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Published: April 14th 2010
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dian dian
cat @ BaiJiaCun Hostel The whole point of my trip to China is the train rides but it is really ridiculous to take a train from Shantou to Xiamen as it goes around in one big loop. So i opted for the bus which costs 95Y and 4hours. The bus leaves at 12noon and 3pm daily and i opted for the 12noon ride to get to Xiamen while there is still day light. Unfortunately that means that my Aunt will have to head to the airport alone instead of having me there with her at check in as we have planned.
I booked a bed at
BaiJiaCun Youth Hostel and took a taxi towards it once i arrived at the Xiamen bus station. The driver got a lil lost at BaiJiaCun and we called the hostel for directions. I unloaded my stuff in the dorm and headed out towards the ferry terminal to check things out for my Gulang Yu trip the next day. Near the ferry terminal is a huge shopping area. I grabbed my a 7prawn burger and a egg tart at KFC for dinner and had a manicure done at a nail
salon next to KFC. After which it was much wondering around the shopping lane or rather walking street as the locals call it and slowly inching towards the ferry terminal.
The sun has set by the time i strolled over to the ferry terminal and the night view of Gulang Yu is there for me to feast upon. I smiled to myself knowing i would be somewhere across the river in less than 24hours and would be feasting on the night view of Xiamen instead the next day. I hopped onto a bus next to the ferry terminal and headed back to my hostel. It was easy knowing where to get off since the hostel is located just next to the Zhongshan Park.
The next morning at the hostel, the friendly host at the cafe in the hostel shared a book on Xiamen with me. It features many cafes around Xiamen and Gulang Yu that has distinctive characteristics to it. I flipped through the pages browsing at the pictures and taking down the address of a couple of cafes that struck me
as interesting. After breakfast it was off to Gulang Yu. The ferry ride towards Gulang Yu is free and there will be a charge when you take the return from Gulang Yu. There was a huge crowd waiting for the ferry. As we were ushered from one waiting area to another, i saw a elderly chinese man. He was quite shabbily dressed with a dirty, old green bag which did not seem to contain much slung over his right shoulder. ALERT! i thought to myself and carried my backpack infront of me instead for safety precautions. It may seem judgemental for me to do so but being a lone traveler i have to take such measures; even if they seem unnecessary.
The amount of people on Gulang Yu far superceeds the crowd waiting for the ferry on the Xiamen side. Tourists from Taiwan and Hong Kong and of course China herself. I walked around in search for this cafe called Babycat that is suppose it to near the ferry terminal on Gulang Yu. It was as the pictures in the book showed. A peaceful cafe with white-washed walls, white chairs, white tables, white countertops and a fluffy white cat
running around. They are famous for their xian bing but that will only be available from 2pm onwards. So i had a Babycat iced milk tea and a orange glazed chicken chop while i waited for 1.5hrs to pass. Of course I had my DS with me which i put to full use playing the puzzle cracking Professor Layton while i waited. After some time it dawned upon me that it is already 2pm as the cafe became packed and people started queueing outside the cafe's take-away window for their share of the famous xian bing. I grabbed a box of the green bean ones and started my walk along the alleys to the Piano Garden.
As i walked on i saw a familar face. It was that of the elderly chinese man that i saw earlier on Xiamen while waiting for the ferry. He has placed himself on the side of the walkways, seated down and his hands are busy pulling things out of his dirty old green bag. There were 3-4 other people crowded around him. I walked up closer, curious. I watched his hands as they reached into his dirty, old green bag and
pulled out long leaves. I continued watching his hands as they skillfully weaved the ordinary leaves into a beautiful rose. WOW! I thought to myself. Infront of him where more artfully weaved items. Another rose, 2 snakes, a grasshopper. I laughed at myself for my judgemental thought earlier. I stood next to him now, in awe and unafraid, as his continued weaving beautiful items. He sold a rose which would never wither to a young chinese couple for 5Y. I stood there for a few more minutes watching him and decided i'll buy a couple of roses from him on my way down later.
Further on there were more street artists along the sides of the walkway. The usual cartoonists, clay model makers but none of them struck me as interesting as their arts were seen all around China. But the leaf weaver.... the leaf weaver is different. Perhaps because i mis judged him earlier but this is the 1st time i have seen this skill performed live infront of me. Before this all i know about his art was from TV shows... The leaf weaver was on my mind as i strolled up hill towards to Ri Guang
Yan . The queue up to the peak of the rock for the view of Gulang Yu was superly long and i just stood at the base and looked around. As night fell, i situated myself on the seats facing Xiamen and sat there waiting for the lights on Xiamen to light up. I waited and waited.... slowly some lights came on. But the view of Xiamen at night was really blah. I walked away dissapointed by the view of Xiamen at night and joined the crowd on the return ferry...
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