Xiamen: Tulou Earth Buildings: Spring Festival 2023

The buildings are in three main areas, each about 20 minutes from the other. By far the most famous is the 'four dish one soup' buildings and so we finished up the day there. 

From Xiamen, the Tulou Earth Buildings are about a 2 hour drive and so a nice easy day trip. I found and hired a driver for the day as the bus and train schedule looked complicated and truly not fun. He picked me up from my hotel and off we went. 

The first area was actually the most authentic of the three as fewer people seemed to visit it. From buying a ticket, I was pointed down a path next to a river, which proved to very very quiet and picturesque and eventually brought me out by a small town like street. In the river itself, was the town butcher who was just happily standing in water to wash away the blood of whatever animal he was cutting up at the time. I think a pig. All in all, I think the whole area was about a 3km walk along either side of the river and through the woods and a market. After sitting in the car for a few hours, it was a welcome break. 

The buildings themselves were smaller and looked a little less picture perfect and manicured as some of the others so it was a nice authentic feeling place. The families who lived in the buildings were very friendly and particularly curious of me, the random lone foreigner wandering about. From here, my driver took me to a second area which housed the largest buildings of the day. 

The second area, "BaGua House" is over 100 years old and just huge. Within each of the buildings are multiple families. Imagine a slice of cake as one family's home, often extending up 4 or 5 floors, and that's close to the layout of the building. There have been be up to 22 families in the past in just one building. All the houses face onto the central courtyard in which everyone cooks, cleans, socializes and so on. It's a proper self contained colony. Entrance to this building was included in the ticket price for the first location but access was limited to the ground floor. Very quickly some enterprising child approached me and said that for the huge sum of 10y, they would let me go upstairs and get a better look at the place from higher up. This turned out to be a fantastic decision as I took my favourite pictures from up on the top floor. 

This building is often called "the wonky building" as the higher floors do all seem to be at strange angles. I was told many stories but none really rang true. My favourite was that whoever was funding the build stopped paying for the builder's lunch time alcohol and so they deliberately built it a bit wonky. Doubt it's true, but I liked the image. 

This building's other claim to fame was its recent appliance in the Mulan movie (which I did not see) and so prompted a small Mulan trade craze in the small shops. 

The final area is the most photo famous area as it can been seen from the top of a small cliff behind the town. First you walk though the middle area and past a few shops then head up a very long flight of stairs to a viewing platform. The town itself was less impressive but the view from the top was very much so. The platform itself was busy and full of people fighting to get the perfect picture so I didn't stay long. Then I got picked up and we made our way back to Xiamen for my last few nights. 

Xiamen: GuLangYu Island: spring Festival 2023

GuLangYu Island is a small Island of the coast of Xiamen. It's completely packed with beautiful old colonial buildings and interesting small alleyways. As a result, it is always busy with tourists during the day but the last ferry back to the mainland leaves at 6pm, so after then, it's all people staying on the island like I was. 

Unfortunately the hotel I had booked looked nothing like the pictures and so I had a bit of a miserable time. My room was off the main road, up 2 flights of stairs, past a filthy pool and a broken down garden, into another building, along a corridor, down two flights or stairs, through a restaurant kitchen and then down a final corridor. From the front desk it was a pretty hefty walk so when the door card stopped working, every time and I had to go back to the front desk it was a pain. One time it took three goes before I got angry and made her send someone with me. Just unlucky and some bad advertising. I suspect photoshop had been heavily employed in the pictures. 

Anyway, it was fantastic getting the island with far fewer people  in the evenings. By far my favourite time of the trip. Everyone left and the shops and restaurants stayed open for us. Nothing late but still nice, chilled, quiet and the staff in these places were more relaxed and welcoming.  

The only thing really to do is to wander about the island and get lost in the streets. You can't really go that far wrong, it is a small island after all. There is a small coastal path that circles the island with most of the hotels and restaurants being towards the middle. 

On one of the days I went to the small aquarium by the ferry port. It was small and very poorly funded which lead to some hilarious exhibits. My absolute favourite was the piranha tank, in which there were 5 dead, stuffed fish hanging on fishing wire. Given how rubbish it is, it's hideously overpriced and the animals did not all look particularly well looked after. A Japanese Giant Salamander in a tank the same size as him was a bit of a tough one to see. 

After wandering my fill and trying all of the local foods, I checked out of the most disappointing hotel and got the ferry back to the mainland. Big trip tomorrow to the TuLou Earth Buildings. Another one of my bucket list items. 

Xiamen and some time in the sun: Spring Festival 2023

After Yangshuo I took 2 short 4 hour high speed trains to Kunming for a few days to visit the old Kunming family and then
took a short break in the break to XiShunag Banna. Again, I have been there before but never on the train. I know that I hate the city but LOVE the food. Dai minority food is just the best in China and I actively crave it. It's all sour and spicy mixed with just the nicest meat and BBQ. Anyway, now I am hungry again so time for some food pictures. 

After a few days in Banna, I jumped on a flight to Xiamen, the goal of this trip was to explore another potential move to destination. 

Xiamen is another seaside city that has a reputation for being a very easy and comfortable place to live so time to investigate. 

I booked into a beautiful old building homestay thing in one of the commercial districts, everything was antique and unique so it looked beautiful but wow the noise. Even the cat wandering about in the lobby could be heard in all the rooms. 

On my first day, I wandered off in a vague direction of one of those factory art district areas. A lot of old factory areas in China are being repurposed as art and restaurant areas. They're usually small but well located and have all sorts of boutique shops, cafes and market stalls. This one was small but right on a small harbour so I found a coffee shop overlooking the water and sat with my book perfectly content. 

After the art district I found the most amazing over sea walkways under the highway. I had a wonderful time sitting and watching the world go by. People watching

really is the best way to get to know the feel of a place. Xiamen so far, pretty chilled but packed with tourists! Just packed! 

After the bridge walk I found one of the many beaches and sat the watch the

sunset. 

All in all, my first day in Xiamen was a very chilled exploration of a very pretty city. 

After a few days wandering about the city, I got a ferry to a small nearby island GuLangYu Island, which is a small tourist island with no cars and a lot of history. 

I had tried to be organised and get a get a ticket online but naturally that didn't work. I spent a few hours lost and confused in a ferry terminal but it all worked out in the end! 

Next stop, GuLangYu Island!