Day 75 - Xiamen, China

Day 75 – Wednesday 26^th March 2014 – Xiamen, China

Awake at 07.00 for our arrival, but due to the foggy conditions during the night, the ship had been delayed, so we breakfasted in the Britannia Restaurant and the ship berthed at 09.00.

Xiamen City is situated on an island and linked to the mainland by the Haicang Daqiao suspension bridge.  Situated in south east China and across the straits lies the island of Tiawan.

Going ashore for the shuttle bus, you have to pass through the passenger terminal, a fine large building and the same as before, built for the Beijing Olympics, which now unfortunately has very little inside.

The twenty minute bus ride dropped us off in the main part of the city and opposite the Gulangyo Island, which is the main holiday destination for the area.  We had made other plans instead of visiting the island, headed along the water front towards the botanical gardens.

Walkway Tunnel

We had a map from the terminal tourist office and following it took us up from the waterfront in a slight incline following an old single track railway.  It was built in 1956 to bring goods in and out of the port, and part of the way along we came across this remarkable tunnel, which had been transformed into a pedestrian walkway.  It was about half a mile long, a cool haven from the outside oppressive heat, of course, there was lighting and in the paved walking area were imbedded inscribed plaques, photographs showing how the tunnel was built and trains which used it.  Along the sides where there are escape shelters, these were highly decorated with local art and it was a pleasure to pass through a very well maintained piece of history.

Wanshi lake

Leaving the tunnel, it was still a steady uphill journey to the Wanshi Botanical Gardens and we received another map on payment of our entrance fee.

Unfortunately, later on we found both of the maps we were using, not be too scale and gave no indication of the undulating terrain.  First stop was by the lake, very picturesque where lots of school children were using as a meeting place, and organising themselves into separate parties.

From here, we wandered off to the flower exhibition hall, there was not a flower to be seen but a collection of different potted house plants with none of them in flower. 

Rose Garden

The next sign post was to the rose bush garden, I was looking forward to this one, as most of the hybrid roses grown in the UK are originally from the Chinese varieties, lo and behold, not a rose to be seen, nice pond with lilies, trees, and manicured grass.

Time for shelter; relax with a cup of tea in the small sanctuary of an eating area.  We were shown how to make our own tea from the ingredients given and turned out to be refreshing green tea.

Here we re-addressed the situation, we knew we wanted to visit a nearby temple and knew not too far away, there was a cable car which ran across the botanical garden, but from the layout of the pathways, we could not see either, as the closely packed surrounding trees blocked our vision.  Most of the people we stopped could not understand what we wanted until one of the garden attendants pointed us onto the correct path.

We set off again climbing evermore, which was happily broken up by the parties of school children coming down the other way, smiling as they approached shouting hello, saying goodbye and waving as they passed. 

This was turning out to be hard work and became even more difficult as the signs and path took us up flights of heavily inclined steps.

We did not want to go back and abandon what we had gained. We struggled in the conditions until we began to hear voices further up the pathway.  This spurred us on and we eventually arrived at the top of what we felt was a mountain.

Luckily up here there was a small refreshment kiosk and a rest area which we took advantage of, along with a lot of youths, how they had got here, which was not by our route, we were later to find out.

Xiamen

A little further down I could see a small observation platform jutting out amongst the trees and from here, all was revealed.  I could see the city spread out before me, while the temple was directly below, from which another steep path stretched up to where we were, while the cable car was traversing the next valley off to the right, which we had missed completely.

Thus, the only way out was to follow the path which everyone was coming up and negotiate the steps, luckily going in a downward direction.

Temple with Mountain Behind

What a relief to arrive on the flat ground at the rear of the Nanputuo Temple which had lots of visitors.  Another Buddhist temple with lots of colourful ornate structures.

We were too shattered to give it the full visit and found ourselves at the front of building where there is a large pond.

Temple Turtles

Within the murky water there were large fish but most fascinating on two of the built rafts were these turtles basking in the sunshine quite an unusual tranquil scene, amongst the noisy temple visitors and passing traffic.

We had been walking most of the time for the past five hours up and down the mountain and it was time for a beer which we eventually found in a small shopping arcade.  It certainly hit the spot and our next adventure was to visit the main shopping area.

It is 18.00 and the taxis would not take us into main shopping area because of the traffic jams and they said it was not too far, but we did not believe our maps and reluctantly set off again walking.

Zhongshan Lu

On reaching the main shopping street Zongshan Lu, the place was solid with people and the shops, stores doing a roaring trade. 

We were looking for something to eat and found a place where another customer, a young girl, who spoke excellent English and with the help of the staff, picked out what we wanted from the various displays and ended up with a delightful spicy meal, helped down with Tsingtao beer.

Time to return to the shuttle bus pick up point and strolling back passed the shops, we could not find what we were looking for.  Back at the passenger terminal there were still shops selling mostly electrical goods. With the Chinese Yuan currency which I had left, and of no value outside the country, purchased a smart phone and a watch, whether they are bargain or worthless imitations, we will find out later.

On board for 21.00 and went up to the bar on the Lido deck to finish everything off.  In bed for 23.00 and did not need rocking to sleep, and the ship sailed from Xiamen at midnight.

China has certainly been an experience, when I was last here in the 60’s, they all had to be members of Mao Tse Tung’s Red Guard, live by his little red book and all dress the same, if they were not in military uniform. 

The change is colossal; this is what I had come to see,  and I was not disappointed.  Everyone seems happier and obviously they have money to spend, enjoying their lives. 

I wish them well and congratulate them on what they have achieved for themselves and their country.