For about three months in spring of 2015 and again from fall 2016, I have lived in a high-rise building on the south edge of downtown Nanjing. Both times, my windows have overlooked the skyscrapers and other tall buildings in the heart of the city of 8-30 million people. According to Siri, in 2013, Nanjing city had a population of a bit over 8 million, but including the metropolitan area for which it is responsible, the population totals 30 million.
This is a panoramic view of my one-room apartment; it actually is perfect for me. I do all my work on the small couch, sleep on the bed, and enjoy the view from the window seat. The windows take up about 80-percent of the end wall. The TV you see does not work, but I do have Internet and get whatever news or entertainment I need from the computer.
The rest of the apartment has entry way, the kitchen area, and the bathroom. I have a microwave oven, a refrigerator/freezer, sink and cabinets, and a one-burner electronic cooking device. I have a skillet and a pot and a variety of dishes, a few bowls for mixing stuff in, and I don't need much more.
When I moved in here in early October, 2016, the windows were very dirty from rain and dust. Of course, since the view was very important to me, I set out to clean them. The center section doesn't move and the side panels open out, making them very hard to reach. I would say I risked life and limb trying to clean them, achieving a passable result, but of course, I was not in any real danger; I certainly did not lean out so far that I might fall. I was able to use a kind of squeegee wrapped in a towel soaked in glass cleaner to extend my reach, but it still was not as clean as I would have liked.
Imagine my amazement when, two or three days later, I saw a rope dangling from the roof, and before long, a window washer descended and washed all the windows with water and squeegee, including the center panel. I hope that's an annual event; I won't attempt it myself again.
When I look down, I can see busy city streets, a middle school, and low-rise residential buildings.
The view from the window is the focal point of the apartment. I bought a canvas camping chair to put on the window seat and sometimes sit there to read and meditate or just enjoy the view. A friend, a former student, visited me once and her daughter enjoyed the little chair and window seat.
The location of this building is very convenient; I can walk two blocks to a Walmart and to the entirety of the Central Business District, with malls, department stores, restaurants, and hotels. Nanjing has lots of narrow streets mixed in with the big commercial ones, with hundreds of small shops selling most anything you need. But most of what I need I can get from convenience stores and cafeterias at the base of my building.
I can walk to church in about 15-20 minutes, and to three subway lines in about the same time. There is good bus service on the front and back streets of my building. I am always fascinated by the public activity in China, so on my way to and from my activities, I keep an eye out for street scenes that teach me a lot about Chinese culture. Below, you see advertisements for a cosmetic surgery hospital, a portable oven for baking sweet potatoes and ears of corn (people buy them and eat them as they walk down the street), a mother taking her baby out into the sun, sheets and Chinese quilts taking in the sun, a woman selling paper money to burn on the April holiday when people visit the graves of their ancestors, and the daily ritual of taking the little dogs out for a walk and catching up on the latest gossip.
The weather is on view every day; Nanjing is prone to fog at certain times of the year and when it gets foggy, the skyscrapers largely disappear.
But my favorite thing is to look at the animated lights that come on every night about 6 pm and continue until about 10. Still photos don't do justice to the lively patterns and changing images, but I just can't resist. I can stand on the window seat and open the window and take photo after photo. I'll share a few here.
