Sightseeing Weekend

Two busy days, first Gulang Yu than Tianzhu Shun.

Gulang Yu is a small island in Xiamen Bay. You reach the island by ferry from downtown Xiamen. There are no cars nor bicycles allowed on the island. It is a hot tourist site. The main attractions include: Gulang Rock, Hero Tunnel, Sun Light Rock, Shuzhuang Gardens, Piano Museum,

We left Jimei by taxi at 6:30, arriving in Xiamen Ferry Docks by 7, and on the island at 7:15. Our planed worked great. There was no one there. The tourist office did not open until 8. The streets are winding and narrow, with buildings lining both sides.

We walked around and soon headed for Sun Light Rock. The climb up to the top was slow, with many stopping points along the way. A mansion, and various look out points. Eventually we made it up the observation deck. The view was breath taking. From this point we could see for miles in every direction. There were only Don and I and a young couple there. I had the chance to try out my new lens.

We made our way down to the cable cars, and crossed over to Hero Hill and the Aviary. There were many tropical birds under a huge net. We walked around taking pictures, but the tours were starting to arrive. We took a different route, and found a slightly overgrown walkway to a rather steep rock over looking the bay. We took more pictures, then found a marrow set of steps leading to the beach and discovered Hero Tunnel. We walked around the path, eventually leading us to another populated beach, Shuzhuang Garden, 12 Caves playground and Piano Museum.

We wound our way back to the Tourist Center, arriving at 1 pm and had lunch at McDonald’s. I had a Big Mac and a Quarter with Cheese, but they were nothing like the Canadian versions of the same burgers. The meat was bland and frozen, like here, but the toppings were better. Cucumber and a spicy sauce made the QPWC rather tasty ... for McDonald’s.

We decided that we had enough for one day, and boarded the ferry for the return to main land Xiamen Island. There are still a few sights to see, including: Zhaohe Hill, Yanwei Hill, The Statue and a red domed building.

We stopped at our favourite DVD store. I bought a few DVD’s for Lin and the kids. Lin gets 20 Chinese DVD’s for 166 ¥ (about 20 Canadian). The kids get 7 and I get 7 for another 66 ¥. Mine were older classics, but the kids are all 2007 movies.

Up the next morning for another 6:30 rendevous. I met Linda, four other girls and a boy. I never did get to know any of their names. We set off on bus 58 and into new territory for me. I had always boarded one of the busses going across the bridge into Xiamen, but this time we headed around the bay. The bus took us through Jimei District and across a bridge into Haicang District. Then away from Xiamen. We changed busses, and eventually made our way to the far south west corner of Xiamen District. Six smaller cities make up Xiamen District, including Xiamen City and Jimei City. We finally arrived at Tian Zhu Shan, a mountain / conservation area with a few temples. It was beautiful. Tain Zhu Shan is the tallest peak in Xiamen District at 933 metres.

We entered the area, and began a journey along winding hilly paths, often marked as steep or dangerous. The paths were narrow, and the steps were small. I joked about a tiger or snake coming out at any minute to eat us all. The forest was so think, you could only see a few feet into the brush. Every now and then, a clearing would appear, and one could look out for miles across forest, farm land and out to the ocean.

Of course, we had the obligatory miss-spelt English on signs, such as “STUP SLOPE” and “SURGING PLNES IN THE VALLEY” (L instead of I)
We came to Tian Zhu Lake, and took a few pictures, then walked around the lake. We than went through some woods and came upon a pile of bricks ... in the middle of now where! A few minutes later we came across a new, beautiful temple. Now we knew where the bricks had come from. It was interesting that Zhenji Temple’s sign was the swastika - a symbol I did not expect to see again.

We lit incense, three sticks, and the girls prayed. I did not think the temple gods knew English, so I just watched.

The girls then entered and made a wish, or asked a question in silence. The knelt, and shock a can of sticks with red ends and writing on them. When one stick fell out, that stick provided them with the answer. Linda asked about the future with the current boy friend and got bad news. The others asked about school and career.

We walked more, and came to Longmen Temple. It was a steep climb to the temple, located in the side of the hill. We rested, talked, then made our way back down. My foot was developing a blister, and I was getting tired. We had walked a long way, my guess is over 20 km, based on a few sign post milage markings telling me where we had been or were going, not to mention the vertical climb. We decided to leave. On our way out, we meet a journalist with his camera. He spoke some English, and asked to join us. As we walked along, I watched and listened, as I think he wanted to hit on one or more of the girls. At the entrance / exit we met a man with a horse. I paid him to let all the girls sit on the horse and got some nice pictures. We took the bus back, arriving at home around 2:30, totally exhausted with a blister on one foot.