From Taiwan to Xiamen

2019 Summer Trip to Asia

August 29, 2019 -- From Taiwan to Xiamen, China

After the month-long stay in Taiwan, it was time for us to leave. Originally, we planned on flying back to Los Angeles on Xiamen Airlines from Taiwan, with a short stop at the Xiamen airport. When we were booking the plane tickets, our agent told us that to get us home, we would have to make two stops before arriving LAX. One in Xiamen and then a long layover in Qingdao. After confirming that there would be no additional charge if we decided to stop over at these two gateways for a few days each to explore and then catch the ongoing flights back home. That was exactly what we did! Our agent was able to match us up with two tours at these cities to the places where we really wanted to visit. It turned out to be more than what we hoped for.

Taoyuan International Airport is one of the most colorful airports that we have been. They have a different theme designed for each of their boarding gates, making it an interesting destination of its own.

This boarding gate is decorated with beautiful orchids.

There are free internet and charging stations between the gates.

This is my favorite gate with "Hello Kitty" theme.

Awww....

On the plane ready for take off.

Inside the cabin.

Good leg room.

Lunch was served even on this short distance flight.

I believe it was a sweet and sour chicken type rice dish.

with dessert and snacks

Xiamen, China

Xiamen is a big city right on the opposite side of Taiwan with Taiwan strait in between. It was also the first city that we visited on our very first trip to China in 1988. I was anxious to find out the changes that took place even though I have been to the Xiamen airport many times in past years for transiting. This time, we actually left the airport and got outside.

We were picked up by our driver/guide when we got out of the Xiamen airport in a small, private car.

After we were picked up, our guide told us that we were the only two guests on this guided tour. Now, there is a problem that came with this. We knew ahead of time that this IS a shopping tour (even though we really did not want any shopping tour but had no choice because of the timing we were there). We were hoping that other tourists in the group will do most of the shopping as we travel. Now, if we were the only two people in the group, there is no chance of us getting out of buying all these unnecessary and expensive products while wasting hours of touring time everyday. We finally decided to bargain with the guide and see if we can make other arrangements to turn this into a non-shopping tour. We are willing to compensate them for the loss but just didn't want to deal with the hassle and headache of going to these shopping stops. It would be easy to rearrange everything since we were the only ones involved. He said he would have to talk to his boss and see what he says and let us know the result in the morning. 

We were dropped off at our hotel room for the night and we would be on our own until the next morning.

Good hotel.

There is a lake right outside the hotel.

Our room facing the main entrance was quite noisy during the day with the swimming pool filled with swimmers. I believe this is more like a community pool for locals or club members. Definitely not hotel guests.

The Best Western Ridong Garden Hotel.

This hotel is far from the city of Xiamen with nothing much around other than the Ridong Park and Lake across the street. Probably a popular hotel for group tours.

After resting a bit, we ventured out in the neighborhood and found a shopping mall nearby.

All we did was just browsing around and bought a few snacks from the supermarket.

As for dinner, we picked a restaurant near the hotel on the main street that seemed to have more customers and looked interesting.

This stir-fried bitter melon dish was excellent!

Sweet and sour pork. I couldn't believe I ordered this.

A huge bowl of soup. A simple but delicious meal.

That's the restaurant!

Back to the hotel for the night.

Xiamen -- August 30, 2019

Our tour officially started this morning. We were picked up by our guide after we had breakfast at the hotel. We were told by our guide that after he discussed our situation with his boss, he agreed to change this into a non-shopping tour if we are willing to pay $350 USD each to compensate their loss. We agreed. Now that it's a private tour just for the two of us, we are able to request how much time we want to spend at each stop since we won't have to waste time in these shopping places. We were very much relieved and now we can actually enjoy our time here in Xiamen.

Breakfast at the hotel.

Gulangyu, Xiamen

Gulangyu is a tiny island off the coast of Xiamen. This island is a popular tourist attraction for both foreign and local visitors. It is also a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site with lots of history that linked back to the Opium War and the Nanking Treaty period. It became a treaty port with 13 foreign countries having special privileges as residents on the island. Therefore, the consulates, churches, hospitals, schools, etc. built by foreign communities exhibit predominantly Victorian-sttyle structures which made this a specially westernized location. Gulangyu is also called "Piano Island" or "The Islsand of Music" which shows that classical music played an important part in the history of this island.

Arrived at the ferry terminal.

Lots of tourists with pre-purchased tickets.

Getting on the ferry.

The huge ferry terminal.

Leaving Xiamen for Gulangyu.

Arrived at Gulangyu, looking back at Xiamen downtown.

Gulangyu is a pedestrian-only island, with no vehicles or even bicycles. Only small electrical buggies for government transport.

Old British Consulate Building

Union Church-that was built with donations from several different denominations.

The Ten Commandments posted on one side of the entrance.

"Proverbs of Love"

Catholic Church nearby.

Hi Heaven, used to be a villa of a rich family.

Yuyuan, a garden in memory of an outstanding OB-GYN doctor, Lin Qiaozhi, who delivered over 50,000 babies in her lifetime.

Dr. Lin

This statue was to commemorate the 50,000 babies she delivered.

Gulangyu Concert Hall. A concert hall even on this tiny island.

Our guide let us free for about an hour in the main shopping area.

We did not do much on this hot summer day other than getting some cold water from the convenient store. Then we just sat at the square and people-watched.

Time to leave the island and back to the city of Xiamen, which is also an island but much bigger.

Gulangyu

We were then taken to a lunch near the Ling Ling Hotel.

We had so much food between the two of us.

One thing about this tour is they handled the meals very well. We were fed more than adequately throughout this trip.

The hotel

We came back to this restaurant a couple more times.

Our private transportation for these few days, a brand new Chevy.

Hua An Earth Buildings

After lunch we took the long drive north to Hua An County where we would visit the Dadi Earth Buildings. Earth buildings are groups of old fortress-like structures to prevent bandit attacks years ago. There are special protective and security features built into these buildings that are scattered in the mountainous area of Fujian. These buildings were the reasons we wanted to visit here.

This huge 'earth building' (Tu Lou) is called Er Yi Lou. One building houses many households inside with generations of residents living under 'one roof'.

Our local tour guide for this group of earth buildings.

Entrance to Er Yi Lou for the residents. Tourists use another entrance.

Here is the entrance for tourists.

Communication through these thick walls.

Inside the courtyard of the earth building.

Each family would have their own housing unit.

Interesting clock and English written above the door.

The well

We also walked over to the next village where another earth building stood.

This one is called the Nan Yang Lou.

Our guide then took us to the building where her family lives.

A different kind of structure but with the same idea in mind.

Even though we had requested for no shopping, we couldn't say 'no' to her when she wanted to serve local tea to us. Of course, we ended up buying a bag of tea from her.

Before leaving the village, we had dinner at one of the local restaurant there. Good food with a farm-fresh taste.

When we took the long drive back to Xiamen, it was raining like cats and dogs. It was definitely scary when our driver couldn't even see out of the windshield with heavy rain all around us. Fortunately, he was a good driver who knew what he was doing and we arrived back at our hotel in one piece. Weren't we glad to be back in our comfortable hotel room!

"I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted."   -- Job 42:2