Back to real China & A different little paradise

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Forget about Hong Kong, this is much better! We arrived to Xiamen early yesterday morning. Right away we left the main island with a boat to a smaller sandy och rocky little island called Gulang Yu. With the pages ripped out from one of the guide books at the shabby hostel i Hong Kong we soon found a little hotel, somewhat rundown, but cheap and spacious. Here we were once again recogniced, looked and starred at as we must have been one of the few if not the only white people on the whole island... Even if that sometimes might get you nervous and irritated, it's definetely to prefer in front of the aloneness and anonymity of Hong Kong.
It's hard to separate the components that compose a good time, happiness or what ever you wanna call it. But i have my suspicions that leaving Hong Kong and our tour group behind made this trip alot more interesting. To move freely mroe or less aimlessly, without or with little time pressure, to be able to experience yourself does make a BIG difference! The last two days have been great!
We started of taking a long walk around the island, salesmen as eager as usual, but definetely (since almost all of them are girls) they were more beautiful than the average in China. Students and schoolgirls added it up, i tell you... this place has the most gorgeus chics! Ok let's stick to the proper observations now... Sandy beaches stretched along the shore, amazing ficus trees climbing the rocks around the path and woods up the mountainous sides. Great rocks with mysterious forms grabbed my attention. All over were thin little homeless cats following your moves ready to flee... they weren't very tame but terribly cute. After returning from circumambulating the whole place, we skipped all the popular visits (the underwater world and some eeexpensive "scenic area gardens") and found a little beach somewhat hidden away. Swimming was so good! The beach also summed up many contrasts as you had the big city of Xiamen on your left and along it's side a long bridge, rear left some disney looking white cottage-houses and an enormous statue of some important historical person. Looking to the right an enourmous rock with the dim and blurry forms of a giants head. On the island behind it: industries and big boats, and on the rear right and directly behind us a white beach with black rocks showing at this time of although stained with splits of glass here and there and great lush trees and greenery up to the old frensh neo-classical buildings. The water was quite chilly, refreshing.
The island has a strange variety. It's quite turisty, but at the same time it has it's own character and keeps solemnity and peace with it's beatiful nature and car-less streets. Many students also live here, studying music and arts. We leart that some of chinas greatest musicians originate from here. Food was relaxingly cheap, good and easy to find. Many neighbourhoods were intrigueingly beautiful with all those small streets surrounded by big pompuos neo-classical architecture. Once the home of frensh colonialist i believe, but now most of them called home by mother nature, by entropy. Greenery swallowing gates and walls, many empty looking houses with all their once shining ornaments now withering by the wind. We felt that we almost could have settled there restaurating one of the old houses livable qarters, but at the same time trying to retain this ruff nature and the mysterious feel and atmophere.
In the city of Xiamen i must add, we did not spend much time except from turning all their dvd shops upside-down... but we were also rewarded in the end. A woman on a small street waved with her hand repeating the key word "DVD", "DVD". So we followed into a small alley way. Time was running out, we had to catch our flight to Bangkok, but for this we had to have time! We left not many Yuan lighter now carrying some 100 or more dvd:s on our back. Thats that. and yeah, not to forget. We did have a morning swim before leaving, compulsory pleasure.

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