We were woken up at 3am by delirious screaming outside our hotel. It’s not easy to shut the windows when the aircon doesn't work and it's 25 degrees in your room. Still, it was another day on the move and another intimidating huge high speed rail station. We had an eight hour journey ahead of us, only an hour shorter than our flight to Beijing. Still, a combination of podcasts and snacks made it fly by. Somewhere we passed through along the way was letting off fireworks in the afternoon.
For the first time this trip we were staying in a hotel that gave us breakfast, so I stuffed myself with dumplings, mushroom stir fry, pancakes and real tea. Heaven. It was still warm out, and I still regretted not bringing shorts. Before the metro, the main way to get around the city was an express busway on a viaduct, which was pleasingly covered in plants and vines. This matched the national grid boxes that all had various beautiful scenes painted on them. The bus ticket machine only accepted mobile payments - we noticed that this default mode of paying for an increasingly cashless society, but thankfully had a manned booth for purchasing tokens as well. We went to wrong ferry terminal, and after several attempts we eventually found a member of staff who would not only talk to us but also give us correct directions. We walked to proper terminal for the Gulangyu ferry but soon realised you needed ID for tickets, and we had forgotten our passports. We settled for a day of walking instead.
Then came a low point - we passed a dead kitten in the street. The number of stray cats we’d seen up until that point had been fairly low, and the ones we did see during this holiday mostly seemed seemed well fed and looked after. Trying not to dwell on this, we paused for lunch so Angelos could get some birthday cake and I could get some much needed aircon and a delicious pint cup of milky sweet tea.
We pushed on through the blazing heat to Nanputuo Temple, climbing a steep hill and feeling the sunburn once again. Reaching the peak, we made our ascent through Wanshi botanical garden - an incredibly pleasant park whose highlights included a cacti collection and a stage next to a pond where the wind rustling through the trees sounded like applause. Everywhere we went the water levels looked low, but the lawns were kept neat and well watered. We then made our way back to town through the Railway Culture Park - a former train line transformed into a popular footpath.
Back at the hotel the extent of my sunburn made itself known, but as a dumb white English bitch this is how I prove that I have been on holiday. We considered trying to find a local seafood restaurant, but then Angelos said the 8 words that reaffirmed my love for him - “shall we just go to the beer place?” The evening started with a pleasant walk around the seafront. I didn't bring my camera along so for once I enjoyed just taking it all in. We found Fat Fat Beer Horse in a trendy area surrounding a repurposed factory. It had a beautiful old industrial style - exposed pipes and so on. We spoke to the German owner, had some amazing burgers and were even treated to their new pork scratchings. We made liberal use of their happy hour and I slowly made my way through their menu of beers - special shout out to Pink Dolphin Tears. It was then a quick march to get the last metro, rushing past smokey restaurants, hosed down fish markets and cars racing through red lights.
The next morning, passports in hand, we walked to the busy ferry terminal. Xiamen has the concrete and topiary feel of mid 90s development. We spent the best part of three hours waiting for a boat to Gulangyu island. Yesterday was quite tiring, so it was good to balance this out with some sitting down. We don't really do relaxing holidays, so the closest I get are the hours spent on transport or in waiting lounges.
I’d seen an article branding Gulangyu difficult to get to now. I wouldn’t say it was difficult, but the system in the terminal was unorganised and overrun with tour groups. The island itself was pleasant but underwhelming. That we spent longer waiting for the ferry than on Gulangyu itself says it all. The alternative was a day out to Yongdian which would have added some rural contrasts and ancient villages into the mix - we’d been very urban the entire holiday. But giving the following day’s schedule of travel, a quiet day was probably for the best. Think I enjoyed the walk to and from the ferry terminal much more than what happened in-between.
After purchasing the now standard journey snacks and recharging at the hotel, it was back out for food. We made it as far as around the corner ordered a little feast, again making the most of a picture menu with English captions. “Highlight” was bullfrog in a dish that had the most chilli I had ever seen. I wouldn’t recommend it.
China Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5
Then came a low point - we passed a dead kitten in the street. The number of stray cats we’d seen up until that point had been fairly low, and the ones we did see during this holiday mostly seemed seemed well fed and looked after. Trying not to dwell on this, we paused for lunch so Angelos could get some birthday cake and I could get some much needed aircon and a delicious pint cup of milky sweet tea.
We pushed on through the blazing heat to Nanputuo Temple, climbing a steep hill and feeling the sunburn once again. Reaching the peak, we made our ascent through Wanshi botanical garden - an incredibly pleasant park whose highlights included a cacti collection and a stage next to a pond where the wind rustling through the trees sounded like applause. Everywhere we went the water levels looked low, but the lawns were kept neat and well watered. We then made our way back to town through the Railway Culture Park - a former train line transformed into a popular footpath.
Back at the hotel the extent of my sunburn made itself known, but as a dumb white English bitch this is how I prove that I have been on holiday. We considered trying to find a local seafood restaurant, but then Angelos said the 8 words that reaffirmed my love for him - “shall we just go to the beer place?” The evening started with a pleasant walk around the seafront. I didn't bring my camera along so for once I enjoyed just taking it all in. We found Fat Fat Beer Horse in a trendy area surrounding a repurposed factory. It had a beautiful old industrial style - exposed pipes and so on. We spoke to the German owner, had some amazing burgers and were even treated to their new pork scratchings. We made liberal use of their happy hour and I slowly made my way through their menu of beers - special shout out to Pink Dolphin Tears. It was then a quick march to get the last metro, rushing past smokey restaurants, hosed down fish markets and cars racing through red lights.
The next morning, passports in hand, we walked to the busy ferry terminal. Xiamen has the concrete and topiary feel of mid 90s development. We spent the best part of three hours waiting for a boat to Gulangyu island. Yesterday was quite tiring, so it was good to balance this out with some sitting down. We don't really do relaxing holidays, so the closest I get are the hours spent on transport or in waiting lounges.
I’d seen an article branding Gulangyu difficult to get to now. I wouldn’t say it was difficult, but the system in the terminal was unorganised and overrun with tour groups. The island itself was pleasant but underwhelming. That we spent longer waiting for the ferry than on Gulangyu itself says it all. The alternative was a day out to Yongdian which would have added some rural contrasts and ancient villages into the mix - we’d been very urban the entire holiday. But giving the following day’s schedule of travel, a quiet day was probably for the best. Think I enjoyed the walk to and from the ferry terminal much more than what happened in-between.
After purchasing the now standard journey snacks and recharging at the hotel, it was back out for food. We made it as far as around the corner ordered a little feast, again making the most of a picture menu with English captions. “Highlight” was bullfrog in a dish that had the most chilli I had ever seen. I wouldn’t recommend it.
China Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment