What is it like to go to university in Nanjing?

1. As a Jiangsu native, I have never been to Nanjing before I was 18 years old. This may sound a bit ridiculous to my friends from other provinces. However, it is closer to Shanghai from my home, so my impression of big cities has always been the tall and straight city line of Shanghai and the broad view of Beijing’s Third Ring Road.

As for Nanjing, I have no impression. The only impression probably came from a newspaper in a certain year, which had a report about the pandas in Hongshan Zoo.

2. Next to Nanjing are Shanghai, Hangzhou and Suzhou. These four cities have different tastes. Human beings are creatures with a sense of belonging. It is difficult to hear local people in these cities say that this place is not good. Comparatively speaking, Nanjing has a richer or heavier history than Shanghai and Hangzhou. This specific history makes Nanjing feel a sense of oppression from every corner. In addition to the memorial hall and Yuhuatai, places such as Jinling Manufacturing Bureau, Pukou Railway Station, and Taicheng next to Xuanwu Lake exude the reverberations of history.

3. Nanjing’s campuses are spread throughout the city. From Xianlin to Jiangning, from Drum Tower to Pukou, there are university campuses everywhere.

The most famous one is undoubtedly the Sipailou Campus of Southeast University. I went there once with my friends in late autumn last year, and the entire campus was dyed a vibrant golden yellow. It is a kind of golden color unique to late autumn, embodying centuries-old historical and cultural charm. Under the towering plane trees, the front wheel of the bicycle passed over the scattered and messy fallen leaves. On the wooden bench nearby, the boy was holding a guitar, and the girl was wearing a goose-yellow halter top.

Nanda people are somewhat envious and jealous of the Four Archways. The Four Archways are to the older generation of NTU and Southeastern people what Weiming Lake is to Peking University, it is an eternal belief in their hearts.

Going out of Sipaillou, you only need to cross a few streets to reach the Gulou Campus of Nanjing University, where Jinling University once stood. When I first came to the North Building, I still couldn't quite understand the meaning of the green bricks covered by lush ivy. Later, I saw the photos of NTU graduates, with the North Building in the background. I probably understand. Everyone's university needs a building that can carry memories. I often complained about my major, but now I suddenly felt a sense of responsibility and mission.

Beside it are the Gulou Campus of Hohai University and the Suiyuan Campus of Nanjing Normal University. Most universities in Nanjing have new campuses in Xianlin, Jiangning or Pukou. Most of them are large and very new, but, as someone said, they lack the flavor of a university and the sense of spatial interlacing where teachers and students meet head-on. If you have the opportunity to study in the old campuses of Gulou for a year or two, you will definitely be quite happy.