Another Day Tripper

Saturday Dec 15 (more pictures on face book)
Another day of hiking. This time on two of the mountains in Xiamen island, and a hill. First I went up I went up Wanghu Hill at 56 Metres, then Houcuo Hill at 193 Metres and finally Zhong Shan Hill at 132 Metres.

The geography of Xiamen Island is very unique. The area is about one fifth the size of the city of Toronto. There are about 25 mountains rising up. I call them mountains. The tallest is about 340 metres, or about 1100 feet and the smallest “mountain) reported is 100 Metres. (Wanghu Hill is not one of the Mountains).

By comparison, Blue Mountain has a vertical drop of 220 Metres (720 feet). And Mount St Louis / Moonstone has a drop of only 170 Metres (550 feet).

Here are some other comparisons for your information.

FACT	XIAMEN	TORONTO
Size (island)	133 km2	641 km2
Population	500,000	2.5 Million
Approx. Density	375,000/ 100 km2	390,000 / 100 km2
Size (Region / GTA)	1640 km2	7200 km2
Population (Xiamen Region / GTA)	2.2 Million	5 Million
Approx. Density	135,000 / 100 km2	69,500/ 100 km2
Peak	340 Metres	200 M. at Keele & Steeles.
Average Temperature	70 degrees	COLDER Much COLDER!
January (H/L)	18 / 11	-1 / -9
July (H/L)	33 / 27	26 / 15

When you look at the density of Xiamen Island, remember how much land those mountains take up. A good portion of the island is uninhabitable. My guess is between a third and a quarter, plus three inland waterways. Actual density is double or triple Toronto. Back to that later.

Now, back to my mountains. They a large outcrops of rock, similar to the ones I saw in New Mexico and Arizona. Weather beaten, bare in many places, they provide a picturesque background to the beautiful architecture here.

Climbing them is not as difficult as it sounds. They all have small paths carved through them, some natural, and others of concrete or placed rocks. When it is steep, there are stairs to climb. Some of the stairs are so narrow, I have to squeeze through. Often, there is only room for one person. No passing allowed. Anyone coming in the other direction must wait.

I went up Wanghu Hill. There is a small temple at the top. Several small ponds, with dirty stagnant water. There are walking paths around the entire hill. Very beautiful pathways and rock formations. A nice view of the city. I met several people there. The number of Chinese who want to talk to a foreigner is amazing. I am always saying “Hello” to people. This time, one girl, Sally, decided she wanted to spend the entire day with me. She thanked me after. She said she was going to take a bus around, but I convinced her to walk, and she discovered .. WE discovered ... much more then we anticipated.

We then took a 30 minute walk over to Houcuo Hill, a little further south and west. On the way we passed a school. We spoke to some students who told us it was a middle school with about 4,000 students. A little further we passed a high school. It had, we were told, over 1000 students in EACH grade. And we complain about class sizes. I will have talk to Don Grant and Darryl Sage about our new school construction.

At the base of Houcuo Hill is a botanical gardens. We passed on the trees and flowers, and went to the cable car. For 80 ¥ total, (10 dollars) we both got to ride to the top of Houcuo Hill. There was a small observation platform at the top. I took a number of pictures from this vantage point. The day was a little overcast. This is good and bad for picture taking. No need to worry where the sun is for back- lit pictures, but visibility is not too good either. The cable car continued down the other side of the mountain, where all we saw was the other side of the mountain. (sounds like a song there somewhere). All the way, I was snapping away at temples and buildings nestled in the woods.

Back at the bottom, we discovered ... a bowling ally! Ten pin, but who cares? Another new Chinese experience. Sally says “Lets go bowling” she pays, and I receive another introduction to more culture differences. I ask for size nine shoes. I get them handed to me by a set of serving tongs - the kind used in restaurants, along with a pair of disposable socks.

The heaviest ball was only 12 pounds, much lighter than the 16 pounds I am used to. I don’t think I ever used less than 14. I like the layout. There is no desk near the ball return rack, instead there is a table with drink holders. The computer is at the end of the seats, and paired with the computer from the adjacent lane (I have pictures). So, we were in lane three. Out computer was attached to the computer from lane two, although we would compete against lane four in league. There was also a large picture painted on the wall of how to bowl. Sally paid for one game, and that is what we got. Everyone spoke Chinese so I did not know this until we started. I bowled the first ball, she stepped up and threw the second ball of the first frame. The I realized she did get one game ... and both of us were bowling it. A scotch doubles! I did not say anything. It seemed normal for everyone else, so I assume that is what they do. We bowled a 38. I had a strike and a 10 pin spared. We also enjoyed two cold beer, and a request from everyone there to have a picture taken with me.

Off we go now to Gan Lu Temple and Zhong Shan Hill. This started off as a temple we saw from the cable car, and not on my itinerary. We climbed up and took pictures of the several small temples. I noticed a narrow set of steps heading up, and off on our road of discovery. The path led to several more temples, narrow paths, fantastic rock formations, and two more peaks, Zhong Shan Hill and Gu Hill. We walked around, taking pictures and enjoying the scenery.

We passed an old pill box. I explained to Sally how soldiers would hide inside and shoot out the small windows. It was well camouflaged and build into the hillside. We started our descent down the other side of the hill coming out at Hungshan Temple. This an old temple, and there are pictures and drawings of the changes over the years. Very interesting to see.

I noticed some people coming out of a hole in the side of a rock. We went inside, and it was a long tunnel through the mountain we had just climbed, brining us back to the start. The tunnel was about 1000 - 1500 metres long. There were even a few stores built into the side of the rock, and people going both ways. We emerged close to where we had started our last climb. The tunnel is not on any of the three maps I have, but I can find it again if I want.

We did some shopping, I bought guitar picks, and Sally bought a Chinese English dictionary. We had late lunch / dinner. Sally then went home, I bought DVD’s and took the bus back to my home away from home, exhausted, but pleased with the day.