Blogs from Quanzhou, Fujian, China, Asia

19th Feb: I enjoyed one last walk along the beach in Xiamen and since it was really early it was quiet. It definitely wasn't the quickest way to get to the subway station but it was the prettiest. The subway system in Xiamen is still relatively new. The train was really clean and quiet. It took about 30 mins, if I remember correctly, to get me to Xiamen North Station. Since it was the holiday, the station was packed. Also Xiamen Bei wins the award for nastiest train station toilets in China, they were foul. My train journey was a short one and I barely had time to get comfortable in my seated before we reached Quanzhou. I took a taxi to the main temple in Quanzhou, which is near where I was staying. Taxi driver ... read more

A beautiful and relaxing day in Quanzhou, Fujian, at the beginning of April. Good life with Becky! Like every year around Tomb Sweeping Festival (Qingming Jie) the weather around Fuzhou was rainy and pretty unpredictable. We got up at least 3 times at 6am to go to Quanzhou but as it was raining, we ended up going back to sleep every time! But finally one morning the sky was clear and blue, so we took the fast train south and enjoyed a wonderful day in Quanzhou! I really enjoyed this city and wouldn't mind going back in the future for more hiking. Quanzhou is like a little Fuzhou. The fact that it is much smaller than Fuzhou makes it very convenient to get around. People seem very laid-back and we didn't witness any traffic jam... It's ... read more

Hello everybody. Sorry it's been a few days. We had to move hotels, and the Internet jack in my room doesn't work, so I'm piggybacking off Girouard at this point. For the field trip this week, we went to Quanzhou, the city once called Zaytun (where the word "satin" comes from) and a major stop on the silk road. We took a bus built for much shorter Chinese people again, so all the staff's knees were hurting by the time we got there, but Lin seemed to find it amusing Our first stop was the birthplace of Lao Tzu, and also a site that celebrates the cross-pollination of Confucianism and Taoism. It was really interesting to see the way that the Chinese integrate such a variety of religions. That theme also continued later in the day ... read more

My cousin from Belgium and her friend are visiting at the moment, and they wanted to go see some beautiful nature near Xiamen. Cool, I thought, we can go to the tea mountains! Last I was in Anxi with my parents I had met a young girl (21) at the bus station, she told me that her whole family were tea farmers, and invited me to visit her village. So I thought, what better opportunity to go than with my cousin! I called her up, she was very happy to here that we were coming by, and she recommended that we stay at least a day, because the area is very big and beautiful. So we prepared to go in the morning at 9.30, and expected to be home the next day, so I recommended that ... read more

Woensdag 23 juli. We werden gewekt door de nogal luidruchtige Tai Chi beoefend door een groep jongeren. Stipt om 7.30 uur afspraak voor het ontbijt. Zoals steeds op de reis, iedereen altijd goed op tijd op de afspraak. Ditmaal bestond het ontbijt uit een zeer uitgebreid buffet met zelfs toasten, spiegeleieren, koffie, heel veel soorten cake, fruitsla en natuurlijk een ruime keuze Chinees ontbijt waar vooral Berna haar gading in vindt. Er was zelfs heel even pianobegeleiding. In de inkomhal van het Overseas Chinese hotel lag de Engelstalige versie van China Daily van 19 en 20 juli en schrokken we van het bericht dat door de provincie die we bezoeken een tropische storm getrokken is gepaard gaande met overvloedige regen zodat 36.000 mensen geëvacueerd moesten worden. Een foto van Leterme trok onze aandacht. De koning heeft ... read more