CHINA 2010 SATURDAY 10th

10.30am we had a telephone call to say could we be ready for 11am. Downstairs Yeti, a Secretary from ‘no.1 Labor, Hailong Manning’, was waiting to greet us and take us to lunch and then we would take a boat ride. A good idea as the sky was fairly clear and for the first time I can see from our balcony the mountain ridge in the distance standing above a large illuminated hoarding advertising a Chinese Bank in the foreground.

We didn’t drive very far as she wished to take us up to the restaurant of the ‘Luijiang Harborview Hotel’ the first hotel in Xiamen to install a lift. On the 6th floor we were shown into a large room and Yeti pointed to a table by a window that had not yet been laid. As we took our seats at this table dishes, bowls, small beakers and chopsticks were soon brought along with a welcome pot of tea. What a wonderful view no wonder she wanted to get here early as the room soon began to fill. In the foyer people were prepared to wait to get a table by one of the windows. Yeti said many people come here for the whole day to admire the ever-changing view, eat delicious snacks and drink tea. I can see why – we were a little reluctant to leave. The food she had chosen was very good, many light dishes such as prawn, octopus, thin slices of unsmoked salmon, beef and two varieties of very light dumplings all containing seafood. Most of the dishes were accompanied by a small bowl of sauce one or two containing a lump of ‘Wasabi’ sauce, a very fierce flavour. Now I am aware of this vicious paste I treat it with respect and carefully pass the food over it rather than heavy dunking! Whilst we ate and chatted we watched the ferry boats going to and from the islands and on the promenade saw many coaches unload their passengers. Directly on the pavement opposite was the ‘Dancing Waters’ where not only children but adults ran under the fountains to cool down. The ladies paraded up and down under the shade of their summer umbrellas. Because of the heat I have noticed most of the younger generation wear shorts of various lengths and styles. On paying the bill Yeti received a pale blue ticket, a Chinese form of scratch card. She was delighted to see she had won 10 yuan. As we got up off our seats someone was already taking our places.

Another short drive down the dual carriageway before stopping by one of the ferry stations Yeti went ahead of us to buy the tickets and then two lady members of staff drove us down the road to another station to board a large ornate boat. We had to push by people waiting in the narrow queueing area between the rails leading to the ticket office. As soon as we were on board the gate was closed and we were on our way. Downstairs was full, the next deck had one or two single seats at tables but Yeti decided we would go on the top deck which cost extra money. It was not so busy here so we were able to sit a table by the rail. A lovely breeze was most welcoming as we sailed between Xiamen and Gulanyu into the open waters. Our trip was to take us to an island belonging to Taiwan, the nearest to China and as we sailed along we drank tea from a large glass. We had very good views of the coast road and the beach areas but most of the beaches were empty at this time of day. Ships of varying sizes were at anchor or sailed by. White tops began to appear on the waves as we neared the island and those travelling in the speedboats were having a bumpy ride as they raced ahead of us. We made a brief stop off the island which we could see was manned by the Taiwanese Army, although we didn’t see any men we saw several lookout posts. Returning to Xiamen we travelled back even closer to the coast road. Now people were on the beach and in the water. At one point we saw many small sailing boats taking part in a competition. In the next area wind surfers were having a great time in the stronger breeze. We had views of a 5 star hotel sheltering under the mountainside, saw the tall building of Xiamen University and when we were about to land Yeti pointed out that we could see the office building, the green glass structure, not too far away. Zooming in with my camera I could also see our apartment block. Our two hour cruise over we returned home for a rest and would be collected again around 5ish.

Just after 4pm Helen rang to say they would be coming at 4.30. It took us 5 minutes to get a lift to our floor and apologised for keeping them waiting. Helen had brought one of Keith’s students, Mr. Cheung who comes from Taiwan. Yeti and the car then arrived and we all climbed in to be taken down to a beach area. We stopped at the start of the ‘wooden walkway‘ about 2kms in length running alongside the beach. A very popular place at all times of the day and night. By now the tide was well out and I was surprised to see just how deep a drop in the beach level there was and how many large rocks were scattered along this section. Behind us the sky looked black and I thought we were going to get some rain, but it soon disappeared, whilst ahead of us the sky was blue and the sun still shining. I felt we were walking back to the Island we had sailed to this afternoon as we got closer to it. Yeti was to take us to dinner at a nearby restaurant and when we reached it Helen said “goodbye” as she had a meeting to attend. Mr. Cheung was also going to leave but Helen and Yeti asked if we would persuade him to join us which he did. It gave him chance to practice his English and as he relaxed he became more confident.

Yeti had trouble trying to find the entrance to ‘The White House’ and as we followed her down a rough track we wondered just where we were going to eat. Stopping to ask a group of girls eating ‘junk food’ before going to work as they were all dressed in the same uniform she learnt the entrance was round the other side. Retracing our steps we found the entrance and were taken upstairs to the second floor where I could just see out of the high window. The wide sill was an ideal place to put my shopping bag which contained our cameras and umbrellas useful for sun and rain! This was a high ceilinged building which echoed the voices of the customers already eating. A small reading book handed to Yeti turned out to be the menu and as we studied the pictures I was pleased to see an English translation of the dishes. Page after page of food so I left it to Yeti to make the decisions as her choice at lunchtime had been excellent. Ordering beer for Keith it turned out to be ‘fresh’ so he had a jug to himself and for once a sensible sized tankard rather than the small glass. The rest of us drank ‘plum juice’. As usual the food was good – especially crab and bean curd and a fish in wine with the pieces of fish cut so the bones were not a problem. Yeti and Mr. Cheung tucked in and at one point Mr. Cheung said he was eating far too much food but did not like to see waste. We remarked about always leaving a little of the food so our host would not think that we had not enough to eat if we cleared the plate. He, and I think Yeti, were not aware of this custom.

It was dark when we left and the area was now illuminated with many coloured lights. We walked along the road stopping at a suitable place for the car to collect us. We dropped Mr. Cheung outside his accommodation which is used by all the students and is opposite Xiamen University.

When we began to relax at home we noticed how noisy it sounded outside. Going out on to the balcony to investigate we found that the main road is being renewed. The traffic is moving easily around the few workmen and the wagons and machine that is stripping the old road surface and there is not a cone in sight!