The 7th Tallest Building in the World

Yesterday was a great air quality day. We noticed that it was sunny outside and decided that we definitely needed to get outside, and once we were out we were amazed at how far we could see with no smog. Right down the road is the ZiFeng Tower, aka the 7th tallest building in the world. It is 450 meters tall (1,480 ft) and is 89 stories tall. Because it's so close to our house and is so freaking tall it works as a landmark when we're out and about exploring the city.

It's 80 kuai (about 14 dollars) for admission, and this price in China is a little ridiculous- you could get an hour and a half massage or dinner for three nights for the price of admission, but because it was so clear and the 7th tallest we decided to splurge and go up.

The elevator was ridiculously fast, and we were to the observatory in less than a minute. The tower is shaped like a triangle and is all glass windows. There are signs in all of the directions detailing Nanjing attractions and they even have little signs showing the best photo places.

Looking down at our house!

You can see so far. I didn't really understand how large Nanjing was until I looked out in all directions and saw building after building off into the distance. We saw rivers and malls and areas still under construction that only hint at what they are going to be.

We stayed up there for a while (after all, you want to get your moneys worth), ate our pre-packed pb&js and looked out at the skyline.

We looked at the cafe that was up there (they had Breyers ice cream!) but after seeing prices like those, we high tailed it out of there.

After we'd had our fill of the Nanjing skyline and the smog had started to creep in again we decided to continue our walk to the nearby lake and go around the other way to see what there was on the other side. It was a really bright day, mid 30s, so chilly but sunny. There weren't too many people out, it being a Thursday, so we walked around most of the 15 kilometer lake and people watched. We counted three brides getting photographed in the sunny but cold light, many children running around, and several boats dotting the lake's surface.

It was a great day to mark yet another week off from work. I'm excited to really start my internship and just in general getting bored of time off. I'm really not good with free time. I got my first job in college when classes weren't time consuming enough and that trend has continued all the way to China. I want to work! Soon enough, soon enough. Love,
Maggie