Spring Festival: Xiamen

We left Hangzhou after five days, again, problems to by the tickets. We were not able to get some sleepers, so we bought the hard seat tickets, cheap but our way to Xiamen, 20 hours south of Hangzhou, was a real nightmare. We left Hangzhou at 8:00 pm and it was not before 7:00 am that we could upgrade our seats to hard sleepers.

We had a wonderful time in Xiamen. The weather was much better and the temperature warmer. It’s a very romantic city, and a great place to spend Valentine’s Day. The main avenue, Zhongshan road, looks like a little Europe due to its colonial architecture. Even better is the Gulang Island. We walk on that small island for two days; it was so lovely and relaxing. We walked along the narrow streets, across the parks and in the sand of the few beaches. Sufei found a very interesting hotel on the island. The owner was very kind and the room, on two floors, was amazing. Such a pity we didn’t find it earlier. The perfect place to spend Valentine’s Day with your lover. We ate skate fish and other fresh seafood, one of Xiamen specialty. During our stay there we ate a lot. Xiamen is rich of xiaochi (that would mean something between snack and light meal). Effectively, being right across Taiwan, Xiamen as lots of Taiwanese food and xiaochi, as well as some of its own. Sufei felt in love with the city. Which part did she preferred? Hard to say. Maybe all little things put up together. A nice Buddhist temple beside the very beautiful Xiamen University. Which itself is by the sea and have a long and nice beach. Maybe it is the charms of the island or the kindness of the inhabitants. Or perhaps all the xiaochi we can find there, she loves to eat xiaochi. For the rest of the trip, please read the next instalment.