CHINA 2010 SATURDAY 21st AUGUST
TONG’AN
I had this bright idea of returning to Tong’an today. Despite the weeks we have been here I still have no sense of direction when leaving our apartment block and headed towards the main road passing the entrance to ‘Trust Mart’ with Keith following. Fate intervened as we headed towards the BRT in that the newsstand close to ‘Trust Mart’ had 2 newspapers in English, not that we’ve missed our daily. Arriving at the BRT platform we had just missed a number 2 bus but didn’t have long to wait for another. The bus was quite full so we had to sit at the back on a slightly raised area. At least we had a seat for our long journey.
Our plan was to get off at a stop near the two rivers that run through Tong’an but not sitting within sight of the stop illuminator we failed to realise that the next stop was the end of the line! Not a problem we will just get back on and get off at the first stop.
The streets were in need of a good wash, many of the tiled pavements needing tiles replaced where heavy lorries had driven over them to deliver goods. The worst area we walked over was along a row of shops selling doors and sanitary ware, which made me remember I could do with finding a loo. (There are nice toilets everywhere in Xiamen so I was hoping it would be the same in Tong’an.) We had taken our map with us and were trying to navigate the streets using the small insert of the city centre and with Keith in charge we did quite well. We came to a quiet stretch of the river with several pavilioned towers with a spiral staircase leading down to the water’s edge where a few fishermen were trying their luck standing on rough ground about a metre wide. Out in the middle of the river was a fisherman on a manmade boat that I would swear had grass growing along one side. Using a long piece of bamboo he punted up river before casting his net and then drifted downwards before hauling the net in. I noticed he took out one or two small fish before he repeated his journey. Along the walkway were colourful rectangle stone planters filled with one variety of a purple plant and in between the planters stood round pots of topiary purple bougainvillea. On the other side of the road were a few restaurants and a very large ‘Coffee Language’ (which I presume meant coffee lounge) with the upstairs room having a good view of the river.
Reaching another bridge with heavy traffic passing over it, and cattle by the water’s edge under it along with more fishermen and a couple of women doing the washing, we had a choice – we could either go over the bridge and walk back up the other side or turn right and go and take a look at a couple of Temples. As we were about to move to take the route to the Temples I spotted an alley with a low stone fence at the far end. Could that be beside a canal? “Let’s go and see”. Walking past locals sat outside some very poor accommodation we continued to the end only to discover a very stagnant pond! However to our left was another Temple so we pretended this was what we were looking for! It was no lie but its position bore no resemblance to the point on our map. It was yet another Temple with a very ornate roof where along the ridge ancient characters rode the animals, and a frog, of the Chinese calendar. As this year is the year of the Ox I zoomed in with my camera as close as I could to capture the image. In the Temple building were three large figures all looking like pictures I have seen of Confucius, complete with false facial hair. As we looked around I noticed the old man who had been sweeping the steps was keeping a close eye on us whilst the music coming from a radio close by was playing someone singing a pop song in English – not the sort of music we expected to hear in a Temple! Round the side of the building Keith found an exit leading to the main road which took us through the back of someone’s shop. I said “hello” and “thank you” to the somewhat surprised shopkeeper and kept on walking.
Across the other side of the road was a bus terminus and I knew a number 67 would take us back to Xiamen. Inside the yard were several buses but no sign of a board with the relative bus numbers. A man dressed in a uniform appeared from round the side of a bus closest to the building and I asked 67 using my hands to count in the Chinese way. He pointed to a couple of buses in the yard and as I said “Xiamen” a young girl intervened with “79 or 59” and took us outside to point us in the right direction for the bus stop. Unfortunately it was the way we had just walked and we didn’t want to upset or confuse her by walking the other way so went ‘with the flow’.
We didn’t have far to walk and as a number 79 pulled away a 59 rolled up. It was a nice new bus with the remains of plastic covering round the base of the seats. We had to swipe our travel card 4 times before taking a seat again at the back of the bus which was a shame as we missed a lot of the view. We could see that for a long time we followed the same route as the BRT as we could see the pale blue support columns in the greenery of the central reservation. Eventually we kept the mountains on our right whilst we saw the curve of the BRT out towards the sea. Our journey took us through Jimeii and then we began to wonder where we would go once we reached Xiamen. As Keith followed the route on the map discovered it terminated at the University - no surprise there really as our guide book lists most buses as ‘from XmUni’ or ‘from the Railway Station’!
We stayed on the bus until after the Railway Station although I had suggested we stay on until the University and then take a 22 back to our apartment. However someone was fed up with being thrown around and said it would be quicker to walk. It wasn’t as we discovered new streets and new shops and once again fate took us down through a parking area that brought us to a covered square of nothing but material shops along with all the trimmings. I had been searching everywhere for some fine cord to attach a plastic pointer to Keith’s camera but meantime he had improvised with the strap from one of the USB sticks.
We arrived home just before 4pm, ready for a long cold drink and a snack.
I had this bright idea of returning to Tong’an today. Despite the weeks we have been here I still have no sense of direction when leaving our apartment block and headed towards the main road passing the entrance to ‘Trust Mart’ with Keith following. Fate intervened as we headed towards the BRT in that the newsstand close to ‘Trust Mart’ had 2 newspapers in English, not that we’ve missed our daily. Arriving at the BRT platform we had just missed a number 2 bus but didn’t have long to wait for another. The bus was quite full so we had to sit at the back on a slightly raised area. At least we had a seat for our long journey.
Our plan was to get off at a stop near the two rivers that run through Tong’an but not sitting within sight of the stop illuminator we failed to realise that the next stop was the end of the line! Not a problem we will just get back on and get off at the first stop.
The streets were in need of a good wash, many of the tiled pavements needing tiles replaced where heavy lorries had driven over them to deliver goods. The worst area we walked over was along a row of shops selling doors and sanitary ware, which made me remember I could do with finding a loo. (There are nice toilets everywhere in Xiamen so I was hoping it would be the same in Tong’an.) We had taken our map with us and were trying to navigate the streets using the small insert of the city centre and with Keith in charge we did quite well. We came to a quiet stretch of the river with several pavilioned towers with a spiral staircase leading down to the water’s edge where a few fishermen were trying their luck standing on rough ground about a metre wide. Out in the middle of the river was a fisherman on a manmade boat that I would swear had grass growing along one side. Using a long piece of bamboo he punted up river before casting his net and then drifted downwards before hauling the net in. I noticed he took out one or two small fish before he repeated his journey. Along the walkway were colourful rectangle stone planters filled with one variety of a purple plant and in between the planters stood round pots of topiary purple bougainvillea. On the other side of the road were a few restaurants and a very large ‘Coffee Language’ (which I presume meant coffee lounge) with the upstairs room having a good view of the river.
Reaching another bridge with heavy traffic passing over it, and cattle by the water’s edge under it along with more fishermen and a couple of women doing the washing, we had a choice – we could either go over the bridge and walk back up the other side or turn right and go and take a look at a couple of Temples. As we were about to move to take the route to the Temples I spotted an alley with a low stone fence at the far end. Could that be beside a canal? “Let’s go and see”. Walking past locals sat outside some very poor accommodation we continued to the end only to discover a very stagnant pond! However to our left was another Temple so we pretended this was what we were looking for! It was no lie but its position bore no resemblance to the point on our map. It was yet another Temple with a very ornate roof where along the ridge ancient characters rode the animals, and a frog, of the Chinese calendar. As this year is the year of the Ox I zoomed in with my camera as close as I could to capture the image. In the Temple building were three large figures all looking like pictures I have seen of Confucius, complete with false facial hair. As we looked around I noticed the old man who had been sweeping the steps was keeping a close eye on us whilst the music coming from a radio close by was playing someone singing a pop song in English – not the sort of music we expected to hear in a Temple! Round the side of the building Keith found an exit leading to the main road which took us through the back of someone’s shop. I said “hello” and “thank you” to the somewhat surprised shopkeeper and kept on walking.
Across the other side of the road was a bus terminus and I knew a number 67 would take us back to Xiamen. Inside the yard were several buses but no sign of a board with the relative bus numbers. A man dressed in a uniform appeared from round the side of a bus closest to the building and I asked 67 using my hands to count in the Chinese way. He pointed to a couple of buses in the yard and as I said “Xiamen” a young girl intervened with “79 or 59” and took us outside to point us in the right direction for the bus stop. Unfortunately it was the way we had just walked and we didn’t want to upset or confuse her by walking the other way so went ‘with the flow’.
We didn’t have far to walk and as a number 79 pulled away a 59 rolled up. It was a nice new bus with the remains of plastic covering round the base of the seats. We had to swipe our travel card 4 times before taking a seat again at the back of the bus which was a shame as we missed a lot of the view. We could see that for a long time we followed the same route as the BRT as we could see the pale blue support columns in the greenery of the central reservation. Eventually we kept the mountains on our right whilst we saw the curve of the BRT out towards the sea. Our journey took us through Jimeii and then we began to wonder where we would go once we reached Xiamen. As Keith followed the route on the map discovered it terminated at the University - no surprise there really as our guide book lists most buses as ‘from XmUni’ or ‘from the Railway Station’!
We stayed on the bus until after the Railway Station although I had suggested we stay on until the University and then take a 22 back to our apartment. However someone was fed up with being thrown around and said it would be quicker to walk. It wasn’t as we discovered new streets and new shops and once again fate took us down through a parking area that brought us to a covered square of nothing but material shops along with all the trimmings. I had been searching everywhere for some fine cord to attach a plastic pointer to Keith’s camera but meantime he had improvised with the strap from one of the USB sticks.
We arrived home just before 4pm, ready for a long cold drink and a snack.
posted by Pam at
09:30
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