End of the Line

The subway line, that is. Last Saturday Kevin and I decided to take the subway line all the way to the end and see what went on over there. So we took Line 1 (our line) to the transfer station and rode Line 2 all the way to the last stop, Jintian Road. Then we did what we do best: wandered.

We discovered what exists at the end of the subway line: the Xianlin undergrad campus of Nanjing University! I live by/go to school at the graduate campus, and I'd never been over there because it takes over an hour to commute, so I didn't choose any classes on that campus.

So we decided to go in and see what there was to see. Xianlin campus is the newer of the new campus, and will eventually be the main hub of Nanjing University. Right now they've got the dorms and a few buildings up, but they are obviously still expanding. The entire area is, actually. The infastructure is all set up for expansion, even though nothing is there right now. There is empty housing that's just been built, parks, and a bunch of areas that are still going up.

They had some interesting architecture though. The library was huge and an unknown building was like something out of a futuristic fantasy series.

Unfortunately the futuristic design and the construction didn't quite match up. One of the buildings with an interesting outer pattern was already falling apart due to poor water-damage planning. 

Nanjing University let their different student groups and departments paint construction walls to brighten up the place while all of the construction was going on. It was really neat to see some of the awesome (and not-so-awesome) artwork that the students had done. And of course, it made for some photo opportunities :)

We walked for a few subway stops before deciding to go home (it would have been way too long to attempt to walk all the way home), and while we were following the subway we noticed a neat piece of technology: the earthquake insulation on the subway slabs. None of the individual pieces are siting on top of each other, rather they are insulated in the joints to allow for shaking in the event of an earthquake. Even in a region not known for natural disasters, they're ready!

It was a fun and tiring day. Nice to see (part) of the undergrad campus, and I think that it will be interesting to come back here in 15 or 20 years and see all that's changed. Love,

Maggie