CHINA 2010 SATURDAY 4th SEPTEMBER - JIMEI
Despite our late night we were still up by 9am. I went shopping whilst Keith continued to work on the computer. I made a mistake with the coffee I bought yesterday – it was mixed. Chinese people love their Nescafe and Maxwell House in a formula of coffee granules, powdered milk and sugar in sachets – we do not! So I had to buy Nescafe Gold at an exorbitant price.
In the afternoon we took the number 1 BRT to Jimei. We should have got off, as most people did, at the first stop over the bridge onto the mainland and staying on to the end was a big mistake. We drove past the University Jenny had taken us to when we first arrived and as the students are now enrolled didn’t want to pay it another visit. The only good thing about the last stop is we could see we were close to the ‘Expo Garden’ but saw no means of getting there other than taking a motorbike taxi and we don’t do that. So, we caught the bus back to the Gymnasium stop. The Gym is a very futuristic building with a large low silver dome and some event must be taking place as people were hanging around one of the ticket offices.
From here we saw a water feature in front of a series of apartments which had it been running would have been delightful. A symmetrical display of large terracotta pots containing water stood in squares big enough to take the base set around a large pool. Looking at the landscape it appeared we could walk across the pool, but we couldn’t, and so took the ‘plank road’ until we reached an opening leading to more apartment blocks and shops. Many of the places looked unoccupied and the site could have done with a bit more tidying up but the local people were very pleasant to us.
We came to a large wide road, with a colourful central reservation of sago palms and large yellow trumpet flowers giving ground cover, and hardly any traffic. It was close to the sea and work clearing the site was taking place behind colourful hoarding advertising ‘Home life is a vacation’ with pictures of buildings and yachts giving an insight to what the area will be like when developed. The apartments on the other side of the road looked very nice too and we wondered if this area had been built on reclaimed land from the sea.
We eventually came to the ‘Memorial Hall and Gardens of Tan Kah Kee’ but could not recall seeing this particular area. We pondered about revisiting the attraction but our plan was to explore an area along the seafront. I made a comfort stop in a toilet block situated by a small area for the resting place for rusting tuktuks, one having a bed of straw in the floor space between the two narrow seats. As we neared the ticket office for the attraction we kept being asked to take a ride – they had to be joking! The dark sky had caught up with us and the rain began and this time neither of us had an umbrella. Luckily we were walking under the awnings of numerous souvenir stalls where everyone was desperate to get our business.
We didn’t have long to wait before the rain stopped but it had been quite heavy and had left a lot of deep puddles so we gave the traffic a wide berth. A couple of tuktuks had stopped but again we declined. Protection for the passenger against the rain was a piece of old plastic hoarding cut to fit over the back window of this three wheeled vehicle, whilst another piece had been fixed over the front for the driver’s benefit but no thought taken about size as the bottom of the plastic rubbed on the front tyre.
Along the parade passing a disused swimming pool, with so much rubbish floating on the surface, were a number of pavilions and up a set of wide steps saw a small gateway with a large flat stone laid across the top and further along behind railings a most beautiful building. With towers and corridors on several levels and ornate brickwork we saw a few young people dressed in a school uniform of white top and blue track suit bottoms - this building was a school! (The site itself was formerly Yanping Fortress where in the 17th century Koxinga, the hero of Gulangyu, trained his troops to fight.) I climbed up some of the steps to see behind the railings was a collection of statues of young people around Tan Kah Kee who instigated the building of many schools and universities in the area. We walked further along admiring the flowering ‘bird’ trees under which sat groups of men playing mahjong. Crossing over one of the several bridges leading to adjoining pools connecting with the sea we came to one of the lovely pavilions by the roadside with paintings up the side of the spiral staircase leading to an upper level, and set in the water was a smaller one. This large pool was known as ‘Dragon Boat Pool’ where the famous races take place in June, but as the pool was still set out in lanes and several boats moored together close to Jimei Bridge we suspect rowing competitions are held on a regular basis. It was such a lovely area we wished we had come here rather than Tong’an, although I think the countryside will be better in Tong’an if only we could reach it.
We, or rather Keith, discovered that we could take a L22 bus back to the BRT from here and with the sky looking dark again decided it was a good idea. At the BRT station we caught a bendy bus only to have to get off before the end of the line as these long buses cannot negotiate the tight turn at the end. (The line is not yet complete and many of the existing stations do not appear on our maps.) The single buses take two manoeuvres to get round to the station in the opposite direction. With so many students wishing to be educated in the fishing village of Jimei we thought it a good idea to go home from the start of the line so at least we would have a seat. Taking line 1 is a lovely run with so much to see both on land and water. One of Keith’s students said that Xiamen would be better with an underground transport system – I disagreed, but then I am a tourist!
In the afternoon we took the number 1 BRT to Jimei. We should have got off, as most people did, at the first stop over the bridge onto the mainland and staying on to the end was a big mistake. We drove past the University Jenny had taken us to when we first arrived and as the students are now enrolled didn’t want to pay it another visit. The only good thing about the last stop is we could see we were close to the ‘Expo Garden’ but saw no means of getting there other than taking a motorbike taxi and we don’t do that. So, we caught the bus back to the Gymnasium stop. The Gym is a very futuristic building with a large low silver dome and some event must be taking place as people were hanging around one of the ticket offices.
From here we saw a water feature in front of a series of apartments which had it been running would have been delightful. A symmetrical display of large terracotta pots containing water stood in squares big enough to take the base set around a large pool. Looking at the landscape it appeared we could walk across the pool, but we couldn’t, and so took the ‘plank road’ until we reached an opening leading to more apartment blocks and shops. Many of the places looked unoccupied and the site could have done with a bit more tidying up but the local people were very pleasant to us.
We came to a large wide road, with a colourful central reservation of sago palms and large yellow trumpet flowers giving ground cover, and hardly any traffic. It was close to the sea and work clearing the site was taking place behind colourful hoarding advertising ‘Home life is a vacation’ with pictures of buildings and yachts giving an insight to what the area will be like when developed. The apartments on the other side of the road looked very nice too and we wondered if this area had been built on reclaimed land from the sea.
We eventually came to the ‘Memorial Hall and Gardens of Tan Kah Kee’ but could not recall seeing this particular area. We pondered about revisiting the attraction but our plan was to explore an area along the seafront. I made a comfort stop in a toilet block situated by a small area for the resting place for rusting tuktuks, one having a bed of straw in the floor space between the two narrow seats. As we neared the ticket office for the attraction we kept being asked to take a ride – they had to be joking! The dark sky had caught up with us and the rain began and this time neither of us had an umbrella. Luckily we were walking under the awnings of numerous souvenir stalls where everyone was desperate to get our business.
We didn’t have long to wait before the rain stopped but it had been quite heavy and had left a lot of deep puddles so we gave the traffic a wide berth. A couple of tuktuks had stopped but again we declined. Protection for the passenger against the rain was a piece of old plastic hoarding cut to fit over the back window of this three wheeled vehicle, whilst another piece had been fixed over the front for the driver’s benefit but no thought taken about size as the bottom of the plastic rubbed on the front tyre.
Along the parade passing a disused swimming pool, with so much rubbish floating on the surface, were a number of pavilions and up a set of wide steps saw a small gateway with a large flat stone laid across the top and further along behind railings a most beautiful building. With towers and corridors on several levels and ornate brickwork we saw a few young people dressed in a school uniform of white top and blue track suit bottoms - this building was a school! (The site itself was formerly Yanping Fortress where in the 17th century Koxinga, the hero of Gulangyu, trained his troops to fight.) I climbed up some of the steps to see behind the railings was a collection of statues of young people around Tan Kah Kee who instigated the building of many schools and universities in the area. We walked further along admiring the flowering ‘bird’ trees under which sat groups of men playing mahjong. Crossing over one of the several bridges leading to adjoining pools connecting with the sea we came to one of the lovely pavilions by the roadside with paintings up the side of the spiral staircase leading to an upper level, and set in the water was a smaller one. This large pool was known as ‘Dragon Boat Pool’ where the famous races take place in June, but as the pool was still set out in lanes and several boats moored together close to Jimei Bridge we suspect rowing competitions are held on a regular basis. It was such a lovely area we wished we had come here rather than Tong’an, although I think the countryside will be better in Tong’an if only we could reach it.
We, or rather Keith, discovered that we could take a L22 bus back to the BRT from here and with the sky looking dark again decided it was a good idea. At the BRT station we caught a bendy bus only to have to get off before the end of the line as these long buses cannot negotiate the tight turn at the end. (The line is not yet complete and many of the existing stations do not appear on our maps.) The single buses take two manoeuvres to get round to the station in the opposite direction. With so many students wishing to be educated in the fishing village of Jimei we thought it a good idea to go home from the start of the line so at least we would have a seat. Taking line 1 is a lovely run with so much to see both on land and water. One of Keith’s students said that Xiamen would be better with an underground transport system – I disagreed, but then I am a tourist!
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