Xiamen & Gulangyu

After spending two days in Kinmen, we are off to Xiamen for a three day visit, mostly because of Gulangyu. I read about that little island a few years ago, and have been wanting to see it in person. But first, we must take the fast cat across from Kinmen which takes an hour.



Xiamen is a city of about 4 million people, a nice city but nevertheless crowded and air quality is surprisingly poor for a coastal city.

Shopping and street browsing at night on Zhongshan road, similar to Nanjing Road in Shanghai.

Xiamen zoo: watch the very beginning of the video again..yes, the horses were mating, caught on camera!

Xiamen zoo has a safari, with tigers, lions, and brown bears. We have never seen animals so close and we were a bit nervous, especially with the bears just inches away, face to face.

Frankie took a ride on a horse, a first for her.....

Next day, we went to Gulangyu, a very small island only 10 minute ferry ride from Xiamen city. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but this once island paradise has fallen victim to commercialism just like most Chinese cities have in recent years. Tacky tourists rip offs, over priced restaurants, admission to every thing including pay toilets, and worst of all, dirty streets littered with cigarette buttes, spits, and unrecyclable garbage.

Nevertheless, we saw some beautiful heritage western architecture, and had lunch twice at a bistro which served the most fantastic pasta dishes and tiramisu to die for.

A very nice beach on Gulangyu.....

Back to Kinmen and a visit to small Kinmen island.

After two days on Gulangyu and a day in Xiamen city, we headed back to Kinmen.

A typical Kinmen village which has all of the characteristics of a typical Fujian style homestead from hundreds of years ago. Earliest recorded inhabitants arrived here in the Tang dynasty about 1600 years ago.

More Kinmen landmarks........

Best dumblings right here in Kinmen!

Where's the beef? Kinmen raises its own cattles, free range style. Although a little chewy and very lean, its not gamey like Aussie beef. Yes, chewy and lean beef is perfect for making beef jerky and Kinmen beef jerky with Sorghum liquor (高梁酒) is one nice treat.

Kinmen is also known for its knives. But a tiny island like this, where would all the steel come from? Apparently, there were over one million mortars dumped on the island by the communists during a twenty year period when Kinmen island was bombarded on a daily basis as Red China tried hard to invade Taiwan but failed obviously; anyways, some very smart folks in Kinmen began salvaging the steel from these shells and made knives and cleavers. To this day, there are still thousands upon thousands of unexploded bombs on the island and the steel industry has a long way to go.......Yes, some areas of Kinmen are roped off with warning signs of landmines......Naturally, with so many soldiers and civilians killed in fierce battles, there are abundant ghost stories.

From small Kinmen, we can see Xiamen city clearly. We hired a cab and toured the whole island in less than a day. Cost was $35 US. With Chinese new year just days away, we picked the perfect time to visit as we were the only tourists everywhere we went. Apparently the busy season starts a few days after the new year begins as most Chinese are too busy with their families before and during the new year celebrations. Good to know.

If you are interested to see more about Kinmen, here is a good video shot by a couple of fellows:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MevF6pR93gg&feature=player_embedded#