swaying to and forth, I know that I will fall. I try to scream, but no sound comes from my lungs, my vocal cords deadened by fear. Always, as I hurtle towards earth, I discover that I can fly, but not like superman; one arm out ahead, guiding him. I dervish and whirl, the wind tossing me from one up current to the next. My path is unclear, but I am moving. I am safe. I am not falling. Sleep is the pitstop between daytime wakefulness and a medical coma. Although reactions to stimuli are reduced, most importantly that of vision, one of our predominant senses, the body is still alert and can respond to loud noises or other shocks to the system. Hopefully, though, a well-orchestrated night’s sleep will lead the sleeper through stages 1, 2, and 3 of the sleep cycle, before hitting the Mecca of slumber; REM sleep, the stage of Rapid Eye Movement. Known as paradoxical sleep, brainwaves and eye movement get frisky, and the body’s autopilot systems fluctuate. Those dreams of teeth, and your Grade 2 teacher’s head on the body of a kitten that can fly; those are from REM sleep. Researchers estimate that in one night, we dream for up to 2 hours. Optimal sleep augments brain activity, promotes learning and creates dreams. Like Alice, surrendering to the comfort of sleep at the end of a period of wakefulness, the human body succumbs to a period of reversible, inert inactivity, as compared with wakefulness. Curiously, though now we associate this with one sleep period withing a 24-hour day, this has not always been the case. Monophasic sleep patterns are now considered “the norm”, with a 6-to-8-hour
segment of rest punctuating the end of one day and the beginning of the next. In a “normal” sleep cycle, then, the sleeper experiences four distinctive sleep stages. In Stage One, the sleeper settles into a cosy stupor, breathing slows and alpha waves transition to NREM 1. In this stage, the body may jolt rapidly, or you may experience the “GAH I’m FAAALLING” sensation that we all know and love. These starts and twitches are known as hypnagogic sensations, and disappear as the body sinks into Stage Two, when the brain activity slows, temperature drops and breathing slows. Though the grey matter still experiences bursts of brain wave activity known as sleep spindles, there is no eye movement at this stage; the Dream Weaver is busy at the spinning wheel. Stage Three, also known as Slow Wave Sleep, or Delta Sleep (not to be confused with the COVID variant) is the deep sleep phase, associated with restorative sleep, growth, immune system reinforcement, creativity, insightful thinking and improved memory. All good things, no doubt, but the best is yet to come. REM sleep is the fourth stage, when paradoxically, breathing, temperature and heart rate increase. The entire body, except for the respiratory system and the eyes are rendered immobile. This sleep stage is rife with vivid dreams and is said to reenergise the mind. So that’s it, the sleep cycle. Rinse and repeat for a good night’s sleep. However, this monophasic trend has only been in vogue since the Industrial Revolution, with Biphasic (two sleep segments within a 24-hour period) and polyphasic (more than two, the-sky’s-the-limit sleep segments) being far more common before the dawn of the rat-race as we know it. Indeed, in the south of Europe and in many South American countries, to name but a few, biphasic sleep patterns still predominate, with the nap, or “la siesta” enshrined as a cultural phenomenon. For an example of polyphasic sleep patterns, I think of my dear citymates working in the restaurants and cafes of Nanjing, and their affinity for napping at any time, in any place. Slumped over tables, stretched along booths; one time, I saw an intrepid snoozer balanced along a length of chain between two bollards. It is impressive; no word of a lie.
11
THE NANJINGER | VOLUME 12 ISSUE 05 | MARCH 2022
So, as with so much in life, the “norm” can be destabilised by recontextualising it; reframing it so that we may reconceptualise the limited definition of “normal” that still plagues humanity, in our dreams and in our waking daymares. Specifically, this month of March celebrates Women’s History Month, with 8 March being International Women’s Day. The day and the month reclaim voice, authority and autonomy for women and girls worldwide, against whom the catalogue of crimes against humanity is too turgid and depressing to detail here. The UN prefaces its introduction to Sustainable Development Goal 5Gender Equality with:
“More girls are going to school, fewer girls are forced into early marriage, more women are serving in parliament and positions of leadership, and laws are being reformed to advance gender equality. Despite these gains, many challenges remain: discriminatory laws and social norms remain pervasive, women continue to be underrepresented at all levels of political leadership, and 1 in 5 women and girls between the ages of 15 and 49 report experiencing physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner within a 12-month period.”
I think about my dreams of running, breathless, empty, powered by pure, cold fear. I think about my dreams of screaming, a silent, impotent scream. I think; yes, these are dreams. The nightmares are too scary to share. As human beings, and perhaps as earthlings, we all have dreams. Martin Luther King had one. Malala Yousafzai has one. You have one. I have one. The neural impulses behind the dreams that leave a trace in the waking world do so because of repetition, because of the epiphanous quality of the revelations therein, or the persistent need for the subconscious to be heard above the din of daily norms and customs. This Women’s History Month of 2022, perhaps like G.B. Shaw, we can close the month by thinking, “You see things, and you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things and say ‘Why not?’” Why not?
12
THE NANJINGER | 2022.03
Image courtesy Integrated Collections Database of the National Museums, Japan
By Chesna Goel
By Morgan Gallup Zhu
THE NANJINGER | 2022.03
P
erhaps if I had chosen a different restaurant, I pondered to myself, this would have turned out differently.
“Does it even matter?” My date hissed at me as he splashed the water under the table with his hands. It was rising rather quickly.
This particular Italian restaurant had seemed like the ideal spot for a first date. The room was candle lit and elegantly topped by a cylindrical ceiling that made me feel like I was in the center of a towering wedding cake. Unfortunately, after squinting at my date for the last half an hour, who hadn’t gotten up the nerve to say much beyond pass the parmesan, it had started to feel more like being in the barrel of a gun.
“I suppose not,” I replied with a shrug and grabbed the waiter’s arm before he could disappear again.
His inability to talk had led to my own verbal constipation, so I decided to focus myself on the business of cutting my ravioli into tiny pieces. My date was fully consumed by his own project, wrapping noodles around the tongs of his fork, while chewing loudly between slurps. Smack, smack, smack, went his lips in a way that made me want to reach over and cut him into tiny pieces with the gleaming cutlery. I turned my eyes to the waiter. He was dogpaddling around the other half of the room busily, but never made it anywhere near our table. My face burned liked I’d eaten a chili pepper as I directed my annoyance towards him instead of my date. “Waiter!” I bellowed over the clatter of cutlery and the sloshing of water. My crappy date pushed his round silver framed glasses further up his nose and glared at me as I shouted. A slurper like you, thinking that I’m the rude one! I threw my thoughts angrily at him. The waiter sloshed over apologetically, as though he would have arrived in just a second had I not caused such a scene. He didn’t even have his fins on. “I need goggles,” I said to him and pointed at the menu item. “Yellow or blue, madam,” He asked as he scribbled down my order.
“Also, a shot of espresso and the tiramisu please. Two forks.” I instructed quickly, wanting to spear the last bit of ravioli before it was washed off my plate. “Two forks? Tiramisu?” my date spit out quickly. “That’s a bit presumptuous, isn’t it?” his tone dripped with revulsion. I laughed silently and said to myself, “Oh, so the turtle comes out of it’s shell now. For what? Tiramisu? What an absolute jerk. I’ve got to keep it together long enough to get home without punching this dude’s lights out.” “They’re for me.” I lied in a honeyed tone. “I like to keep a lucky fork around.” I thought I almost caught him roll his eyes as he turned his head away. Awave rolled abruptly in from the kitchen and the table floated up to just below my chest as a murmur went up amongst the patrons. I struggled to figure out how to arrange my arms on it and decided for an awkward tentlike shape. The red and white checked tabletop dipped to the side and heaved my plate, the cups and most of the silverware into the water where I watched it sink quickly to the bottom. “What kind of dessert are you going to order then?” I asked the man, whose name I realised I’d forgotten, as surely as I hoped to forget about the events of this evening. “I prefer gelato, if you please,” he replied with a smug grin as though gelato was the only acceptable answer to such a delicate question. Sluuurrrppp, he went as he continued to singlemindedly masticate the noodles on his plate, which he’d narrowly rescued from our table’s
17
THE NANJINGER | VOLUME 12 ISSUE 05 | MARCH 2022
earlier purge. I put a hand up to my face and grimaced behind it. He’s even incapable of ordering his own food! What kind of mommy issues does this guy have? The faster we finish dessert, the faster I can get out of here. “I’ll go tell the waiter,” I squeaked as I realised that the goggles I’d ordered were around my neck. I was terrifically happy for an excuse to get away from the table, if even just for a few moments, and I grinned as I dove under the water. As I swam I surveyed the jumble of Italian delights suspended in the water around me. A medley of linguini, lasagna and red and white clouds floated by, perforated by swarms of parmesan. I immediately recalled the feeling I’d had when I snorkeled for the first time as a child. The awe that had struck me as I took in the teeming universe below the surface. A meatball smacked into the right side of my goggle and startled me back to the task at hand. I swatted it aside before surfacing next to the waiter. “Gelato, please. Oh, and if you can make that fast, I’d much appreciate it,” I disclosed as I tucked a fiver into his hand. He looked from his hand to my date and winced, before smiling conspiratorially. Almost instantaneously, the desserts and espresso popped out of the kitchen on a small boat. “All aboard,” the waiter called and stretched his leg out. He hoisted me up and onto what I had thought was a small sailboat, but once inside I realised was the centre of a white ceramic bathtub. My date slid down the slick white side nearest me and lurched for his gelato. The tub shook as he shifted his weight.
“Is that vanilla gelato?” he said disappointedly as he pulled the bowl towards his pasta splattered face. “You did ask for gelato, didn’t you?” I asked as my smile faded like a sunset. “Yes, but I only eat chocolate gelato,” he scoffed, picked up the gelato and tossed it out of the tub. He pulled his fork and plate out of his bag and continued working on his noodles. As I opened my mouth to tell him exactly what I thought of silly men who didn’t like tiramisu and couldn’t be asked to order for themselves I noticed something. My date was sitting directly on top of the bathtub drain. I quickly moved my foot over and with a spry ninja-like kick I dislodged the rubber stopper. The water around him began to form a vortex that sucked him down, all the while his mouth kept working on his noodles. Slurp, smack, slurp, smack. Rachel awoke in her bed. She was drenched in sweat and reached up to wipe her brow. “What the? Where am I?” She puzzled aloud before flicking her bedside light on and sizing up her surroundings. She was at home in her room and everything seemed in order, expect for the ungodly heat. She vaguely recalled that after a night out she’d eaten a plate of spaghetti on her bed and then left the window open to air the room out. She was now realising that had been a mistake as today was one of those summer days where an egg could fry on the sidewalk and the heat had only helped to make the room smell even more like pasta. She got up to close the window and her phone tumbled out of her lap and onto the floor, almost landing in the plate of half-eaten spaghetti that she had hastily tucked under her bed.
18
THE NANJINGER | 2022.03
Would have made more sense to take the plate out, instead of opening the window, she thought hazily to herself. Rachel quickly rescued her phone from the floor to check that it was still in working order. As she swiped up she was startled by the face on the screen. That face was not quite familiar, and yet it perturbed her, but for no reason that she could ascertain. Wait, she thought, he was in my dream. There was an Italian restaurant… or was it a pool… or the sea?
She clutched for the details of her dream. At first the memories fell from grasp like sand, but then in a more mud like manner she grasped onto some clumps. Something about noodles… and an aquarium or snorkelling? But she just couldn’t sort it out. As she picked up her phone again, she realised that they’d matched. She grimaced and disliked him, for no reason in particular, before shutting the window and going back to sleep.
19
THE NANJINGER | VOLUME 12 ISSUE 05 | MARCH 2022
THE NANJINGER | 2022.03
Legal notes from The Nanjinger in association with:
D’Andrea & Partners Legal Counsel
Dreams of Death;
V
Dealing with Desires to Commit Crimes
iolence or criminal activities in our dreams can often cause stress and anxiety, and in the most extreme instances, a criminal dream can show a person’s desire or guilt, or the fear of being accused of a crime that has not yet been committed. However, can our unconscious thoughts when we are sleeping amount to preparation for a crime which we intend to commit? At what point do thoughts of crimes move from our innermost impulses to becoming admissible in considering to commit a crime?
Intention to Commit a Crime “Mens rea”, Latin for “guilty mind”, is the mental element of a person's intention to commit a crime; or knowledge that one's action or lack of action would cause a crime to be committed, which is a necessary element of many crimes and a feature in the area of criminal law in many jurisdictions across the globe. Within the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China (revised in 2017), we can better understand how the mens rea is determined within mainland China, in “Section 1: Crimes and Criminal Responsibility”. Therein, article 14 specifies, “An intentional crime refers to an act committed by a person who clearly knows that his act will entail harmful consequences to society but who wishes or allows such consequences to occur, thus constituting a crime”. Thus, criminal responsibility shall be borne for intentional crimes. Article 15 goes on to outline instances in which accused assailants fall short of acquiring the necessary mens rea for an “intentional crime”, defining instead a negligent crime as, “an act committed by a person who should have foreseen that his act would possibly entail harmful consequences to society but who fails to do so through his negligence or having foreseen the consequences, readily believes that they can be avoided, so that the consequences do occur”. Criminal responsibility in such cases shall be borne only when the law so provides, therefore the threshold is lower. Finally, Article 16 stipulates that an “act is not a crime if it objectively results in harmful consequences due to irresistible or unforeseeable causes rather than intent or
negligence”, effectively alleviating persons who have unintentionally caused a crime to occur due to unpredictable consequences from their actions/inaction. Therefore we can effectively surmise that even if we have vivid dreams in which we plan out a crime which we intend to commit in the future, we would not have garnered the necessary mens rea in order to trigger criminal intention.
Preparation to Commit a Crime Moving beyond one’s dreams, should a person possess the necessary mens rea or “guilty mind” to commit a crime as per the aforementioned, what would be the next steps in assessing their behaviour as constituting a crime in this jurisdiction? An assailant who prepares the instruments or the creation of the conditions for a crime (e.g. buys the murder weapon, organises a robbery), may, in comparison with one who completes the crime, be given a lighter or mitigated punishment or be exempted from punishment. Moving one step further to criminal attempt, where an offender has already started to commit a crime but is prevented from completing it for reasons independent of their will, they may also, in comparison with one who completes the crime, be given a lighter or mitigated punishment. Finally, if a person is in the course of committing a crime and voluntarily discontinues the crime, or voluntarily and effectively prevents the consequences of the crime from occurring, provided no damage is caused, they may be exempted from punishment or, if damage is caused, be given a mitigated punishment. There are conceptual instruments in place as well as many necessary steps prevalent in the criminal law which prevent our dreams and thoughts of criminal activity from coming into the realm of the legal culpability. However, in saying that, taking further steps in the preparation of a crime or even attempting to carry out a crime, may bring about criminal liability. “Follow your dreams” goes the famous motivational saying, but if your dreams involve criminal actions…
DISCLAIMER This article is intended solely for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Although the information in this article was obtained from reliable official sources, no guarantee is made with regard to its accuracy and completeness. For more information please visit dandreapartners.com or WeChat: dandreapartners 21
THE NANJINGER | VOLUME 12 ISSUE 05 | MARCH 2022
THE NANJINGER | 2022.03
Great Nanjingers (20)
Godfather of Science & Technology across the Strait; Li Guoding By Frank Hossack
Li Guoding (李国鼎), known as Li Kwoh-ting in Taiwan, transformed the island from an economy based on agriculture to the world’s leading supplier of semiconductors. No wonder he’s referred to as Taiwan's "godfather of science and technology". Born in Nanjing on 28 January, 1910, Li had for an ancestral home Li Keng Village of Huizhou in Guangdong Province. In 1930, Li Guoding graduated from the Department of physics of Central University (now the school of physics of Nanjing University) and became the university’s honorary Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Aged 24 and then in the UK, Li came first in a Mathematics examination, winning a scholarship to remain in Britain and going on to study physics at Cambridge University. When the Sino Japanese War broke out in 1937, he returned home to play his part, saying later that he would have never been at peace with himself otherwise. During the war, Li participated in the air defence photogrammetry force and wartime steel production. Li’s ultimate calling became manifest in 1948, when he went to Taiwan to successively hold important positions in the island’s economic, financial, scientific and technological development departments. Therein, Li promoted the construction of processing export zones and scientific industrial parks. Most importantly of all, for what would turn out to be the future, Li advocated for the development of the information, semiconductor and other high-tech industries. In June 1993, at the invitation of the World Bank, the National Economic Reform Commission and the
Ministry of Finance, Li returned to the mainland and met with then President, Jiang Zemin. Little wonder therefore, that Li was also an accomplished author on economics. Among his many works; "Economic Transformation of Taiwan Economy" (Shepheard-Walwyn; 1988) and "Evolution of Policy Behind Taiwan's Development Success" (World Scientific Publishing; 1988). Li died on 31 May, 2001, at the National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei. He may have passed away, but his legacy for economic development lives on in Nanjing to this day. During the 1990s, Li had had been a regular at his alma mater, renewing friendships and discussing plans for the university’s development. Such visits laid the foundation for the “Li Guoding Forum”, initiated a year after his death and held in Nanjing and Taipei in turn each year. Recognition for Li has also extended far and wide. He was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award, established to perpetuate the former Philippine President's example of integrity and public service. Elsewhere, Li also received an honorary doctor of law degree from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Then there are the almost limitless initiatives paying homage. Most noteworthy are four professorships at Stanford University in his name, in the disciplines of Chinese culture, economic development, engineering and medicine. Li’s former residence in Taipei is now a museum, dedicated to showcasing the economic development that Li was instrumental in realising in his adopted home. 23
By Lillian Chen
S
tarting as a minority sport, it has now taken Nanjing by storm. The martial art that is jiu jitsu has become a pastime for many, ranging from 4-year olds to even the matured. What prompted this noticeable rise in the sport? Why here? Why now?
aware of it. People come to get a workout and learn selfdefence skills. And although MMA might have planted the seed, there could be underlying reasons such as wanting to try a new fun way to exercise and socialise with real people after the COVID lockdowns.”
The Nanjinger sat down with Nanjing BJJ Academy owner, Guillaume Leclerc (GL), who hails from Canada. He’s noticed that there has been a marked rise in both interest and the number of schools. "There absolutely has been a rise in both the popularity and the number of practitioners of Brazilian jiu jitsu in recent years. For example, when I first arrived in China, there were only one or two competitions per year in the whole country. Now there are competitions nearly each month, and often more than once a month”, he told me (LC).
LC: “Why did you get into jiu jitsu?”
A unique sport of Japanese and Brazilian descent, the close combat martial art can be used for self-defence or offence. While it may just be another martial art to some, for others it’s a way of life, helping people to grow as a person by teaching basic principles such as acceptance, respect, creation and other underlying elements that can be cultivated through physical manifestations and carried over into other aspects of life.When grappling, participants challenged both physically and mentally as it fuses physical strength and strategy. LC: “What makes jiu jitsu so different? Is it even different?” GL: “While you may say it’s all pretty much the same thing; 'they're all just people rolling around on a mat’, some may think otherwise. [Just as] basketball and tennis are all ‘ball sports’, jiu jitsu also differs from the other martial arts”. What sets jiu jitsu apart is the mutual respect for the sport, its ability to attract people of different backgrounds and the shared pride that they take in the sport. “We find pride in our technical skill, teaching methodology and in the community that we work to build up every single day”, Leclerc told The Nanjinger. LC: “Why do think people are interested in jiujitsu, especially recently?” GL: “With MMA becoming more mainstream in China, and China having its very first UFC champion, more and more people are hearing about BJJ. I don’t think the reason people are interested is changing, just more people are
GL: “I was blessed to put into martial arts training at the young age of 5, my father had always wanted to train but couldn’t afford it when he was a kid, so we did classes together as soon as I was old enough to join. I dabbled in many different martial arts, taekwondo, kickboxing, capoeira, to name a few, and finally found my way to jiu jitsu. Some friends, even though they were physically weaker than I, did jiu jitsu, and they would easily find the upper hand as soon as it got to the ground. I had to learn their witchcraft for myself.” LC: “Why did you start a gym, and why do you think other people started?” GL: "Funny story. It was never my plan to start a gym. I took over classes when my instructor left. It was more a transfer of responsibility, my duty to keep spreading the art. After finishing university here, my wife and I decided to turn our passion into our career. Very soon, the room we were renting got too small and we moved into our first standalone location. As for why other people get started, I think reasons may vary, but for a BJJ gym to be successful, one thing is sure, the owner/instructor must be extremely passionate about the sport.” LC: “What are the dangers/risks?” GL: “When it comes to business in general, there are always risks involved, especially when we’re talking about BJJ which is very new and still very niche in this country. It’s a lot of work to get people to come through the door. Another is injury, like any other contact sport. Some people are intimidated by the idea of having to wrestle with others on the ground and can never get past their fear. However, for those who decide to come try, their fears vanish into thin air as soon as they feel our welcoming atmosphere. Moreover, jiu jitsu is the safest of combat sports, as we don’t do any punching or kicking. You won’t be getting hit in the face!” Step out of your comfort zone, get a workout in and leave with some physicalwitchcraft! 24
Owner of Nanjing BJJ Academy, Guillaume Leclerc (bottom right), teaches a class with Coach, Wang Mingjia
Nanjing Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Acadamy (南京巴西柔术) now has two branches in Nanjing:
19F, Imperial Garden, 333 Taiping Nan Lu
#102, Jinling Construction Engineering Mansion, 15 Bailongjiang Dong Jie
大平南路333号御景园19楼
建业区白龙江东街16号金陵建工大厦102室
25
THE NANJINGER | VOLUME 12 ISSUE 05 | MARCH 2022
By Matthew Stedman
Hotline to Yunnan
Like Drinking Sweet Potato Skin By coincidence, I was recently drinking Yunnan Green tea anyway. My favourite market-stall had been selling some. Yeah, it was cheap. And, despite the unpromising smell and ashen grey appearance, I was curious. I had not bought any of this stuff while in Yunnan itself. I remember seeing it piled high in the market there, dusty, no effort towards preservation. “That’s not the way to treat green tea”, I thought. Moreover, the Yunnan sellers themselves told us not to buy it! Buy the pu er, they said; this can only by enjoyed by locals. But the curiosity caught up with me, and I was able to finish my first batch, albeit infused with some citrus fruit, through this winter. The effects of oxidation are very apparent, tasting a bit like those abused gunpowder and hyson green teas which travel around the world to be drunk by so many selfpunishing dieters. And the astringency is also very strong, reminding me of a raw pu er. I finished it, thanks partly to those lemons and limes. And then, almost immediately, this gift. Green Tea from Yunnan. This is from an artisanal producer. In fact, it’s from the exact same producer as the longleaved, long-lasting, red tea I mentioned last year. Compared with last month’s stuff, the appearance is more promising; more green, less grey. Coming from camellia sinensis assamica, like all Yunnan teas, the large plant leaves result in long, twisted tea leaves. And there are some white, downy buds, just like dianhong [滇红]. Again, some of that astringency is present here. In fact, I need to say that everything I disliked about my winter green tea is present, to a lesser degree, here. But what I liked is also much more pronounced, too.
It seems I write about sweet potatoes every time I write about Yunnan here in this column. They are one of the great discoveries of my Chinese life, enjoyable as dry chewy snacks, boiled breakfast fodder, fried as chips with a duck-egg coating or refined into noodles. Despite the lousy English name, they are much, much more than a novelty potato. Sweet potatoes are sweet, but they’re also fruity (mango) and floral, with lavender and rose aromas starring. If, like me, you eat the skin of sweet potatoes, you’ll find tannins there. That astringency, as with a banana, is only unbearable at the tip, otherwise quite acceptable, quite pleasing. Sweet potato leaves appear on some restaurant menus, and can be bought in markets too. They possess a similar astringency, as well as a similar sweetness. Really great veg. These are exciting, grown-up sensations we’re discussing. And I want to say that this green tea is similar. Sometimes, the experience feels a little too close to that root tip, that volcano of astringency. Other times, it fascinates and rewards. Smile, inhale through the nose and feel the controlled explosion. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention tobacco. It’s not just because of the flue-curing process that Chinese, mostly Yunnanese, cigarettes have such a distinctive, floral aroma. I’m reminded of that aroma in this green tea. Yunnan truly is a tea heaven, and food heaven, too; our Yunnanese ayi brought us mind-blowing spicy pickles, as well as delicious mangoes. We may never again see her now she’s saved enough for a big house back home. We can’t blame her for returning to her husband, but we’ll miss her. Thank goodness, then, for this friend of a friend who makes these great teas! 26
THE NANJINGER | 2022.03
The Building of Nanjing
By Frank Hossack
“What on Earth is that?”, is the question to most commonly escape a person’s mouth upon first glimpse of the Jinling Library. For good reason; if Nanjing has any structure more befitting of a place on another world (and there are quite a few), we’ve yet to find it. Yet, the Jinling Library is no recent sci-fi construct; it’s been with us for over a decade. Opened on 18 October, 2010, after 5 years of construction, the ultra-modern edifice disguises a long and colourful past.
~4~
Jinling Library
Yuan Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty. Some of the books salvaged from the ashes remain on display to this day. In 1958, the Nanjing municipal government decided to build a new municipal library, but it took until 1980 for the new building, at 262 Changjiang Lu, to be completed and opened, initially named Nanjing People's Library and latterly restored as the Jinling library. Today, that location is where we find the Nanjing Library. Back in Hexi, the Jinling Library stands proud today as a fitting element to Nanjing’s culture scene in the new area of Hexi.
Jinling Library was founded in 1927 but was renamed as the first Nanjing Municipal Library in July of the following year. Another 4 years later saw the library merged with the People's Science Museum to be again renamed as the Nanjing Municipal Library in September, 1933.
Other libraries nearby abound, while Jinling’s lines and colours both contrast and compliment the adjacent Olympic Centre to the east. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the Shengxun Church that sits directly aside to its north.
A period of stability followed, until the Japanese invasion of 1937. With troops setting fire to the library, most collections were burnt beyond recognition. Of particular loss were records of nobility dating from the start of the
In addition to the regular library facilities, Nanjing’s Jinling Library offers a 24-hour automated-bookreturn facility, plus a digital reading room and a reading room for the visually impaired. 27
THE NANJINGER | VOLUME 12 ISSUE 05 | MARCH 2022
Shanghai-style brew bar, albeit with Nanjing’s all too familiar and disappointing opening hours. Bitter Brew opened in mid February about 6 weeks after they intended; I made my first visit on a Saturday night. Much of it is still roped off, but they had 12 beers. Half of these were their own brews, indicated on the chalkboard with an “O”. A limited food menu is currently available; onion rings, fried chicken, sausage, steak and fries. It all tasted decent enough, but nothing beyond the norm for such places.
Additional info, online version or Chinese contact via the QR code that follows each review.
HOSTELRY By Matt Ford
Can Bitter Brews in Xinjiekou become Better Brews? The brews were so-so on this occasion. In my opinion, their own beers still need a lot of work. It was quite easy to tell which had been brewed on site. The guest beers we tried were quite good, even if some were too gassy. The Kiwi Sour deserves a special mention for flavour and quality, despite its alarming radioactive green colouring. Half of the beers were less than 5 percent, which is unusual and welcome. There were many IPAs, but no dark beers. However, I was assured these would be featured in future. For beer quality (and range), it certainly is not Malt & Hop, but I guess we need to give it time. What can be said of the beers can be said of the whole place, really. It looks like it wants to be a Shanghai brew bar but it isn’t yet, at least. If they want to attract foreigners (and I guess that is not necessarily a given, but let’s assume so), having the food and drink menu in English would be a good start. Two of my discerning companions were Chinese and very helpful in translating menus, quizzing the bar staff, and giving their own thoughts on the beer and food. From about 21:00 the place became rammed to the extent that the apparently, needlessly roped-off area was opened up. This incoming crowd was young and it was good to see them enjoying craft beer, but not so much to be submerged in the thick clouds of their tobacco smoke. Bitter Brew is far from a success just yet. However, that is through my lens, and based on what I look for in a bar. Others may think it is already magnificent. Incidentally, Wine Thieves is immediately next door. It is a new and spacious restaurant aping with some success a western bistro. It has much potential, and I have high hopes for the deli shop inside 28
THE NANJINGER | 2022.03
which is currently only stocked partially. Is it too much to hope it might soon be selling decent bread, cheese and cured ham, alongside their wine? Let’s hope so. If it does, I may be spending rather a lot of time off Xinjiekou’s Wangfu Da Jie. Bitter Brew is located at #94-2 Wangfu Da Jie in Xinjiekou 新街口王府大街94-2号 Tel: 17315447616.
GASTRONOMY By Frank Hossack
Cute Booths & Pulp Fiction Impressions; A Diner Excels
T
Then there are the Meat Lover Burger (¥78), which comes with smoked pastrami and maple bacon; and the Foie Gras-Wagyu Burger (¥88), which took the fancy of our Pulp Fiction loving friends next door.
rue to our promise last month, in this issue we visit the other half of the Jieniu (解牛) empire’s western eateries in And the burgers don’t stop there. Those who prefer to shy away Nanjing; Pink Cutie, located in the recently-opened D9 block of from beef, take note! Pink Cutie offers a Low-Fat Burger, mainly F&B establishments, opposite 1912 across Taiping Bei Lu. comprising a quinoa and spinach muffin, filled with low-smoked chicken breast, avocado, chopped kale and roasted cashews, And we’re glad we did, for Pink Cutie is a significant improvement with honey balsamic. And all that for just ¥42! over last month’s Smoke King, which nevertheless, at the time of our visit had much to recommend it. But Pink Cutie takes it up a Then finally, there is the now-increasingly common Portobello Mushroom Burger, also ¥42. notch when it comes to the American diner. With the bun not ejecting its contents at the slightest squeeze, our Hot Girl was a surprising, mess-free, gloveless, burgerdining experience. For the more sanitary minded, gloves are provided at every table, albeit in those worrying, condom-style packages. The same goes for straws (plastic; whoops) and metal cutlery, thankfully minus the packaging. Last month, we were a little outraged at ¥30 for French fries, very good though they were. At Pink Cutie, virtually the same thing is a sensible ¥18. Service was also courteous, and relatively speedy, with our burger arriving boothside within 10 minutes.
One reason would be the (perceived) authenticity of the environment that had this correspondent’s dining companions in the next booth making an attempt to look like they were acting out a scene in “Goodfellas” or “Pulp Fiction”. Either way, it was time to look the other way.
Pink Cutie is located on 1F of D9 at 9 Jiangjun Alley, off Taiping Bei Lu 太平北路将军巷9号. Tel: 18652007577.
So full marks for atmosphere. Opened in November of last year, the Cutie has the good sense to provide patrons with a laminated, two-sided menu, while ordering itself is via WeChat and the increasingly ubiquitous QR code on the table. That, however, in this case, would also be a painless experience for non-Chinese readers. And when it comes to that menu, making a choice is the difficult part. Will it be the Hot Girl Burger (¥58), their signature dish, or the Heartache Burger (¥48)? One, then the other, presumably. 29
Acclaimed Chinese author, Su Tong; book designer, Zhu Yingchun; bookshop owner, Jessy Lu; children’s illustrator and author, Anita Toncheva-Niasi; and even the editor of this very publication, made up the special guests appearing during The British School of Nanjing’s annual Book Week. With students, staff and visitors dressing up as their favourite book characters and a themed bake sale from the school’s Parent’s Association closing the week, it was an inspiring and satisfying time for all involved.
30
THE NANJINGER | VOLUME 12 ISSUE 05 | MARCH 2022
Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! The highly anticipated student-led, Nanjing International School Secondary production of the Wizard of Oz took centre stage in February, where the classic story came to life in vibrant and inspiring performances. It was the school’s first Secondary production since December, 2020, and well worth the wait. Follow the Yellow Brick Road!
24 & 25 February, 2022
To see photos from your event on these pages, contact The Nanjinger via info@thenanjinger.com. Conditions apply.
32
THE NANJINGER | 2022.03
THE
Download this map to your smartphone via The Nanjinger website
The Nanjinger’s Metro Map is the only printed map of the city’s metro system to include first and last times for every station, perfect for planning a late night out or an adventure to somewhere new with an early start. In the case of last trains, passengers are advised to enter the station of departure at least 10 minutes before the train time.
THE NANJINGER | VOLUME 12 ISSUE 05 | MARCH 2022
