March 17th, 2006厦门 part 1
I should have written about this since the end of January.
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My friends and I (we were ten in all) went to Xiamen (Xiamen 厦门,located in the southern part of Fujian province) for a few days at the end of January. We had gone to Hongqiao airport very early but still, we nearly missed the plane. There were too many people queuing up to check in. It was so chaotic, so badly organized. My friends and I ran all the way to the boarding gate and made it in time. phew. Fortunately, I was wearing trainers instead of my usual boots and I had a backpack instead of a small suitcase as hand luggage. Spring Airlines is horrible but then again, I was not surprised. After all, Spring Airlines is Shanghai’s first low-cost(budget) private airline and it was launched only last year in July. We were only given bottled mineral water. No meals on the flight. 
We reached Xiamen after about two hours. It was such a sunny day. 
The weather was perfect. (compared to Shanghai!!)
Gancho, James and me at the airport
The tour guide (Spring Travel) met us at the airport and we got to meet the three other persons who will be in our group. Our group was supposed to consist of 15 people but we were 13 instead. (Maybe they missed the plane?)
The tour guide briefed us on the places that we’d be visiting. We were all hungry so the tour guide took us to some kind of outdoor seafood restaurant. Only breakfast was included in the package so we had to pay for our own lunch. The food didn’t look appetizing. The tour guide was trying to convince us to eat there. I wonder if he gets extra money if he brings customers to the restaurant. Maybe it was already arranged. The 3 Chinese people in our group ordered a few dishes but my friends and I didn’t want to eat there. 
Photo taken in the restaurant while my friends were discussing what to do
My friends and I finally decided to go find another restaurant and we walked around until we found …a McDonald outlet . 
We wanted to eat hotpot but we didn’t have enough time so we settled for fastfood instead. We bought what we wanted and hurried back to the tour bus (around ten mins’ walk). The tour guide and the 3 Chinese people in our group were waiting for us. We were 15 minutes late. Er… and it was only the beginning. We (not all of us but always one or two persons in our group of friends) were late almost every time after that.
The tour guide called us “联合国的朋友们” (lian he guo de peng you men) because my friends and I are from 7 different countries. 
As usual, Asif and Talant joked around from time to time but I’m pretty sure that the tour guide didn’t get it. He looked at us quizzically sometimes but still, with a faint smile on his face.
Photos taken from the bus:
The sight-seeing started:
Nanputuo Temple(南普陀寺)———-
(note: some info here and here.)
Devajara Hall,aso called the Hall of Heavenly Kings (天王殿 Tian Wang Dian)
Statue of Buddha
韦驮菩萨
more info here.
me, standing near the very big incense sticks
Dabei Hall (大悲殿)
Asif, a classmate : “Grrrrrrrrr”
伽兰殿
振慧和尚改写的“佛”字
My friends and me
hi i’m laure marday i used 2 live in beaubassin in mauritius.but my family still...
Wow,a trip to Xiamen?I am sure it is enjoyable
Hmm,seafood huh?I quite like it 
The photos of the temples in Xiamen are beautiful and I must admit,I have never seen such big incense sticks before
The golden “佛” letter is also beautifully carved 
I still can’t see where is James… hmmff
It looks like a good trip! How long did you actually stay in Xiamen? I’ll have to read the information about Xiamen online when I plan my next trip to China.
I’m sure the tour guide and maybe even the driver receive kickbacks from restaurants and stores you visit. We had the same experience on our trip, but I’m a little surprised that they do that for domestic tourists, too.
this is not the first time you tend to have a late-post-blog-entry
anyways its looks so much fun, don’t you just luv trips!
how come 3 gurls only … your school has so many guys ah?
Hmm, I have an Indonesian friend who works in Xiamen. Maybe I should make a trip to visit her and see the sights at the same time.
But on the other hand, I’ve never really been into sightseeing.
I’ve never been to Xiamen before, but I am sure that it must have been lovely, especially after seeing all the lovely scenery in the photos.
But what matters most is the company, right?
Especially when you have such a huge group of friends around you@
you like seafood? Well, i do too but to an extent only. There’s some seafood i don’t like. I’m more of a ‘beef and chicken’ person.
hehe
he’s another James, an American. When are we gonna go travel together??
yes, I asked my Chinese friend about that. They do that for domestic tourists too.
We stayed in Xiamen for 3 days(2nights) only. Was not enough. We had to rush here and there sometimes.
no la.. it’s just that we didn’t ask other people to come along. Other friends,esp the girls, already had plans and went off to some other parts of China for the holidays. Now that I think about it, it seems like there are more guys than gals in our ‘group’ of friends.
ha I’m back! You seem to be everywhere!
oh lobsters…*drool*
hey, it looks like a great trip you made
not into sightseeing? really? what a pity..
yup, what mattered most was the company. I had a lovely time with my friends.
no. I’m not everywhere.
I want to go to other parts of China soon. 
China is so big.
hehe yes . it was great.
Nice trip ! I really love Xiamen, I have been 2 times ! I hope you had the occasion to go to the Gulangyu island which is a little paradise you cannot find anywhere else in China ?!