Xiamen - (Sha' men)

It is only 6:15 AM and I had a hard time accessing this -- are they on to me?

Last weekend was the Chinese holiday of Tomb Sweeping, an annual reconnection with the ancestors. This gave us a Friday holiday and with Thursdays always free, I decided to get out of town.

The nearest big city is 2 hours by bus (5 by train!) due east on the coast. Whenever I mentioned some western product that I couldn't find, I would be told that I could find it in Xiamen so off I went armed with a shopping list. My friend from New Zealand, one of the other American teachers from here and my friend Sandy Hogan, who teaches on a nearby Taiwan island, came also.

Kinmen (also known as Quemoy) was one of the Taiwan islands under contention for many years. It lies much closer to the mainland than to Taiwan and there are regular ferries. This year, since she has a visa, Sandy can travel back and forth with ease. It was really good to see her.

Xiamen is an island itself, with a natural port which has been in use by foreigners since the 1700's. It's a really lovely place, very modern looking and very colorful what with the Chinese new penchant for outlining their buildings with colored neon lights. Nighttime is a real extravaganza.

The best part of Xiamen is the even smaller island of Gulang which is about a 10 minute ferry ride away. This is a lovely place, quite hilly so there are lots of sea views everywhere, plus beautiful trees and flowers. The rich merchants of the 1800s built their mansions there and they are quite the sight. You expect Rhett Butler to walk down the crumbling front stairs any minute. Most are in bad disrepair, some actually ruins but several are being rehabbed. Most, rehabbed or not, are used as backdrops for wedding pictures. Saturday, the day we went, had absolutely gorgeous weather for the first time in a couple of weeks and the brides were out in force!

It also has wonderful shopping and we all managed to spend a lot of money but now my apartment looks more like "me". All in all, a great day.

The trip also delivered a jar of mustard, 2 cans of tuna, 2 cans of soup, a can opener, some new books and a very nice cheeseburger! All in all a good trip. There are rumors of antique stores but I was only able to find one this trip and it wasn't great. Better luck next time. There definitely will be a next time, the place is beautiful, fairly accessible, and an easy change of scenery.