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Published: February 27th 2008
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After our delayed flight from Bangkok (which Air Asia felt bad about, so they supplied every passenger with a burger from Burger King and a bottle of water), we arrived safely in Xiamen and caught a taxi to our hostel. Being the middle of the night, we would have to wait until the break of day to get a feel for the city itself. The staff at the International Youth Hostel were very friendly (especially considering the late hour) and we fell to sleep in what was probably the most comfortable bed of our trip thus far.
Upon waking, I simply couldn't wait to go and explore Xiamen and get my first taste of China. All my life, I have never had a desire to visit China, so it was with some surprise that I found myself so excited to be here. Where we stayed was located a stone's throw from the university, so there were many interesting little shops and cheap restaurants for us to visit.
We first made our way to Nanputuo Temple, which was located virtually next door to our hostel. A friendly Chinese man whom we met at the airport had advised us to visit
this temple, so we took his advice. The temple itself was ornate and was being visited by a great many Chinese tourists. The grounds of the temple, however, are what I found most appealing. After walking through the gate, there were some small lakes which were full of fish, turtles and ducks. The grounds of the temple are built into the side of a hill, which makes the layout of the shrines quite interesting. Many large boulders spotted the hillside, with countless carved steps and walkways winding their way up the hill through the engraved boulders. From the highest shrines, we were able to take in views of the entire city.
After our tired and wobbly legs got us back to the bottom, we rested by the lakes and watched the fish and the frisky turtles, the latter appearing to have an incredible desire to procreate.
After lunch, we spent the afternoon wandering in the rain through the grounds of the university and at the aptly named 'Cafe Relax' enjoying hot chocolate and coffee.
For our second day, we caught a bus to the wharf with the idea of catching a ferry to the small nearby island
of Gulangyu, commonly known as Piano Island. This plan was thwarted due to a heavy fog/mist which severely limited visibility, so we spent the day wandering around the streets. We were both starving, so we decided to buy a box of small savoury cakes to snack on; however, these cakes must not be a common snack and rarely eaten on the sidewalk. We both drew a continuous stream of amused onlookers who could not contain their smiles and laughter as they strolled past us. After thinking that maybe the cakes are only used as offerings to Buddha (many people offer boxes of food at the feet of Buddha at temples and shrines), we decided to abandon this food option (not before I had consumed three of the cakes though!) and found a cheap food hall in a shopping centre. Whilst the food may have been cheap, it was delicious and we returned there again for lunch.
After spending the day wandering the streets and laneways and getting a feel for the city, we decided to head back to our hostel, so we jumped back on bus 71, as it was the same number that we took from the university.
After a few minutes of heading in the wrong direction, we suspected that we may have caught the wrong bus. By the time we were crossing a bridge to the mainland (Xiamen is an island), we were fairly certain that we had made an error. After about half an hour, we ended up at the bus depot! After a conversation (gestures, attempts at saying 'university' in mandarin, etc.) we were directed to another bus. We sat on this bus at the depot for another 30 minutes or so, at which point a driver arrived and we began our journey back towards the university. The upside of this unexpected excursion was that we got to see much more of Xiamen and its surrounds, all for 1 Yuan (about 15 cents AUD).
Our first impressions of China have been very positive, with many friendly, helpful people and much cleaner streets than both Vietnam and Thailand. Maybe we are in for a shock when we visit other parts of the country, but so far it has been terrific (except for the stomach bug which has struck us down - not pleasant when using hover toilets!).
Our next stop is a small,
rural town called Wuyi Shan, which should provide us with a contrast between a big city and more rural areas. Another overnight train trip awaits...
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