Door knocker

Door knocker
Originally uploaded by joe with a camera

Not all that much to say about this one... it's a door knocker, after all! the wee beastie was lurking on the gate of a small, completely unmanned museum about the Ming Dynasty's activities on Xuanwu Lake (see previous post). Nanjing actually means "South Capital" and it was the capital of China back in the 3rd and 4th centuries, again from 1368-1421, and finally around 1912, when Dr. Sun YatSen (known as Zhongshan - yes, the same as that mountain behind our apartment) became the first president. The Ming era was particularly prominent in its history, and that dynasty's tombs are close to where we live.
But as I say, this is just a door knocker. It's probably even quite a modern door-knocker (most things in China are). But we liked it.