OznAsia

I came to Xiamen because I had booked a flight by AirAsia to Bangkok. AirAsia flies in and out of only two cities in China and Xiamen is one of them.

As I had an evening flight I left my bags in storage at the hotel for a few hours while I took one final look around town. I was quite early getting to the airport, perhaps my first mistake, but I figured I had a few things to do once I got there. I am used to international airports that have many facilities. At Xiamen I got a surprise.

On entering the terminal there are service counters and also a restaurant. There were customs forms for departing passengers that basically required you to declare that you weren't carrying anything that was detrimental to the reputation of the People's Republic of China. I figured I should get that out of the way and move inside the international section, perhaps my second mistake.

No problems getting through customs. They accepted my form and ushered me on. I was then faced with a couple of hours waiting for the AirAsia staff to arrive so I could check in. There was not much to do in this section. There was an overpriced souvenir shop and some very basic seats.

Yep, this is all there was to sit on and that's the souvenir shop in the background. If you ever fly out of China from Xiamen don't, I repeat don't, come early—not unless you want to be bored out of your mind until the check-in crew arrive.

There are always bookshops in airport lounges, right? (Sorry, lounge just doesn't ring true.) I figured I'd be able to buy something to read while I waited and to amuse myself on the plane. I guess that was another mistake. I'd sure had a dearth of reading material while I was in China. I couldn't even read 99% of the signs. I was looking forward to finding an interesting book or magazine but once again I was wrong.

I don't usually use my computer in public places. I know many people are comfortable with this but I figure there is no point in making myself a target for would-be thieves. This time I made an exception. I found one of these bench seats that was against a wall, got out my laptop and answered a few emails. It was a good decision. It made the time go much faster.

Got through check-in without any hassles. That got me entry to the next section of the airport. I got to go up an escalator, fill in a departure form and show my passport to immigration. No hassles.

I had a minor problem going through the security check. I had a little bottle of a herbal mixture that I've been carrying since I left Australia. I have not been able to buy this stuff anywhere in Asia. I forgot that there is now a ban on bringing liquids in with hand baggage (another mistake) unless they are in a sealed plastic bag. When I flew from KL to Hanoi this requirement had just come in and the security staff were providing the bags so that no one had to throw out anything important. They weren't providing this service at Xiamen.

I gave up my water bottle and pleaded to keep my herbal mix. They relented and let me bring it on board. Fortunately I wasn't a terrorist with some explosive mixture.

There was another lounge to wait out the rest of the time. This one really was a lounge but nothing special. It was dinner time and I hadn't eaten. The restaurant in this section had sandwiches that looked like they'd been sitting there all day for which they were charging (from memory) about 35 yuan. I had no intention of paying over $A5 for a stale sandwich that had no appeal at all. I decided to wait and see what was offering on the plane. (Perhaps not a mistake.)

I sat in a reasonably comfortable lounge, got out my computer again and wrote a few more emails. An announcement came saying that the plane was delayed due to late arrival. When it finally did arrive all the Chinese people got up to grab their spot in the queue for getting on. AirAsia has a policy of free seating. First in best dressed. I guess they all wanted to get the best seat. After a minute they were sent back to their seats. The arriving passengers had to get off first. I was surprised, they actually came through the same door that we were departing from. After about half of the arriving passengers had come through the door the Chinese once again got up and formed their queue. Don't they realize that we were not going to be allowed on until the others were all off and the plane was cleaned? They might as well sit in comfort.

There seemed to be three groups of passengers. Those in the queue, those in the restaurant and three others who were still sitting in the lounge. The three others included a monk, one Asian man and me.

Finally they allowed us to board. First those in the queue hurried on and the people in the restaurant were now coming to join the queue. The man sitting not far from me got up at this point, wandered over to a point about half way along the queue and calmly pushed his way in. No one said anything.

I joined the queue when almost everyone had gone through the door. A few stragglers from the restaurant and the monk followed at the end.

When we reached the plane the front half was full, chock-a-block. And the back half was almost empty. I was able to get three seats to myself and spread out. After the plane took off a few of the people squeezed into the front realized they could move down the back and spread out. They didn't even wait for the fasten-seat-belt light to be switched off. Staff ignored them.

Once we were on our way the cabin crew came through to offer us meals, an optional extra on AirAsia. I was happy to accept some jok even though the price was ridiculously high. Jok is Thai rice porridge, perhaps pretty boring as far as Thai foods go. But it really tasted Thai, way better than that sandwich I rejected. It was worth every baht I paid for it.

The flight was pretty boring, much longer than I had expected. There are no movies on this budget airline and I still had nothing to read. Despite spreading out I couldn't sleep. I arrived in Bangkok a little before midnight feeling very tired but pleased. Home sweet home.

Labels: Asia, China, thailand, travel, Xiamen

In many Asian Buddhist countries it is the custom for people to make donations to the temple. Many practise Buddhism by creating merit (good karma) to benefit themselves in future lives. Personally I believe this misses the point of what the Buddha was really about. Never-the-less this is what happens. I found temples in Thailand, for example, to be beautiful but extravagant and in light of poverty in the country perhaps this is not the best way for people to make merit.

Temples in China are a different story again. Perhaps many of the people lost their Buddhist roots during the communist years and the Cultural Revolution. It seems now that most temples are a tourist attraction. There is invariably a fee to enter and it is usually quite high. Sometimes there is one fee to enter the complex and another to get into the most relevant part. In this fledgling capitalist society the people are queuing to see these temples and I should add that most tourists in China are Chinese.

When I had not been long in Hangzhou I spent a day or two visiting a few of the sights listed in the local guide book which included a few temples. One temple seemed different from the rest. There was no admission fee. They were serving food in one area outside the main part of the temple. When I enquired about the cost a monk came and helped me to order. The price was reasonable and the food simple but good.

Many of the temples are promoted as having a history dating back many centuries. However the building you see has probably been rebuilt in fairly recent times. They are well preserved and look beautiful but how much real Buddhism is practised there I am uncertain.

People pay their money, come in, touch the statue of the Buddha and leave. The Buddha has been made into a prostitute. I wonder what would happen in such a temple if you went in and asked for a dharma lesson.

I gave up visiting temples in Hangzhou but had some time to kill in Xiamen and decided to visit one there. Most of the complex looked to be reasonably old and not recently painted. There is a hill behind, which I climbed and when I returned I discovered a much newer large pagoda-style building. There were many monks and nuns entering. Obviously something was happening there.

I got chatting to a monk outside who spoke English and asked him what was going on. He said they were holding a forum on commercialization of Buddhism. I told him of my observations. He said that businessmen were investing in temples so that they could be restored and attract tourists. The businessmen then take a return from the entrance fees paid by the tourists.

So much for the teachings of the Buddha.

Labels: Asia, Buddhism, China, Hangzhou, money, poverty, thailand, Xiamen

As I mentioned a few blogs back, Xiamen is an island joined to mainland China by a bridge. Not quite attached to Xiamen is another island called Gulang Yu. It is reached by a regular ferry from the downtown area.

When I got to Gulang Yu I was invited to take a ride on an electric golf-cart-styled bus. It does a circuit of the island perimeter stopping at interesting points so you can get off and take a look around. My advice to anyone who is reasonably fit and has at least half a day is to explore the island by foot.

Those golf-cart buses are the only motorized vehicles I encountered on the whole island. There were a few bicycles but not many and thankfully none of them were motorized. This made for pleasant wandering around the laneways that take you wherever you want to go.













The only other vehicles I encountered were carts drawn by human power. I guess if anyone wants anything delivered that’s the only way to get it there. One rather flash house was having several cartloads of furniture delivered when I walked past.









Most of the buildings on the island were built by Europeans in the colonial era. Generally they are kept in good condition. You would probably not think you were in China if you were deposited there unknowingly. The island is hilly and there are many spots to find an enjoyable view.








There are also a few beaches on the far side of the island for those who want to swim or sunbake. Even though it was a hot day when I visited, not many Chinese were taking advantage of the water.

The ferry ride over is free but it costs eight yuan (not expensive) to get back to the mainland. I stayed pretty late in the afternoon and was seeing fewer people as the day went on but there were still many waiting to catch the ferry back to Xiaman.

More photos of Gulang Yu can be found on my flickr pages (see sidebar).

Labels: Asia, China, travel, Xiamen

When I was in Malaysia one of my Chinese Malaysian friends warned me about two things in China, disgusting toilets and spitting. I had to say at the time that Malaysia had the worst record on both counts in my experience. To be fair, on my last visit to Malaysia perhaps the situation had improved.

So how does China rate? I can only speak of my own experience. In Nanning, Wuzhou, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shanghai and Xiamen I found the overall standard of toilets to be good. They were generally both free and clean. I occasionally found something objectionable but this seemed to be an exception. It may be different in the countryside. Travelling between cities the bus would occasionally pull in for a toilet stop. While I didn’t encounter anything as bad as the worst in Malaysia I did consider these toilets to be below an acceptable standard and perhaps a little uncivilized.

As for spitting, in Nanning, Wuzhou, Guanzhou, Hangzhou and Shanghai I did not encounter this practice more commonly than in Malaysia. I understand the Chinese government has had a campaign to eradicate spitting since the scares of SARS and bird flu. It seems to be reasonably successful in these cities. Xiamen was the exception. Generally it was more common there. The worst example was the driver of a bus I caught one night. I had the misfortune to sit close to the front of the bus. The driver sounded like he had the flu. I would hate to think that I had the responsibility for the lives of all those passengers if I felt as bad as he sounded. He was constantly clearing his throat in a very noisy manner. Every half-minute or so he would stick his head out the window and noisily dispose of whatever he had collected. I’m glad I wasn’t driving a car, or worse still a motorcycle, alongside.

So Yilan, if you get the opportunity to visit China again, hopefully you will find it more pleasant than before. Just be careful if you go to Xiamen.

Labels: Asia, China, Hangzhou, Malaysia, Nanning, Shanghai, travel, Xiamen

Readers who live in Brisbane (I trust there are a few) will understand when I say that Xiamen is an island, like Bribie, joined to the mainland by a bridge. Unlike Bribie, Xiamen appears to be totally developed, much with high-rise.

The city of 1 million + is perhaps small by Chinese standards. It is not unpleasant. I stayed for two nights but got to spend most of three days exploring the place. Much of the city is being redeveloped.














In the shadow of the unfinished buildings in this picture are narrow laneways which contain homes of the ordinary people who live in the city centre.














I spent a few hours wandering along alleys like this not knowing where they were leading. Eventually I came out into a street and was able to get my bearings again.

I found a friendlier vibe in Xiamen than I did in Hangzhou. I also noticed that it was common for people to stand up on the bus for older people—I didn't qualify : )—and for a woman with a baby. In the middle of summer apparently it is also cooler than Hangzhou being by the sea.

When I woke on my second morning in the city I sat as I usually do to meditate. Not long after seven AM, I was disturbed by this:






The machine you see here was demolishing the buildings next door. The noise was unbearable. I suspect that in China there are no restrictions on noise levels as we have in Australia. You'll also notice the guy in the picture working on the site is not wearing earmuffs.

I packed up as quickly as I could and headed off to explore the town. On the way out I let them know at reception that I was not very happy with the situation. They offered me another room. I asked if it would be any quieter and they said 'no' so I didn't bother. I didn't return until about 8 pm and the machine was still operating. I wonder what the operator's hearing is like. Fortunately he knocked off soon after I returned to my room. The noise started again early the next morning but didn't seem to be quite so bad.

Did I use my earplugs you ask? Yes, I did. The seemed to make no difference.

Labels: Asia, China, travel, Xiamen

I had decided to move on from China and booked my flight through AirAsia to leave from Xiamen. I knew nothing about Xiamen, not even how to say it (Sha-men), so checked Lonely Planet and it looked interesting. Decided to spend a few days there to look around.

There are flights from Hangzhou to Xiamen that would save a lot of fuss but I enjoy the train journeys in China. It is one way I can get to see a little of the Chinese countryside. This journey takes 24 hours. When it came time to buy my ticket I got someone to write the details of what I wanted in Chinese on a piece of paper. At the station there are 29 ticket windows each of which usually has a long queue. I noticed a separate section with just a couple of windows and almost no queues. The only English sign said 'CRH'. I didn't have a clue what that meant at the time but it was worth a try. Presented my note at the counter and got my ticket, no trouble.

On the morning of my journey, I got up early, finished packing and got a taxi to the station. I pointed to the word for railway station in my dictionary to let the driver know where I wanted to go. Got there with plenty of time to spare. Because of my journey to Shanghai with Liu Ping I knew what to do at the station. The waiting room was very full. When boarding was announced, as I expected, almost everyone got up at once and rushed to the entrance. I sat for another five or ten minutes waiting for the masses to move on.

I had booked a soft sleeper the same as I had for my journey from Guangzhou to Hangzhou. These cabins have four berths. Once again I had chosen a top berth. The lower berths tend to be used as seats during the day. At least I had mine to myself. There was one young guy, say twenty-something, in the cabin when I got there. I said 'nihau'. He replied and we smiled at each other. We were joined shortly by two of his friends. They didn't say anything.

These guys were no trouble. They played cards for most of the journey and chatted quietly. I spent my time watching the scenery, taking a few photos of the towns we passed through and the countryside. On the first day of the journey it was much the same as I'd seen before.




I discovered that CRH stands for China Rail High-speed which this certainly was not. We stopped at many stations and from the information I'd got off the internet we seemed to be travelling at up to 90 minutes behind schedule. When I went to bed that night my room mates were still chatting quietly so I plugged my ears and went to sleep. This also deadened the train noises and I slept right through until about 7 am.

When I got out of bed I could see that the scenery had changed dramatically. We were following a river through a gorge. It was quite spectacular. I got out my camera. There was no charge left in the battery. I had a spare but had unthinkingly packed it way down the bottom of my backpack. I also contemplated getting out the fz20 but both of these options would have required lots of unpacking and repacking that I was not keen on especially while my cabinmates were sleeping. I decided to just enjoy the view. Sorry, you don't get to see the pictures. But I'll make sure that next time I pack the spare battery somewhere more accessible. Not so smart—buying a spare battery for just this sort of situation and then packing it in an inconvenient place.

We continued to follow the river and the gorge for several hours and at times there were towns and villages. Most of these places don't get a listing in Lonely Planet but if I ever return to China, somewhere like this is where I'd like to stay but only if I've improved my communication ability in Mandarin language—or perhaps whatever local dialect is spoken there.

I was standing in the passageway outside the cabin enjoying this scenery when one of my cabinmates got up ahead of his friends. He said 'good morning' in English and we chatted. He came from Beijing and asked if I had visited. He was disappointed when I told him I hadn't, especially when I mentioned that I'd been to Shanghai. He said that people from Beijing and Shanghai hate each other. I suggested this might be like the rivalry that exists in Australia between Sydney and Melbourne—mostly tongue in cheek. He said 'no we hate each other'. He insisted that the people were very different culturally. I asked about manners and how, for example, Beijingers board public transport. He admitted that they were the same as I'd encountered elsewhere. But he said that younger people will stand for older and people do stand for a pregnant woman. We chatted for some time. He was pleasant company and I learned a little more about Chinese culture.

We arrived in Xiamen more or less on time. Overall the journey was a pleasant one.

You'll find a few more pictures from the early part of the journey on my flickr page, see sidebar.

Labels: Asia, China, Hangzhou, travel, Xiamen