CHINA 2010 SATURDAY 7th AUGUST

HULI FORTRESS
Catching the 22 bus to the terminus this morning’s plan is to visit Huli Fortress overlooking the sea and according to our guide book close to Xiamen University.
Alighting from the bus we had two choices follow the path along the side of the beach or begin to go uphill passing lots of bicycles for hire. My choice – up the hill which was lucky as once we had passed the bikes we arrived at the entrance to the site. Being on the official tourist trail we were not surprised to see tour buses in the car park. Going to what we thought was the ticket office we checked admission prices partly concealed by a large sun umbrella. This ticket office was no longer in use so perhaps we were to get into the Fortress for free. We should be so lucky as we climbed up more stone steps a new ticket office had been built half way up and instead of 10 yuan it was now 25 yuan for which we received a fancy ticket with a map of the site on the reverse which should be handy.
Through the gateway we encountered more people and briefly checked out the ancient canons laid on the lawn below an ornate flag pole flying a large embroidered dragon flag which was flapping in the strong breeze.
Behind this area was a mock up of an ancient sailing ships set on a small pond, the water only a few inches deep. A waterfall passing from a rock with a large sword set into it had been running but need I say it wasn’t by the time we had walked here. With the side of the larger boat cut away visitors could see the type of cannons and everything else connected with warfare in the late 1800’s. Engraved notice boards around the site gave a vast amount of information again both in Chinese and English. One large board gave a detailed account of the time when Japan tried to invade Xiamen and in a 4D small theatre we saw two screens each in turn giving an account of a time of war in the late 1800 early 1900 period and then a reproduction of using a ‘Krupp’ cannon in the 1937 attempted invasion, which was very good even though the conversations were all in Chinese.
We also visited a building showing a scene again set around 1900 with models in traditional dress for the period sitting around a room having a discussion in Chinese, the main character behind the desk moving his head as ‘his voice’ came over the loudspeaker. In an adjoining room we saw the officer’s bedroom – very grand with a carved screen hiding his single bed from his dining area, his sword hanging on the wall beside the bed. Accommodation for the soldiers was quite different – wide bunk beds.
We walked around the walls as this was the quietest area so we not only got a bird’s eye view out to sea, as the soldiers would have done years ago (except in some places the trees had been allowed to grow blocking out the view), but also down into the grounds of the fortress. Neat rows of barracks were now being used for storage but the ornate metal doors looked original. We eventually came to their prized possession – the giant Krupp gun facing out to sea. Mounted on rails hidden under the gun placement we could observe it closely from two levels. It really was big but the condition was so good we did begin to wonder if it was the original or a replica. Further along were a couple of smaller guns where visitors could have a go at using one. The targets were ships running along a conveyor belt and the ammunition was green tennis balls!
Having spent the morning here and seen everything we think we followed a path through the gardens instead of using the steps to arrive in the car park where even more coaches were arriving. Outside the fort we were to see more coaches parked by the bicycles.
We began to walk along the ‘wooden road’ by the sea and met up with a couple of young ladies from Germany. Actually they were twins spending the weekend here. One of them was studying in Beijing whilst the other was working in Shanghai. We discussed different places we had been to in China and learnt that Lijiang was awful. Full of tourists and the men with the pony taxi no longer used their animals for this purpose but sat on them to pose for the tourists’ photographs. Although they were staying in the old part of the city they still had to pay the 60 yuan entrance fee. By contrast they had also been to Dali, another ancient village between Kunming and Lijiang in the Yunnan Province, and had hired bicycles and seen the lovely villages and the people which they thoroughly enjoyed. We said our goodbyes and set off to find a beer.
We were going to eat but changed our mind and as the stallholder was unable to supply a cup we were not too enamoured at drinking out of the bottle. Sitting at one of the large round tables under a canvas shelter a young man came and sat at the next table which had been vacated before we arrived. The table had not been cleared and as the young man produced his own chopsticks he began to eat the leftovers. He was still eating as we got up to leave and what had been left on the plates was almost gone! Round the corner was a wonderful restaurant with lots of individual eating rooms set in a lovely landscaped garden but by now we had lost our appetite.
I was feeling very tired and after taking the bus home went to bed and slept for a couple of hours.
We returned to eat in the ‘Soup Expert’ ordering duck soup this time. Keith and our waiter were very impressed when I asked for duck in Chinese! As usual we had our spicy fish delivered in a foil parcel and a plate of mixed vegetables washed down with 3 beers which are brought to our table individually to keep them cold.
Then it was off to ‘Haiwan Park’ for our evening’s entertainment at JJs. We were lucky to get a table close to the ‘stage area’ as tonight there was a distinct lack of Westerners. Having said that one was sitting at the next table and Keith got quite jealous when the three girls from the quartet of singers came and sat with him after their first session. When the group began to play again another Westerner came along and began to dance alongside them. Behaving like a right prat he wanted to be noticed. We got the impression that like the man sat next to us he was a regular. Wanting to dance in front of the group he moved the chairs at two tables in front of the microphone stand but some local people decided they wanted to sit there and so he had to move. They didn’t stay long and so ‘Mr. Me’ returned tossing the chairs aside once again. Unfortunately one of the chairs cascaded down the levels landing by a table where a local family were enjoying their meal, the chair almost hitting their little girl. ‘Mr. Me’ went down and we could see him apologising profusely to the family, especially the little girl. He crept along to join the other Westerner for a drink before they both disappeared for the rest of the evening, thank goodness. With very few foreigners the locals and staff had a great time on the ‘bucking cow’ during the group’s break, several receiving encouragement and applause from the crowds for staying on until the operator became bored and stopped operating the machine.
By 11pm Keith decided he wanted to go home. I wonder why it is we take a scenic route to get into the Park yet coming home we seem to find ourselves walking in a built up area where some of the paths are uneven but the roads are very quiet and the only people we come across are those taking their large dogs for a walk.