NONYA LIFE: Xiamen - Here We Come!

(Also published in "Ramblings of a Nonya" by the blog author)

Episode 1

I didn't expect I would be travelling again after Covid-19 but the travel agency kept enticing me with pictures of exciting places to visit, and soon I found myself on board a Xiamen Air Boeing 737-800 bound for Xiamen!

I had just made a new passport (which is dying to go places) and with no visa fees for China at the moment, it seemed a waste if I didn't make a trip.

A friend said I should write snippets of my "adventure", so here's Episode 1.

I should mention that before the trip, I had to go hunting for a new luggage bag. My old ones had been in hibernation since Covid-19 appeared and are so mouldy they are likely to fall apart if left at the mercy of airport luggage handlers, so I got one of those hard cases with four wheels which seem to be the thing to use nowadays.

The flight to Xiamen was only four hours and it was the first time I had flown by a Chinese airline. I was quite impressed by the efficiency of the pretty Chinese stewardesses who got busy serving us the moment we were in the air.

It was after midnight before we finally checked in at our hotel. My aunt (my travelling companion) and I were so tired that we didn't hear the morning call the next day and kept our fellow travellers waiting for us for a good 15 minutes before moving out from our hotel.

This was the start of our adventure in China.

Episode 2

Coincidentally, a cousin had recently visited Xiamen in search of our roots and with the help of some descendants of our clan there, managed to locate our paternal grandpa's village and house before he came to Ipoh to settle down. It was a thrilling experience for my cousin and this was followed by a return visit by some of our descendants to Ipoh. Of course when you're part of a tour group, there's no time to go wandering on your own. It would have been very interesting to take a look at my grandpa's house, but I had no choice but to stick to our itinerary. Here's a picture of my grandpa's house in Xiamen (compliments of my cousin):

Being on a Chinese speaking tour is of course a disadvantage for us who could not speak Mandarin. So most of the time, what our local Chinese guide said was incomprehensible. At times we saw him laugh, gesture or talk in elated tones, but all was Greek to us. Fortunately, the other members of the tour could speak Mandarin and they were kind enough to translate for us but mostly things like what time to get up the next morning, what time the bus is leaving, where to have breakfast, etc. I guess we missed some of the more exciting parts of the tour guide's narration. The tour guide, incidentally, was a cheeky young man in his thirties, who delighted in teasing my aunt. He could speak some Hokkien but his was slightly different (Amoy Hokkien I think) but we managed to understand him. Because of him, we had several moments of laughter which boosted our endorphins and made the tour more enjoyable!

Episode 3

The thing I enjoy most while travelling and staying in hotels is the buffet breakfast! There is always such a big spread of breakfast items from bread to congee, noodles to dumplings, pastries to fruits. The only problem was we didn't have much time to sit down and enjoy it at a leisurely pace because of our tight schedule.

It would take too long if I were to give an account of each day's travel, so I'm touching only on certain happenings.

It was on our trip to Mt. Wuyi that we had the greatest thrill of our lives. We went bamboo rafting on the Jiuquxi River (Nine Curves River) which flows through the gorges. The raft was made of several lengths of bamboo put together with about 6 bamboo chairs for people to sit on. It was helmed by two boatmen who each used a long bamboo pole to steer the raft through the water. The travel brochure said that we should sit back and enjoy the silence and charm of the cool, green surroundings and despite some apprehension though we wore life jackets, we soon relaxed as we wound our way through the gorge with its scenic mountains.

Then .... disaster struck! Our raft hit a rock, the boatmen were thrown off balance and we wobbled dangerously from side to side but thank God we didn't overturn! Water started surging in from all sides and we thought we were going to sink!

Our guide assured us not to worry as the boatmen were very experienced and knew how to get us out of this calamity. Sure enough one of them contacted someone through his mobile phone (which thankfully didn't fall into the water) and within five minutes, a rescue raft came, we switched over to it and continued safely on our journey down the river, our shoes soaking wet! I forgot to mention that when we were floundering in the water, the bamboo pole used by one of the boatmen fell from his hand and landed on my head - fortunately it was quite light otherwise I would have suffered from concussion!

Later, after we had landed on the other side, I wondered what karma put the three of us (myself, my aunt and our guide) in that particular raft, why it wasn't someone else? Were our Xiamen ancestors not pleased with us?? Just a thought that crossed my mind .....

Episode 4

One of the reasons I was keen on this trip was that I had always wanted to see the traditional "tulou" or earthen buildings unique to the Hakka clan in Fujian. These round buildings, sometimes rectangular, can house up to 800 people and are three to five stories high. We were told they were built between the 12th and 20th centuries. The cluster that we saw is only one of the many in various parts of Fujian.

I was quite awed when I stepped into one of them. The structure resembles a small fortified city with small individual units. As we walked round, we saw that there were various rooms designated for common activities like meetings, weddings, ancestral worshipping, funerals, festivals, education, etc. These "tulou" are really an architectural marvel. Here are a few pictures we took.

Before visiting the "tulou", we had lunch at a small "coffee shop". The food was very good and we all enjoyed it. Actually we had been having good food since the start of the journey - no wonder everyone had put on weight!

Episode 5

There are a few memorable sights which we had the good fortune to see and I shall attempt to describe them.

Xiangzi Bridge

This is an ancient bridge which crosses the Han River east of Chaozhou, Guangdong Province. It spans 517.95 metres and walking along it was quite an experience as it seemed like it was never going to end! There are 24 pavilions on the bridge and it seems to be a popular recreation place for the locals who were taking pictures or just watching the crowd go by. Our guide told us that if you go to Chaozhou without visiting this bridge, you cannot say that you have been to Chaozhou!

Ming and Ching Dynasty Ancient Street

Walking down this street made me feel like I was going back in history and I actually expected to meet some of those men with long pigtails and long robes strolling along with their concubines! The remains of the shops have been preserved well and now you can find food and souvenirs there. Unfortunately my pictures did not turn out well, so nothing to show here.

Sea Train

We were excited to experience China's first cross-sea high speed railway in Zhangzhou, though we only rode from one station to another, which took something less than ten minutes! I was hanging on so tightly that I couldn't take out my phone and snap some pictures!

We ended up in Xiamen on the 8th and last day of our tour. I forgot to mention that we had time to see an open air cultural show, a circus and also had a barbecue with fireworks after dinner. It was an enjoyable trip with good hotels and good food (see below) though our inability to speak or understand Mandarin was a great disadvantage but I must congratulate the tour guide for his efficient arrangements, not forgetting his patience and good nature!

Someone said that travelling to China is "the best medicine". I couldn't agree more!

Some pictures of the lovely food we had .....😜