Siping—Part 1
Why would a foreigner want to visit Siping?
Siping is a small industrial city of three million that sits between Changchun, the capital city of Jilin province, and Shenyang, the capital city of Liaoning province.
My Chinese friends were puzzled why would I want to visit Siping. Nobody visits Siping. Yet, the city had three things that attracted me.
Ancient Manchu town
There is an ancient Manchu Yehe Town outside of Siping. It was the hometown of two empresses of the Qing Dynasty, Empress Dowager Cixi and Empress Dowager Longyu.
Chinese Civil War museum
During the Civil war between the Nationalists and the Communists, control of Siping was vital because the railroad connecting Changchun and Jilin City to the north with Shenyang to the south ran through Siping. If the Communists controlled Siping, then the Nationalist armies in Changchun and Jilin City would be doomed.
The Siping Battle Memorial Hall is a museum that honors the four fierce major battles fought between 1945 and 1948 to control Siping.
Convenient
Finally, by using the high-speed train, Siping is only 35 minutes from Changchun. This would be a day trip and since it was so so close, my friend Ann would accompany me.
The Chinese high-speed train tracks are often elevated and not laid at ground level as in North America.
It is common to see the high-speed trains operating at up to 350 kpm above the city streets or country roads.
As we entered Siping, we could see rows of newly build residental condo buildings.
A long row of blue and grey taxis waited for passengers at the West Siping Train Station.
On the drive into the city, we passed a new residental district with a large Wanda shopping mall sitting in front of a large number of tall condo towers.
I asked the taxi driver what was Siping’s main industry. He replied that it was building condos. (I think that may be true everywhere in China.)
Downtown Siping.
Siping has wide streets with lots of shade from the trees on both sides of the street.
See the man walking on the road? That is because parked cars are blocking the sidewalks. That too is very common in China.
We went for lunch at a local restaurant in downtown Siping.
I thought that this display in front of a flower shop was especially pretty.
Another wide side-street well shaded by tall trees. The pedestrians are walking on the road as the sidewalks are full of parked cars.
There are lots of taxis in Siping. The transit system relies on buses as the city is too small to support light rail lines, street cars or a subway.
A major street in downtown Siping. I found it to be a pretty city.
Here is a kindergarten on the bottom floor of a residential condo tower. The cheerful colours and the strong security measures are common for Chinese kindergartens and primary schools.
This is a residential condo building in downtown Siping.
I was taken by all the bars on the windows. Usually in northern China, only the windows on the first three floors are barred. (Home break-ins is common in China.)
I was impressed with the artwork on this wall that was behind a condo building.
When we were driving back to the train station, we got to see bumper-to-bumper rush hour traffic in Siping.
As we approached the railway station, we saw more condos that are under construction.
In my next essay about Siping, I will write about the ancient Manchu Yehe Town that is almost an hour-long taxi drive outside Siping.