Blogs from Xiamen, Fujian, China, Asia - page 15

I've finally got my computer and internet access up and running in my office at work so I'm start adding updates to the blog fairly frequently now. I've also started to fill in the gaps from the last month so don't forget to check earlier entries.... read more

Luckily, JB has had the time to familiarize himself with many of the best sights to visit in Xiamen - and there are many! A quick overview is as follows; 1 Gulangyu Island..... We twice took the ferry to this popular place. It attracts residents and tourists (not many Westerners were noticed). There are no motorized vehcles allowed on this historical island where the Victorian buildings of the early European consulates are now preserved.....pearl shops, bird aviary, musums and gardens delight. A night view from Gulangyu shows Xiamen in all its LED lit glory. 2 University of Xiamen..... Taking Bus 45 from our hotel to the University campus is a sightseer's joy. The university has an elegant and peaceful campus surrounding a beautiful lake and gardens. Close by is a clean, sandy beach on the South ... read more

Getting off the plane from Shanghai to Xiamen we were fully clad in our winter attire only to be whacked by a torrent of warm air when exiting the airport. OH OH the sun. So nice. It is amazing how one takes sunlight for granted. Having bounced from hemisphere to hemisphere for the last 8 months I have only had summer. So China came as quite a shock to me as well as Ryan. But darling Xiamen was a temperate 23 with blue blue sky. Caught the hour long bus for 1 RMB to Gulang Yu island. Caught the free ferry to the island. Walked into a beautiful youth hostel with high ceilings and sit down toilets. It really is the nicest hostel I have stayed in so far. Very airy and light with terracotta tiles ... read more

Gulang Yu - 12th Jan 2006 So we have fiiiiiinally left Hong Kong and as a complete change of scene we decided our first stop would be the tiny island of Gulang Yu, just off the south east coast. We caught a ferry from the town of Xiamen (a nice place where you can get some tasty snacks!) and after about 10 minutes we found ourselves on a rather charming and very very quiet island. The lack of noise is due to the ban of all vehicles; apart from some golf buggies which are used to get from one end of the island to another. For the most part, the joy of Gulang Yu is found by just wandering around the island and getting lost in the small back streets and strolling along the pretty harbour. ... read more

We finally made it to a beach-- on the SE coast of China, in Xiamen. Lazing out on the sand, sipping cocktails, taking a dip to get the old heart going again (or to take a thinly-veiled piss break). That's what we pictured before we got here. But the first sight we arrived to on the beach were 3 guys in Dockers and dress shoes posing for pictures on the shore. There's no laying around or building sandcastles here. Beachfront is valued only as a photo backdrop. So it was a bit of a letdown as far as beach activity goes. But if that wasn't disappointing, it surely was discovering that Xiamen's population is made up of about 43% Chinese, 8% tourists and 49% mosquito. We had purchased some top-of-the-line, African Nile-quality mosquito sleep nets just ... read more