China - Jiejie's Fujian Adventure

Coming soon...December 16th-22nd. I need to exit China and re-enter to activate a new entry on my visa, and in casting about for something different and inexpensive, found that Jinmen Island (Taiwan) just off the PRC coast is a worthy candidate....and a heck of a lot warmer right now than the Mongolian border or Korea. Jinmen is reachable by ferry from Xiamen and for the last 2-3 years, has been open to foreigners.

So I'll be heading down and back by overnight train (this is a budget trip and plane tickets are very costly) via Fuzhou. Highlights on the way will be Quanzhou, Xiamen/Gulangyu, the Hakka tulou houses of Yongding County, and of course, Jinmen Island. I'll report back on this thread after the trip, though expect much more abbreviated reporting compared to the Sichuan/Yunnan thread.

If you have any favorite tips or hot must-see recommendations for any of these four places, don't hesitate to share before I head out!

Boy, I'm beginning to wonder if jiejie works anymore? :D

Boy, I'm beginning to wonder if jiejie works anymore? :D

Right now she doesn't, and that's the problem! I'm cramming in some things on the bucket list before I no longer have the time.

Anyway, as this is a short trip with an international exit with little room for flexibility, it has to be more preplanned than three weeks in Sichuan/Yunnan. Made the decision that the long-hauls Beijing-Fujian will be done by Z train, overnight sleeper. Mostly for cost reasons but also for reliability--this has so far been a bad season for Beijing airport disruptions due to fog/smog. I toyed with the Xiamen-Nanyuan (Beijing's second airport) flight on China United Airlines as it wasn't a bad deal, but in the end decided to forego.

Bought the Z ticket Beijing-Fuzhou hard sleeper, and the D high-speed seat ticket Fuzhou-Quanzhou today. (Fuzhou is only being used as a transport hub as services between it and Beijing are both more convenient and cheaper than to Xiamen). Return ticket Fuzhou-Beijing on the reverse Z service will be purchased in a few days, when the 10-day sales period begins. All other transport in Fujian will be arranged in real-time. Will also be making some accommodation arrangements this weekend.

I toyed with the Xiamen-Nanyuan (Beijing's second airport) flight on China United Airlines as it wasn't a bad deal, but in the end decided to forego.


I like flying on KN... minimal service, but much more convenient than dealing with PEK.

jiejie - thanks a lot for your valuable input on this website. Can you please quote the prices for the above mentioned scenario? I will be travelling to china in march and am considering wide variaty of options :). thanks

I like flying on KN... minimal service, but much more convenient than dealing with PEK.

And would have my bet for the airline least likely to have their flight schedule disrupted by ATC in the Beijing area, unless weather conditions are desperately bad. The advantage of having military connections, even if looser than previously....

jiejie - thanks a lot for your valuable input on this website. Can you please quote the prices for the above mentioned scenario? I will be travelling to china in march and am considering wide variaty of options :). thanks

Not sure exactly what you want, but to give you a sampler including some cost comparisons for this particular trip, main target city destination is Xiamen:

1) Beijing-Xiamen by K307 standard train. 32 hours (ugh). 11:57-19:39 next evening. Approx RMB 450 hard sleeper or RMB 705 soft sleeper. Saves a hotel night.

2) Beijing-Fuzhou by Z59 express train (but not a bullet), followed by reasonably quick connection and Fuzhou-Xiamen by D6247 high-speed train. Total time including the layover at Fuzhou between trains: 23 hours. 15:08-10:51 + 12:04-14:14. For the budget options, Z59 is RMB 458 + D6247 = RMB 538 (hard sleeper + 2nd class seat). Going a bit more upscale = RMB 705 + 98 = RMB 803 (soft sleeper + 1st class seat). Timing of the overnight train is good and only 2 brief stops on the way. Also saves a hotel night. Even with the train switch, a much better option than #1 since the overall time is much shorter and the trains are higher quality and also get priority on the rails over other standard passenger trains. (I am using this method, using hard sleeper middle bunk and 2nd class seat so under RMB 550 and no hotel needed, well worth the RMB 100 additional cost vs option #1.)

3) Beijing-Xiamen by flight, one-way economy class booked about 2-3 weeks out ranges from RMB 1050-1560, all-in. Full-fare on this route is RMB 1900 all-in, so the most common discounts are in the 20-50% range. And the more heavily discounted tickets are at the least attractive flying times and come with heavy restrictions. This is not usually a heavily-discounted city pair, so flights are stubbornly high.

4) Beijing-Fuzhou by flight, one-way economy class booked about 2-3 weeks out, is about 10-15% cheaper then to Xiamen, but when you add back train transportation to get from Fuzhou to Xiamen, and cost of taxi from Fuzhou airport to train station, the savings pretty much vanishes while the hassle increases. And for both #3 and #4, you can accomplish the travel within a partial day, but will require adding a hotel night. And additional time and cost for transport to get between city and airport.

5) Other maneuvers using other cities to fly, then train or bus, OR train or bus to other cities, then fly, don't really help much on cost savings but increase the hassles. I tried everything using Tianjin, Zhengzhou, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Wenzhou, Nanchang, Quanzhou (Jinjiang), Shantou, etc. using various air/rail/bus options, but there is no magic formula for Beijing-Xiamen, unfortunately. And every time you need to make a connection, especially through an airport, you increase chance of delay or worse.

Beijing-Xiamen is a particularly exasperating route to try to do on the cheap, but other China city pairs are not necessarily the same. You'd have to be more specific about your targeted destinations for us to be more helpful. There are some people who will not do overnight trains and many of those have plausible reasons for avoiding (too tall to fit in sleeper, get sick with train motion, toilet issues, etc.). Tip: If you are not familiar with the Chinese domestic transportation set-ups, please read the information in the Master Transportation Thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/china/1217964-china-master-transportation-thread.html)on this forum.

Finally, Welcome to FlyerTalk and the China Forum!

jiejie - thanks. this was exactly what i needed. so far no plan, just looking and evaluating. we are actually going to china because the plane tickets were really cheap. so we are just in the process of gathering info about the country, what is there to see, what is manageble in 13 days we have there. i went through your master transporation piece. that was of course very helpful. the immediate plan was, fly in to beijing, spend 4 days there, go to xian for couple days, take the train to lhasa, spend couple days there, fly somewhere, get back to beijing, fly out. as you can see maybe little too ambitious. but as i said - we just bought the tickets, so we are really just in the initial phase.

jiejie - thanks. this was exactly what i needed. so far no plan, just looking and evaluating. we are actually going to china because the plane tickets were really cheap. so we are just in the process of gathering info about the country, what is there to see, what is manageble in 13 days we have there. i went through your master transporation piece. that was of course very helpful. the immediate plan was, fly in to beijing, spend 4 days there, go to xian for couple days, take the train to lhasa, spend couple days there, fly somewhere, get back to beijing, fly out. as you can see maybe little too ambitious. but as i said - we just bought the tickets, so we are really just in the initial phase.

If you wish to get feedback or ideas specifically for your trip, you should start a new thread on this forum. Let's keep this one on track for my Fujian trip, including my solicitation of tips or sightseeing ideas on the places I mentioned above. Thanks.

Gulangyu is a must when visiting Xiamen. Many cafes with cool concept can be found in Gulangyu.

I would recommend staying at Elan Hotel, Zhongshan Rd for easy access to the pedestrian street, Zhongshan Rd and Gulangyu. Walking distance to the ferry terminal. Rooms are good IMO, similar to Orange Hotels in BJ. 200 odd yuan.

Walk around Xiamen University campus if you have nothing to do as it is beside the sea.

Beside Xiamen city is Jimei where the museum of Tan Kah Kee is at.

Xiamen has light rails called BRT which can bring you to Jimei. forgot the price.

Have fun visiting Fujian.

Sidenote, this might be redundant as you bought tickets. but you could take the HSR from BJ to SH and transfer to Xiamen via D trains for an all-in at 886 Yuan, a stopover in Quanzhou will not affect the price though.

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Is jiejie a meimei?

Right now she doesn't, and that's the problem! I'm cramming in some things on the bucket list before I no longer have the time.


I'd say the gainfully employed are getting jealous of your free time and adventures. Keep the TR's coming! ^ :)

If you have any favorite tips or hot must-see recommendations for any of these four places, don't hesitate to share before I head out!

You can find some Kinmen highlights in this old post (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/13755938-post586.html) of mine. Do you have a sweet tooth? Kinmen peanut brittle (金門貢糖) is one of my all-time favorites. So addictive that it ruins my diet without fail. ;)

If you have time, you may also want to check out the movie, Summer Times (夏天協奏曲) (http://moviereviewsquare.blogspot.com/2009/11/summer-times-2009.html), a love story based in Kinmen. Summer Times (2009) covers the beauty and historical background of Kinmen quite well. Have the tissues ready when watching the movie though.

Gulangyu is a must when visiting Xiamen. Many cafes with cool concept can be found in Gulangyu.

I would recommend staying at Elan Hotel, Zhongshan Rd for easy access to the pedestrian street, Zhongshan Rd and Gulangyu. Walking distance to the ferry terminal. Rooms are good IMO, similar to Orange Hotels in BJ. 200 odd yuan.

Walk around Xiamen University campus if you have nothing to do as it is beside the sea.

Beside Xiamen city is Jimei where the museum of Tan Kah Kee is at.

Xiamen has light rails called BRT which can bring you to Jimei. forgot the price.

Have fun visiting Fujian.

Sidenote, this might be redundant as you bought tickets. but you could take the HSR from BJ to SH and transfer to Xiamen via D trains for an all-in at 886 Yuan, a stopover in Quanzhou will not affect the price though.

Thanks, will take everything under advisement. Will try to stay at least one night on Gulangyu.

On train tickets, the HSR from BJ to SH was not viable for me. Way too long in a seat when combined with the 9+ hour ride from SH to Xiamen, and my departure from Beijing, which could be no earlier than 12:00 noon on Friday, would make for an arrival in Shanghai too late to catch an onward D to Xiamen, so a forced overnight in Shanghai. No, the tool for this job was definitely the Z overnight to Fuzhou then quick hop south on the D to Quanzhou (or Xiamen). And looks like it will be same tool on the reverse.


I'd say the gainfully employed are getting jealous of your free time and adventures. Keep the TR's coming! ^ :)

Well, send me some cash, and I'll keep having adventures and TR's. :p

You can find some Kinmen highlights in this old post (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/13755938-post586.html) of mine. Do you have a sweet tooth? Kinmen peanut brittle (金門貢糖) is one of my all-time favorites. So addictive that it ruins my diet without fail. ;)

If you have time, you may also want to check out the movie, Summer Times (夏天協奏曲) (http://moviereviewsquare.blogspot.com/2009/11/summer-times-2009.html), a love story based in Kinmen. Summer Times (2009) covers the beauty and historical background of Kinmen quite well. Have the tissues ready when watching the movie though.

Peanut Brittle? Yum! I am so there! Thanks for links, will check them out. I am actually looking forward to this little Jinmen soujourn, and looks like the weather is going to be very comfortable next week.

Peanut Brittle? Yum! I am so there! Thanks for links, will check them out. I am actually looking forward to this little Jinmen soujourn, and looks like the weather is going to be very comfortable next week.

My mouth is watering just thinking about Kinmen Peanut Brittle. :o

Kinmen is a very special part of Taiwan that it carries lot of weight from history due to its military importance. "Our Island, Our Dreams" (星月無塵) (http://www.taiwancinema.com/5/ct/xitem/58219/ctnode/138/) is another lovely movie (but sad story) directed by a Kinmen-born director. You'll see how Kinmen people live history in their daily life from the movie.

I really hope the weather will cooperate so you can enjoy Kinmen even more.

ETA:
Would you be able to visit Matzu (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/13771563-post634.html) as well? Don't miss Beigan Township (北竿鄉) (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/14239355-post965.html) if you do.

Now at T-48 for departure, and have done slightly more on the preplanning end than last month's trip (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/china/1282110-jiejies-excellent-sichuan-yunnan-adventure.html). Because this is a one-weeker without a lot of flexibility on the start and finish dates, I went ahead and procured train transportation.
--Z59 Beijing --> Fuzhou (RMB 443 + 5 svc fee, hard sleeper middle bunk) leaving Friday aft arriving Sat morning followed by same-station departure on
--D6247 Fuzhou --> Quanzhou (RMB 51 + 5 svc fee, 2nd class seat). Will leave Beijing Friday afternoon, get to Quanzhou early Saturday afternoon .
Got those tickets last week in Beijing, when the 10 day advance purchase sales period opens. Then yesterday for the return on 12/22 early afternoon, snapped up:
--D6232 Xiamen-->Fuzhou (RMB 81 + 5, 2nd class seat) and right after that with a short layover
--Z60 Fuzhou--> Beijing ((443 + 5, same hard sleeper middle), arriving 12/23 midday.
So the long-distance parts of the journey from/to Beijing for RMB 1038 all in. Which is less than half the cost of trying to do this by air, plus 2 hotel nights saved. And not too much "useable time" lost.

It's nice to now be able to buy tickets in one city for unrelated city pairs. I bought my tickets at my favorite remote ticketing office, not too far from my home. Nice ticket seller girl and no queue!

Also set up 3 out of the 5 remaining nights in hotels: 1 night in Quanzhou (via sinohotel), 1 night in Xiamen (via ctrip), (2 floaters tbd), 1 final night in Xiamen Gulanyu (via sinohotel). I have taken advice from an above poster for the first night in Xiamen and will try Elan Hotel. Tried as I might to avoid it, the splitting of Xiamen into two nonconsecutive nights was better for makiing everything else fall in place with travel logistics.

Itinerary is unfortunately overly brisk at all points. If I fall in love with Jinmen Island, I may stay an extra day and punt the Yongding County tulous to a future time. So, the 19th and 20th are still a bit loosey-goosey, to be determined on the fly. Lodging in both Jinmen or Yongding would be homestays, to be done as walk-up.

So I think I'm good to go except for tossing a few things together in the daypack and small gym bag. No rollaboard this trip. And maybe an extra fold up bag for all the peanut brittle I'll likely bring back... :D

All set to go and I wish you happy and safe travels.

Enjoy!

So the long-distance parts of the journey from/to Beijing for RMB 1038 all in. Which is less than half the cost of trying to do this by air, plus 2 hotel nights saved. And not too much "useable time" lost.



I'm seeing y630 (+190) each way, but with a connection in SHA, and the need to endure MU. Interestingly, the exact same flight to SHA is y1130 (full fare) on the same date, if booked in isolation (doesn't matter a whole lot because other flights at decent times are less than y630).

I'm seeing y630 (+190) each way, but with a connection in SHA, and the need to endure MU. Interestingly, the exact same flight to SHA is y1130 (full fare) on the same date, if booked in isolation (doesn't matter a whole lot because other flights at decent times are less than y630).

I did want to go by air at least one direction, so I assure you, I checked flights out thoroughly beginning about 3 weeks ago and continuing until finally abandoning and pulling the trigger on the train. The cheapest I could get to Xiamen all-in heading down was RMB 1100, and to Fuzhou a little under 1000 regardless of connection. Coming back, about 100 less for each option. So by air, cheapest I could have done it round-trip for my travel day options was RMB 1900. Seriously. Plus additional RMB 220 x 2 = 440 for 2 extra hotel nights. So this way, I'm saving about RMB 1300 which for me is meaningful. Time-wise, all I'm losing about 4-5 useable hours in Quanzhou on morning of the 17th that I would have had if I'd come by air the afternoon before, but I can deal with that. I'm losing a few hours in Beijing as well on the return, but no big deal since I live here.

I didn't want to play chicken with the airfares up to the last minute, as if I gambled and lost, the train sleepers would be sold out. And the train I'm on did sell out, except for a few soft sleepers. And I didn't want a potential fog-in (smog-in) esp at PEK, to play potential havoc with a tight schedule.

As with my previous adventure (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/china/1282110-jiejies-excellent-sichuan-yunnan-adventure.html), first, the parameters:

Length: 1 week, Beijing-to Beijing. Depart December 16, return December 23.

Travel Style: Similarly to Sichuan/Yunnan, an Independent Soloist using budget private rooms with bath. No name brand or international chain hotels used and except for Xiamen, little or nothing international in the other itinerary locations. Transportation for this trip was entirely overland: train, bus/car, boat.

Travel Planner:

Train tickets purchased in advance in Beijing for all 4 segments (2 outbound, 2 returning). Hotel reservations made for 3 of 5 hotel nights (2 nights on sleeper train). Folder of accumulated notes and internet research on itinerary locations, including timetables, but no tours pre-booked. Daily plans left to in-field adjustment, with biggest worry trying to cram too much territory into the time available.

Funding: All cash--RMB, except TWD on Jinmen Island.

Final Itinerary and Intercity Transport: Beijing -->Z overnight train to Fuzhou (immediate connection to D train)-->Quanzhou (1 night) --> D train to Xiamen (2 nights) incl daytrip to Yongding County Tulous-->international ferry to Jinmen Island (1 night)-->international ferry return to Xiamen/Gulangyu (1 night)-->D train to Fuzhou (connection to Z overnight train)-->Beijing. Total of 7 nights on the road.

Beijing to Quanzhou

Per some of the previous thread posts, my preference to travel by air for at least one of the two directions was stymied by high ticket prices. So I defaulted to the backup plan, overnight sleeper train. Quanzhou actually has an airport (“Jinjiang”) serving the city, but flights are sparse and expensive, so most people get to the city via either Fuzhou to the north or Xiamen to the south. My plan went through Fuzhou Rail Station, as the quality and speed of the Z train from Beijing to Fuzhou is superior to the K train from Beijing to Xiamen. Then from Fuzhou station, connect to one of the high-speed D trains that ply the Shanghai-to-Xiamen route. I didn’t want to stick around in Fuzhou, which is primarily a business-oriented city with no big draws for the casual visitor.

The Z59 train left Beijing West Station on schedule at 15:08. Completely full up in all sleepers—I had my usual solo travel favorite of hard sleeper, middle berth (RMB 443 + 5 svc). This train is one of the better ones to the SE China coast (assuming one wants to bypass the Shanghai or Hangzhou areas), as it leaves/arrives at good times, and only makes two intermediate stops: one at a rail junction town in Jiangxi province in the wee hours and the other at Wuyishan, in the mountains of Fujian province around daybreak. So you have mostly continuous movement all the way to Fuzhou, with arrival just before 11 am.

I laid the law down about No Smoking immediately after arrival in my compartment, as three of the occupants were Fujian men traveling together, with smokes out and ready to go. Also did my sour Victorian schoolmarm anti-smoking routine at all the surrounding compartments. And it worked, as there was no smoking in the carriage the entire journey—the smokers were quite good about going to their designated spots between carriages. ;) Nevertheless, I’d rate this trip as an average-to-somewhat miserable experience due to two factors: 1) Even by Chinese hard sleeper standards, an unusual number of young children on board, including two babies in my carriage that wanted to cry a lot; 2) a very noisy sleeper, in my compartment in the top bunk opposite. Not snoring, but singing while dreaming! He was so noisy and bugging so many people, that about 2 hours after lights-out (10:00 pm on this train), the train conductor woke him up and took him somewhere for quite a long time (about another 2-3 hours). I only mention this since in all my Chinese train trips, I’d never seen a physical intervention happen before. Perhaps there is a Rubber-Hose Beating Room on board? At any rate, whatever the train staff did worked, as upon his return, he was silent the rest of the night. I only know all this because I did not sleep much—my back and legs had decided to ache terribly, likely due to packing and moving a bunch of personal stuff in my Beijing storage room the day before. So I couldn’t blame my sleepless night all on my colorful carriage-mates.

The last couple of hours on the Z59 were quite pleasant, and spent chatting with a Qingdao young man who turned out to be a musician (drummer) and went about various Chinese cities doing gigs and demonstrations/sales of equipment. He had just purchased 10 pairs of drum sticks in Beijing, taking them to Fuzhou. And (drum roll......)...all were USA-made. Hello! America DOES export something to China—first chicken feet and now drum sticks! ^

Arrived in Fuzhou on time—a station I’m unfamiliar with--and Drummer Boy showed me the transfer passage to the high-speed platforms, saving me the trouble of exiting then re-entering the station and having to deal with security again. My D high-speed train to Quanzhou was scheduled to leave an hour later, so a fast connection but very doable. There are plenty of D’s all day long and they seem busy on the Fuzhou-->Putian-->Quanzhou-->Xiamen route which also has some intermediate stops between F and Q, functioning like a commuter train in this area. It was also a Saturday so lots of Fujian people visiting friends in nearby cities. I had a second-class seat ticket and train was full (with standees) but comfortable. An extremely good idea to have purchased this ticket ahead of time in Beijing (RMB 51 + 5 svc). Fuzhou-->Quanzhou takes less than 1.5 hours. Arrived in Quanzhou at 13:39 on time.

Short Version: One of nicest Chinese cities of its size I’ve been to—it is not a mini-Xiamen but has a unique feel all its own. Recommendation: worth one full day with an overnight stay, or a daytrip out of Xiamen using fast D train service. Also could be a daytime stopover if traveling between Fuzhou and Xiamen. By D train, 45 minutes to Xiamen, less than 1.5 hours to Fuzhou.

Long Version

Note on Pronunciation: Pronouncing Quanzhou’s second syllable as ANN (like the female Western name) instead of the more standard Mandarin AHN will get you better results in Fujian. Once I started saying Chu-Ann-Joe (stress on second syllable), the Min dialect speakers in this region started understanding where I wanted to go.

Quanzhou is the third-largest city in Fujian after Fuzhou and Xiamen, but it feels smaller and is generally overlooked by most travelers. My arrival in early afternoon was to a beautiful weather day and a taxi queue staffed by the local mafia. I, the only apparent foreigner arriving, was set upon by this pack of vultures hollering out ridiculous flat-rates such as RMB 50 and 40...basically about double the price since I’d gotten a pre-brief from a local on the train on what it should cost to my destination near the city center. Nobody would use the meter and since the police were sitting in their cart right there watching everything, obviously this practice is considered kosher here. :mad: There are public buses but I didn’t feel like trying to puzzle them out. So I abandoned the taxi vulture/queue area and headed to the station McDonalds for a cold drink, then headed upstairs to Departure level to find a taxi dropping someone off. Sure enough, this stupid yet time-honored trick works at the Quanzhou rail station. Driver upstairs grinned and knew exactly what I was doing, set his meter to the posted flag fall and off we went. Price turned out to be RMB 22 (20 meter + 2 fuel surcharge). So if the taxi mafia at the Rail Station queue tosses out RMB 30 and you are going to the central city, that’s not too far off of a "fair fare", if you are in a hurry.

Once we got out of the industrial/warehousing area that lies between the rail station and the main part of the city, I knew immediately I was going to love Quanzhou. Every foreigner I have ever known who has either worked or visited this city gives it multiple thumbs-up, and now I see why. It’s clean and lovely, with nice people and good street snacks...just a very relaxed place with a good vibe. While Quanzhou actually has several million people, the central part of the city (where most things of visitor interest are) is small enough to be walkable. After checking into my pre-reserved hotel, I set out on foot to meander my way to Kaiyuan Si, a well-known temple with very large grounds and two old stone pagodas--this is Quanzhou’s premier famous site. Entry Fee RMB 10. Very peaceful and I ended up spending a very enjoyable hour exploring the grounds and buildings. They must have an army of gardeners working this place daily. Getting there from my hotel (across from Donghu Park) was a very pleasant 25-minute walk, punctuated by a lot of photo stops of buildings, street life, and people-portraits. Unlike many other cities in China that have developed their central cities in a hodgepodge of unconnected styles and tearing the urban fabric into shreds, Quanzhou has managed to do a decent job of protecting enough large swaths of its older architecture to preserve a unique atmosphere, while not turning the city into a dead museum of the past.

This paragraph’s for the architecture fanboys so skip if you’re not interested. Quanzhou should be a priority city if one is in this area of China. Formerly an important port city for trade between Fujian and Southeast Asia (and beyond), Quanzhou had a variety of influences from Middle Eastern to European. Much of the low-rise shophouse buildings in the Zhongshan Middle and South Road areas are European in flavor. You also see the same ground floor arcade styles popular in tropical/semi-tropical areas of Asia, such as the “5 foot ways” of Sino-Portuguese architecture in old Macau or Georgetown, Penang--although Quanzhou’s are more generously proportioned. And strikingly enough, Quanzhou older architecture is in exposed decorative brick, very distinctive with black diagonal striping. Brick in China is generally poorly made and considered worthy only of covering up with stucco, but Quanzhou is quite different in this regard. In some of the fringe areas developing around these older Euro-flavored parts of the central city, Quanzhou municipal authorities have dictated styles that invoke some of these architectural elements although in a more modern fashion. The execution and detail may not be masterful in an architectural sense, but it has helped to keep the general urban idea working. Non-design professionals may not be able to verbalize it, but the human scale and layout of central Quanzhou just feels “right.” Particularly in the areas south of Kaiyuan Si along the small streets and alleys, are remnants of old brick and rammed-earth Fujian-style houses, scattered between residential buildings of newer vintages. Some still in use, more crumbling into ruin and won’t be around much longer.

Quanzhou has long had the reputation of a city open to outside influences, and this is true of religion as well. I passed a very large church where Christmas decorating was in full swing, went inside and found a sanctuary about the size and layout of a good-sized opera house. Probably about 2000 seats and from the pictures posted around, were filled on Sundays. Judging from the outer gate by the street, part of this facility also functions as the Jewish center of worship, as the carving over the gate lintel had both a cross and a menorah. On the following morning, I was to continue my ramble in a bit different direction, to one of the oldest mosque sites still left standing in China—The Qingjing Mosque (also known as the Aksah). The older portion is in ruins (no roof, but you can see the walls and support pillars) and in its day, it was clearly a sizeable facility. Entry Fee RMB 3. A small museum about Muslims in the area is on site, and a newly-built active mosque is adjacent. Just up the street is the very active Guandi Temple (no entry fee) which is Taoist, and has many worshipers coming throughout the day to pay homage and to get fortunes told. All in all, it seems like a very tolerant city where diverse people (by Chinese standards) have co-existed for a very long time. People seemed pretty nice, although I was struggling to understand the local lingo, which is Minnan, not standard Mandarin.

My useable daytime in Quanzhou was approximately 14:30-17:30 the first afternoon, and then 08:00-11:00 the following morning. I regret that I did not have time to stop by the Maritime Museum on this trip, nor did I have time to wander around the riverfront or see if I could finagle a boat trip. I really needed an extra half-day in Quanzhou at least, and more if I wanted to head outside the city to check out some of the famous old stone bridges. But alas, no time. Checked out and left hotel about 11:40 am, taxiied to the station (on meter) and was able to purchase a walk-up ticket at 12:05 for the 12:34 D train departure to Xiamen (RMB 36 first class seat).

Short Version: Xiamen has a well-deserved reputation for being one of the more liveable big cities of China: physically attractive setting, nice climate (though rainy in summer), clean air with coastal breezes. The city itself doesn’t have a huge number of specific must-see tourist sights, but checking out the waterfront area, exploring some of the older parts of the central city, Gulangyu Island (covered downthread in Xiamen Phase 2), and using the city as a staging base is possible. Recommendation: for average first-time visitors with limited time in China and no business or family reason to be in Xiamen, probably not a priority destination over something like Beijing, Xi’an, Shanghai, etc. But for repeat visitors to China, a decent choice. Two days in Xiamen (including one for Gulangyu) is probably enough for the time-challenged, but a third day would make for a better visit. Xiamen can be used as a base for some daytrips as well.

Long Version

Xiamen is only about 45 minutes by D train from Quanzhou and we arrived on time, Sunday December 18 about 13:15. I grabbed a taxi from the very short taxi queue to hotel, which was in the old central city near Zhongshan Lu pedestrian street, and not too far from the waterfront. Xiamen seems to me to be one of the top three wealthiest Chinese cities, at least judging from physical appearances. Judging by the nature and amount of recent and current development, there is a powerful amount of money sloshing around this town. On a blue-sky day with the breeze coming off the ocean and the palm trees waving, it feels almost like a resort city instead of the center of business and significant port that it is. Much of Xiamen is very shiny and new. As in Quanzhou, it was lovely to be able to luxuriate in perfect temperatures of around 20 degrees C (vs 0 in Beijing)--upper 60's for those of the Fahrenheit persuasion.

I set out to explore the central, older area which still has the low-rise, semi-tropical shophouse flavor in a fairly densely-packed area. Seems like an unusual mix of businesses—lots of clothes, accessories, household shops but relatively few restaurants, cafes, supermarkets, convenience stores, etc. Possibly just the streets I chose to wander (later in the evening, I chose different street routes and did manage to find all the restaurants and cafes, so they do exist.). Older Xiamen streets are a bit rambly and it’s easy to get turned around and off-track, so make sure you keep a decent map handy. Caveat: once outside the older area around the waterfront: when you try to walk Xiamen, distances are longer than you think. There don’t seem to be a large number of bicycles in this city, and even scooters are sparse (Possibly local ordinance? Possibly because everybody is so wealthy they can afford a car?)

I worked my way through this older part of town and to the waterfront to check out the boat situation for upcoming use. And to inquire at the Visitor’s Center about join-in trips to see the Yongding County tulous. Found out the following:
--Public Ferries to Gulangyu Island leave from the conveniently-located Heping Wharf, pretty much constantly shuttling back and forth from 07:00 to 21:00 (more details downthread in another post).
--Public Ferries that do circular tours around Gulangyu and around Jinmen Island also leave from Heping. Note that these cater to mainland Chinese without passports or permission to go to Taiwan, so they do NOT land on Jinmen.
--Private Boats for river/harbor tours or for shuttle to Gulangyu also available by negotiation; most of these leave from a wharf just south of the public Heping Wharf area, about 5 minutes’ walk.
--International Ferries to Jinmen Island (Taiwan) leave from “Dongdu” the International Ferry Port and also from Wutong Ferry Port. Dongdu is not too far from the central city, on the waterfront south of Xiamen cargo Port. However, it should be accessed by taxi as it is way too far to walk. Wutong is on the north coast of Xiamen Island, not too far from the airport.
--Chinese-language bus groups go out daily from Xiamen to daytrip to the Yongding tulous. Time frame is about 07:00 to 19:00 return to Xiamen. Price was only RMB 258 including transport, entry ticket to tulou, and lunch/snack. A bargain, but you will be part of a big Chinese tour group with matching caps.

At this point in the trip, it was apparent that I was trying to do too much. My original plan was to leave the following morning for Jinmen, and I was on the bubble about going to see the tulou, as it would come at the opportunity cost of something else. During dinner I puzzled out what I wanted to do, and afterwards walked an unexpectedly long way to the Hubin Long Distance Bus station. Found out bus schedules and prices to various points near the tulous, and made an instant decision to buy a ticket for the next morning at 06:50 am (first bus out) to Hukeng village in Yongding county.

A complicating factor was the realization the previous day that I’d severely pulled a back/chest muscle and carrying all my stuff from place to place was becoming a concern. Partly to give these muscles a break from lifting and carrying, and partly to give my legs a break from heavy-duty walking for a day, I decided that it might indeed be a good time for a bus journey. So upon return to the Xiamen hotel that evening, I asked about an extension at the same price, which was granted without fuss. I could then just leave all my stuff in the room an extra day, and just take a lightweight purse to Yongding. Or if I got up and didn’t feel like going to see the Yongding tulous, I could just sacrifice the ticket and continue to explore Xiamen. At any rate, Jinmen Island would wait another day.

Nicely done with the smoking in the sleeper part.

As for Xiamen, it is surprisingly very clean for a Chinese city.

Awaiting more parts of your adventure to Hokkien.

Short Version: Tulou are the traditional large, communal residences in the southern part of Fujian Province, with the best-known being occupied by the Hakka (Kejia) people. The largest concentration are found in Yongding county, approximately 3-4 hours from Xiamen by road. Once famously mistaken by U.S. military reconnaissance as secret Chinese missile silos, they are quite unique and rank high as a must-see if in this part of China. A daytrip from Xiamen is possible but not ideal—a better idea is to take one morning to get there, the rest of the day exploring, then stay overnight in the area and return to Xiamen (or head elsewhere) on Day 2.

Long Version

The Fujian tulou are large, fortress-like structures usually 3-4 stories tall, and usually round but sometimes rectangular in shape. All the rooms face onto layered balconies which then overlook the large inner courtyard.. A single massive double gate allows access inside, and the bottom floor(s) do not have outer facing windows for privacy and security. These thick-walled structures are traditionally made of a mixture of rammed earth, straw, and miscellaneous materials, with the inside subdivisions for the various families of wood. The tulou function not only as living quarters, but as a linchpin of local family and social structure. Many of the most spectacular are open to tourists, although they still serve as active residences. I recommend some internet research (wikipedia description is a decent overview) before deciding to pencil in time for a visit.

It has probably only been the last 10 years that the tulou have started making it onto tourist and traveler itineraries; however, due to location and inconvenient access to reach them, it has insulated them somewhat from being massively overrun by crowds. That said, there are daily bus tours that make it here from Xiamen, so that from about 11:00-14:00, you’ll have company at the more famous and popular tulou clusters. This is one reason that staying overnight in the tulou area is preferable to daytripping from Xiamen: it will give you the opportunity to see the tulou in either the morning or late afternoon/evening when the day visitors are not present. It is possible to stay in a tulou (primitive conditions only), or in a non-tulou guesthouse/small hotel in one of the staging villages such as Hukeng, or slightly further away in the county seat of Yongding town. There are a lot of new tourist facilities being built in the vicinity of Hukeng, including more modern lodging and support facilities. This will make an overnight stay more pleasant by sometime in 2012.

My original plan was to bus to Yongding County one morning then overnight and return to Xiamen the next day, then head immediately to ferry for Jinmen Island. However, due to my wonky back and lingering uncertainty about making a connection from a long bus ride with potential for delays, to an international ferry, led me to scrap the Yongding overnight and do a daytrip. With full recognition that I would not have enough time to see all the tulou I wanted, and would have to be selective, move quickly, and be satisfied with just getting the flavor of the area on this visit. Not really ideal, but them’s the breaks. Then a choice of daytripping methodologies had to be made. The following options are really the only ways to do this as a daytrip:
1) Private car and driver. The most flexible and can probably cut driving time to 3.5 hours to the tulou area from Xiamen, and no need to find local transport once in the tulou villages area. The best option, but costly at about RMB 1500+ for the day. As a budget soloist, out of the question for me.
2) Group bus tour out of Xiamen. These generally run on a schedule of about 07:00 out and 19:00 return, of which only about 4 hours is spent in the tulou area themselves and the rest traveling to/from Xiamen. The Visitor’s Center at the Heping Wharf can set you up for cheap, if you don’t mind a Chinese language group tour. Most of the hotels and hostels can also set you up for join-in tours, and you may be able to find one going with an English-language guide. Per person prices on these are generally in the RMB 300-500 range. In my case, I nixed the Visitors Center option and didn’t have time to explore the other providers.
3) Public bus to Hukeng Village (or Yongding town). Then local private driver. This was the option I chose, as it provided a bit of flexibility over the group tour without too much extra hassle or time. The trick was catching the earliest bus possible, in order to have a fighting chance of seeing as much as possible and then getting back to Xiamen at a reasonable evening hour. Having ascertained the evening before that an early bus (06:50) directly to Hukeng and NOT via Yongding was available and purchased the ticket (RMB 48), all I had to do is show up and hop on. I knew from my folder of research that Hukeng locals met all the buses offering driving services so I figured I could deal with that once I arrived. Tip: Yongding town itself does not have any tulou, and being further west of the target area and about an extra hour’s drive away, really doesn’t have a lot of benefit to going there from Xiamen instead of directly to Hukeng. Yongding does have a rail station, so if approaching this part of Fujian from the south (Guangdong) or from the north (Jiangxi, north Fujian) by rail or by bus without going through Xiamen, it might make sense to stop off/stay here for the night. Also, Yongding has multiple buses per day heading to/from Xiamen, so while it make for a longer journey, there is a bit more flexibility on bus timings, compared to trying to find a direct bus Hukeng to/from Xiamen.

Most of the public and group buses from Xiamen route to Yongding County through a sprawling mass of development west of Xiamen known as the city of Zhangzhou. This is where you eat up a lot of time in traffic, as you are on surface roads---good roads, but full of all manner of traffic, and very poor and inconsiderate drivers (even by China standards). In fact, the 3.5 hour drive to Hukeng can be characterized in 3 stages: 2 hours of slogging through built-up area around Zhangzhou, much of it unattractive, then 1/2 hour of banana plantations, and finally, 1 hour of rather nice countryside and into the hills where the Kejia people live. I was surprised at how little of this drive was through pastoral rural Fujian, and very surprised at how much development has expanded west of Xiamen. Now you know, too. I’m not sure how private cars would route, but a query of random people in the area led me to believe that it’s pretty much the same situation, as other routes circumventing the Zhangzhou sprawl take longer due to increased distance. The road quality all the way to Hukeng is actually quite good now, sealed road and not bumpy.

My 06:50 bus left promptly with only 4 passengers on board, though we picked up people on the way to Hukeng, arriving there about 10:45. A comfort break at a banana stand with surprising decent toilets (squat but clean and private) was made enroute. At the Hukeng bus stop, sure enough, there were locals there offering services such as tulou or guesthouse overnights and also car or motorcycle with driver. Some of them offer their services as guides as well. As it was a nice day but a bit cool and windy, I elected to skip riding pillion on a motorcycle even though it was cheaper at RMB 100. Instead, I negotiated with a young woman representing an inn and restaurant opposite the bus stop, for a car for RMB 220. This cost squared with my prior research on private hire of local driver + car, and I was going to one of the tulou areas located a number of km away from Hukeng, the Tianluokeng Cluster. Possibly could have negotiated a bit lower with someone else since I was only going to have the driver for 3-ish hours rather than much of the day, but didn’t want to waste a precious minute. My driver was a young man that looked to be her brother—nice fellow but not very talkative unless I spoke to him first. I had ascertained that the return journey on public bus Hukeng-->Xiamen direct was at 14:50 and there was nothing later, so that put a firm time limit on my visit. I had just over 3 hours, allowing a little extra time to get back and get something to eat and buy a bus ticket. But a bit before 11:00 am, off we went.

(Note: Due to time of year, short days and the fact that darkness sets in about 17:30, and my preference not to be on the rural part of the return journey after dark, made leaving on that 14:50 bus pretty much necessary. If my visit had been in summer with about 2+ extra hours of daylight, I would have taken a later non-direct bus via Yongding to Xiamen, in order to have more time for the tulou.)

Visiting the tulou requires entry fees, and fees depend on where you visit. There are a few that are individually ticketed, but the rest are grouped by geographic area, with one entry fee per area, generally in the RMB 50 to 100 range depending on cluster.. I had previously done a little bit of research and had an A list and B list, based on accumulated reactions from others and on what I thought looked interesting. This list was fine-tuned on arrival in Hukeng, after speaking to the locals about what was at each one (and what was not).

At the top of my list was the Tianluokeng Cluster, which has three excellent sights included within its fiefdom and RMB 100 entry fee (currently the highest of the fees). This entry fee is collected at a toll gate for the cluster, and each of the three sights is hole-punched once visited, and when you do a final exit of the area. As with most of the tulou clusters, each of these three sights are separated from each other and require motorized transport to get between them. This is where a local driver who knows the little back roads and side roads has an advantage over a Xiamen-based driver (unless the Xiamen driver is a local Kejia from the area). TLK’s best sights are the Five-Tulou cluster often featured in professional photographs, the freestanding Yuchang Lou (largest and oldest), and Taxia Village (very cute village and also has a temple and tulou of its own). It took pretty much every bit of three hours to explore these sites, and travel to/from Hukeng and between them. There are terraced fields in these areas, but not for rice—for tea! Quite a bit of tea is grown in this area.

I quite enjoyed the tulou and villages that I was able to see on this brief visit, but was not particularly impressed by how many of the courtyards had been turned into mini-bazaars for tourists with souvenirs, (bad) artwork for sale, etc. And of course, their local tea.

Had I had additional time, my next target would probably have been the Chuxi Cluster further to the south. IMO, having most of a full day to explore the different tulou and villages would be the best way to visit this area. Which of course requires an overnight.

My return direct bus from Hukeng village left promptly at 14:50, pretty full, and arrived back into Xiamen at 19:20, with the last couple of hours agonizingly slow through evening rush hour traffic through Zhangzhou. However, unlike my outbound bus, this one wasn’t going back to the bus station convenient to me, but to an outlying one. I only figured this out when we made an intermediate stop in Xiamen, and nearly everybody remaining on the bus got up to get off. On the street and completely lost and disoriented, I found a helpful soul waiting at the nearby bus stop who helped me find my location on the map and where I needed to be heading. Turns out the bus had dropped us off way north of the central city, sort of halfway between the Airport and Xiamen Rail Station, near a big shopping mall and expressway. Finally found an empty taxi and got back to hotel successfully by 20:00. A very long day indeed. For a daytrip, when you calculate the amount of time spent on the road just getting to the place versus the time actually spent in the tulou area, it gives pause as to how much value a daytrip really is. While I was glad I went—since I’m not sure when I’ll be able to schedule a longer visit—it wasn’t the tulou exploration I’d originally envisioned for this trip.

Cost of Daytrip, ex-Xiamen to/from downtown hotel: (RMB)
Taxi to bus station (10) + Bus ticket to Hukeng (48) + Private car at tulou area (220) + entry fee for one cluster (100) + lunch in Hukeng (40) + return bus ticket to Xiamen (55) + taxi to hotel (32) = RMB 505. Not a cheap daytrip in absolute terms, though less than 1/3 the price of a private one-day tour from a travel agent set up ex-Xiamen.

1) Private car and driver. The most flexible and can probably cut driving time to 3.5 hours to the tulou area from Xiamen, and no need to find local transport once in the tulou villages area. The best option, but costly at about RMB 1500+ for the day. As a budget soloist, out of the question for me.

This is where a self-driven rental car would have been much more economical. Daily rates with 1hai.cn from XMN are less than RMB200.

When I visited Hukeng a couple of weeks ago, the last 50-100km were atrocious as it was a single carriageway filled with coal trucks struggling to make those steep climbs. However, I did see viaduct construction and apparently a motorway will open by the end of 2012 to Yongding county (which is still quite a distance from the tulous).

I’m not sure how private cars would route, but a query of random people in the area led me to believe that it’s pretty much the same situation, as other routes circumventing the Zhangzhou sprawl take longer due to increased distance.

I took the route given by Google:

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?saddr=XMN,+Xiamen,+Fujian,+China&daddr=Hukengzhen,+Yongding,+Longyan,+Fujian,+China&hl=en&ll=24.680713,117.524872&spn=1.081859,1.874542&sll=24.67432,117.512675&sspn=1.081913,1.874542&geocode=FSJedgEdyo0KByGmvmFcZ3FW_A%3BFYkSeAEdOYr4B ilPnn2hRbIWNDH5Ob2EXAIlgQ&vpsrc=0&mra=ls&t=m&z=10

Note that if approaching from Xiamen you also have the option of visiting tulous in Nanjing (南靖), which is apparently less developed and more authentic (I didn't go so I couldn't vouch for that but it is definitely closer to Xiamen than Hukeng).

I took the route given by Google:

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?saddr=XMN,+Xiamen,+Fujian,+China&daddr=Hukengzhen,+Yongding,+Longyan,+Fujian,+China&hl=en&ll=24.680713,117.524872&spn=1.081859,1.874542&sll=24.67432,117.512675&sspn=1.081913,1.874542&geocode=FSJedgEdyo0KByGmvmFcZ3FW_A%3BFYkSeAEdOYr4B ilPnn2hRbIWNDH5Ob2EXAIlgQ&vpsrc=0&mra=ls&t=m&z=10

Note that if approaching from Xiamen you also have the option of visiting tulous in Nanjing (南靖), which is apparently less developed and more authentic (I didn't go so I couldn't vouch for that but it is definitely closer to Xiamen than Hukeng).

Self-drive is only viable by a subset of residents/visitors willing and able to do so. I am not in that subset and I don't think most FT'ers are either. And regardless of cheap base rate, once you add in insurance and fuel, that all-in real price starts moving upward. And it doesn't solve the problem that as a self-driver, you don't know the village roads/back roads, which from what I saw, would be valuable knowledge that only a local would have.

Tauphi, the Tianluokeng Cluster that I went to IS in Nanjing County. Our bus went through Nanjing town on the way to Hukeng, and they are in the middle (you pass the TLK turnoff as you head for Hukeng). However, they are probably more accessible from Hukeng village than from Nanijing town due to road layout. Most of the tulou in Nanjing County are on the western edge, near border of Yongding County, so as a matter of logistics, everything takes pretty much the same amount of road time ex-Xiamen. And that is because the majority of the time-snarfing journey is getting through/around Zhangzhou sprawl, which is common to accessing any of the tulou.

On the route we took (which was on December 19, so 2 weeks ago also) to Hukeng, there were no coal trucks. In fact, I remember saying to myself how there were no trucks at all. After looking at the route you took on the Google map, yikes boy did you go the long way! You went way far northwest up that expressway before turning, oh my god. :eek: We turned off much much earlier out of Zhangzhou onto G319 and headed west via Nanjing town then Nankeng village on County Road 562, to where it meets Provincial road 309 then from there to Hukeng. Part of this route tracks a very pretty and pleasant river valley, and very little traffic once you get on the County Road (which is sealed and good quality). You go through two mountain tunnels (not long). That is currently a much better way to get to the tulou from Xiamen. Which brings me back to my point about no substitute for good local knowledge.

(Note: “Kinmen” is the Taiwanese name, also referred to on the mainland as “Jinmen” but in this post I’ll stick with Kinmen since the place is jurisdictionally Taiwanese, also most useful information on the internet comes with a search for “Kinmen”.)

Short Version: Kinmen is actually comprised of two small islands—Kinmen and Little Kinmen—which lie very close to the mainland coast off Xiamen. The old foreign-bestowed name was Quemoy, which readers who remember their 1950’s and 1960’s regional history will recall was the site of some rather nasty PRC-ROC military conflict. Previously accessible only by flight from Taiwan island itself, an international ferry service between Xiamen and Kinmen is in operation, and for the last 2-3 years has been open to foreigners. Kinmen remains a fairly low key place, and still with a significant military presence. I found it an unexpectedly interesting little place, with more to see than I’d allotted time for. Besides going for purely tourist reasons, Kinmen is also suitable for foreigners holding multiple entry Chinese visas, coming up against a duration of stay limit, and needing to exit the PRC and then re-enter—for which purpose it’s a lot cheaper than the standard Hong Kong turnaround. Finally, commercial air service (domestic Taiwan carriers) is available from Kinmen to Taipei, Kaohsiung, and other cities on Taiwan island, often at very inexpensive pricing, making Kinmen a little-known but very useful stepping stone to hop from mainland to Taiwan ‘through the back door.’

Long Version

Morning of December 20, I packed up everything at the Xiamen hotel and checked out, then taxiied over to Xiamen’s Internationl Ferry Terminal (colloquially known as “Dongdu”), arriving about 07:15 a.m. The terminal is pretty new, spacious and clean but a bit empty. Two banks of counters face the front door, and most seemed to be staffed by various travel agents, all offering the same thing at the same price. A few large mainlander tour groups were milling around. Picked a counter/agent at random, and found tickets for next boat at 08:00 were available, RMB 160 all-in. Very easy purchase, all you need are money and passport. The counter agent had me wait about 5 minutes while she took passport and cash to a back counter for photocopying of details, returning with the ticket/boarding pass. Walked through a brief ticket check/security entry, then put my bags through an xray machine (no WTMD for the humans), then a stop at PRC exit immigration to get stamped out (no queues), and to the waiting area all in less than 10 minutes. Boarding for these ferries generally starts about 20 minutes or so before sailing. Summary of experience: a heck of a lot less painful than going through an airport! Timing from exiting the taxi through terminal to boarding gate: 15 minutes!

About 20 of us not on tours boarded first—I was the only obvious foreigner, the others seemed to be Kinmen natives and some Taiwan businessmen heading back to Taipei or other cities.. There was no assigned seating on the boat, so I grabbed and hogged a nice set of three seats by a window. The PRC Chinese tour groups (of which there looked to be about 4 big groups of 40 each) boarded after that, and as most of them had no luggage, I assumed they were on a daytrip tour only. (Note that PRC passport holders cannot freely travel to Kinmen as independent travelers, they need to be holding local residency and some extra paperwork which is outside the scope of this post.) The ferry was more of a hovercraft/Turbocat type of service, similar to what you’d see on the HK-Macau route. This service takes almost exactly one hour to make the crossing to Kinmen. (There is also a slower 2-hour regular boat ferry that operates on some sailings, same price.) The boat is nice and clean, and has a small snack/drink bar on board. On the way, you pass some small little rock islands that you can still spot military bunkers. Then Little Kinmen Island comes into view and you pass that on the way to Big Kinmen and its ferry port of Shuitou. All in all, a very pleasant and painless passage.

Alighting at the Kinmen ferry port, it only takes about 10 minutes to get from the boat to the exit door of the terminal—more about process detail under the Immigration notes at end of the post. Just after Customs exit is a desk for the Kinmen Visitor’s Bureau. I went to the latter and got a couple of maps, bus schedules, other literature, and a recommendation or two for a cheap hotel in the main town of Kincheng (Mandarin = Jincheng), from the fellow manning the desk. Then, following his instruction, went out the door of the arrivals building and into the next building (departures) to the bank counters to change RMB to TWD (Taiwan New Dollars). Tip: Ferry port currency desks ONLY change RMB to TWD and vice-versa, no other foreign currencies. For that, you’d need to go to a bank in town. This departures building is also where you buy Kinmen->Xiamen ferry tickets for the return, to either Dongdu port (SW side of Xiamen) or to Wutong port (NE side closer to airport). They told me things aren’t ever sold out, so show up to buy a ticket about 30 minutes in advance of the sailing I wanted. Took note of sailing schedules and went back out front.

Metered taxis that queue up right in front of the arrivals building are generally heading directly for the Kinmen airport—kind of like a shuttle service. I saw a number of those Taiwan businessmen doing just that. For heading to Kincheng and other towns, I was pointed to the taxis on the other side of the street, facing the opposite directions. Also the bus stop—the #7 buses go from ferry port to town. My lady taxi driver was very amiable and suggested an alternative hotel for a price I wanted, told her I’d be willing to take a look, so she called over and they confirmed a vacancy. Took less than 10 minutes to get from ferry port to town and after meeting the proprietor, looking at the room, I signed on, then paid off the taxi driver lady who had parked the taxi and come inside to chat a bit. Everybody seems really relaxed and unsuspicious here, not big-city types at all. Since I wanted a room with internet and only some of their rooms were equipped, I had to wait a couple of hours to check in while they prepped and cleaned my room-to-be. Felt OK about leaving my stuff behind the desk and headed out to explore Kincheng town. By now it was about 10:00.

Kincheng is the main town on Kinmen island, and you can walk across it in about 15 minutes. I got my bearings from one of the Visitor Center maps (in Chinese only but really accurate and easy-to-follow even for the non-reader). They have points of interest marked and a suggested walking route to follow, which I did, sort of. Small temples, the old military headquarters (now a museum), market area, some old, empty and decaying once-proud European-style houses, some old traditional Kinmen-style houses—some occupied and some tumbledown. Lots of little gems. In my wanderings, a group of lovely kids from the local Catholic school were dressed up as Santa Clauses, angels, snowflakes, etc. and accompanied by parents and teachers, were walking the streets of Kincheng singing Christmas carols. Something definitely not allowed on public streets in the PRC! They grinned at me and one of the teachers gave me a balloon as I was snapping pictures of their little parade.

I then went to the bus station, which has a civil defense museum and entry with guided tour into the Tunnel System underneath the town, still functional. The museum was interesting for a short look-see, but unfortunately the tunnel tour is closed until late January, 2012. Went back downstairs to the Visitors Center desk for a chat and a rundown of the bus schedules. There are public buses with standard routes, and there are also four tourist hop-on, hop-off bus routes running on set timetables. Also got information on their bicycle rentals—which are free, just need a passport or TWD 1000 deposit. It was a pretty nice day, so they helped me plan out a suggested route and I told them I’d be back at 13:30 after lunch. Did a little more exploring on my way back to the hotel, then checked in.

General observations I’d made within the first 3 hours of being on Kinmen:

1) It’s helpful to speak at least basic Chinese phrases, there don’t seem to be a lot of English speakers around.
2) I can understand their Mandarin! Though the native dialect is also southern Min similar to the adjacent areas of the PRC, the Mandarin spoken here is much more understandable than spoken by the Fujianese. I was grateful, since I was struggling a bit over in Quanzhou and Xiamen to understand their lousy pronunciation.
3) Clean air! Nice and ocean fresh, as Kinmen doesn’t have much in the way of polluting enterprises. Also, Kinmen is known to be quite windy at times. Overall, just a nice semi-tropical feeling. When I was there temperature was about 20º + although the natives assured me they thought it was a bit cool.
4) No honking horns! The noise level just goes way down vs the PRC.
5) No entry fees! With one exception I was to encounter the next day, you can freely wander in and out most of the island’s tourist attractions without getting dinged at every turn. When I mentioned this to one of the Visitors’ Bureau staffers, they seemed very proud of this policy and even said “we’re not like the mainlanders.” Heh.
6) They love tourists! Well at least I felt that as an independent foreigner, they were welcoming and decently user-friendly. To date, most of Kinmen’s independent tourists are from Taiwan, though a few foreigners straggle through. The PRC visitors are nearly all tour groupies and get bused around to places without a lot of contact with the Kinmen natives. All public transport nexuses (nexii?) such as airport, ferry port, bus stations, and even certain key tourist locations, have information desks staffed with literature and people willing to help. However, an English speaker may not always be on duty, but be patient and they’ll help you out.


*****

Ferry Timings

Double check schedules as they can adjust a bit. Also ask whether vessel will be the fast or the slow. The fast vessel takes about half the time, but passengers are closed in and picture taking is not as good. The slow vessel has passenger access to open air areas. My understanding is that there are more fast than slow vessel sailings.

Xiamen Dongdu Port to Kinmen, 10 sailings per day, hourly sailings currently from 08:00 to 17:00. Fast boat will take one hour, slow boat two hours. Kinmen to Xiamen Dongdu, 10 sailings, hourly 08:30 to 17:30.

Xiamen Wutong Port to Kinmen, 7 sailings per day between 08:30 and 17:30. Shorter over-water, about 45 minutes on fast boat, 1.5 hours on slow. This port is useful if you are arriving in Xiamen by air and want to head to Kinmen without going into Xiamen central city. Kinmen to Wutong, similar time frames.

Cost from Xiamen: RMB 160 all-in. Cost from Kinmen: TWD 750 all-in

(Note: Information on Immigration/Customs is at the end of this post)

After checking in to the room, dumping my stuff, and having a walking snack-lunch, headed back to the Bus Station Visitors Center to get my bicycle and suggestions for my route. I wanted to see the Shuitou Village with the traditional and European architecture, then the Zhaishan Tunnel, then an interesting pedal back to town past the Juguang Tower. Based on what I’d seen on the drive in, looked like about a 3-hour excursion for a reasonably decent cyclist, though the staff thought it would take longer. Hmm. Off I went. Kinmen roads are not heavily traveled, and are wide enough for cyclists to share. In fact, Kinmen also has some very nice dedicated bike paths which are marked on the standard maps of the island, and are also signposted. Kinmen is NOT flat, contrary to what the natives think, and you realize this when pedaling a bike, even a geared 10-speed like the rental. The natives mostly ride scooters which make the rolling terrain easier to traverse, but I was too chicken to try. However, nothing too steep and easily manageable by somebody of average fitness—you don’t have to be training for the Tour de France to manage a Kinmen self-pedal. The rental bikes are also kept in good shape and have good brakes.

As I figured, the Center staff’s predictions of bicycle travel time was way overblown—their warnings of 30 minutes for pedaling segments became my 15-20 minutes, so I had more time than I expected to stop and poke around my targets. Shuitou Village was really interesting, and I had the place mostly to myself. Highly recommended by me—spent about an hour there. The Deyue Tower has an interesting museum of Kinmen-SE Asia connections. After that, rather than take the main road to Zhaishan Tunnel, I took the map’s bike path which kept off the main road for most of the way. Very pleasant, although you skirt military areas that are off-limits. Arrows painted on the bike path pavement tell you where to turn, a nice touch. Zhaishan Tunnel is this James Bond movie-type place where ships and submarines could be brought in from the sea and protected by the solid rock. It’s pretty cool, considering I hadn’t seen anything like this before. Only takes about 20 minutes total to get in/out. Also recommended.

Then back on the bike and time for experimentation with a route that looked interesting, small villages down minor roads and then a bike path. For the next 30 minutes or so, it was a hoot and mostly downhill. Nice place to enjoy the great outdoors. Then I came to a major road and decided I was lost. Pulled up in a corner lot to ponder my map. A driver with a huge and empty tour bus pulled up next to me and asked (Mandarin) if I was lost (yes!) asked for my map and pointed out where I was, then asked where I was heading, and pointed down the road and told me the way to go. He grinned and then he was off. Wow. Little things like this were really starting to make me love this place. Got to Juguang Tower for a quick look around about 16:30, which didn’t take long—OK for a quick picture stop but I wasn’t that enthralled. Then back to Kincheng to return the bike, just before they closed at 17:00. And recovered my deposit.

Went to a restaurant that I’d passed earlier in the day and had some delicious fresh seafood, at reasonable prices. Turns out the owner was a Kinmen native who had spent time not only on Taiwan island but also a few years in the USA, so he spoke great English. Kincheng town didn’t seem overly blessed with restaurants besides dives and snack bars, so I was glad to find this one. And the vegetable side dishes tasted like they’d just been picked from the garden—yum! (Earlier that day I’d noticed that the local vegetables in the Kincheng market looked like very good quality.) Then back to hotel for winding down. Though tiring, it was actually quite a refreshing day and felt completely in another world from the PRC--even strikingly different from nearby Fujian.

The following day I was up fairly early and tried a scooter, which is probably the ideal form of transport for the tourist to get around Kinmen island with efficiency. But I was just too scared and didn’t want to learn in real-time. So I decided to skip the stress, scrap that plan and head back to Bus Station and take the bus to Qionglin Village, which has another huge repository of good old Kinmen architecture as well as a nest of civil defense tunnels. Staff helped me with the right bus. Took about 15 minutes to get there, and right at the bus stop is a nice tourist sign with map of village and walking route—took a photo for reference and then went inside this museum-looking building to find a restroom. Turns out not only did they have a restroom, but it was the entrance to the optional self-walk through civil defense tunnel. I had to sign the guest book and pay TWD 10 (my only entrance fee on the island), then he pointed me down the stairs and said it would take about 10-15 minutes to get to the other end/exit. Which was about right. I must have walked about a kilometer down this endless carved-out-of-rock tunnel that was less than a meter wide. I was the only one down there and it was slightly creepy (though well lit). Hard to imagine that about 50 years ago, the locals were huddling down there while the PRC army was lobbing shells their way. Finally got to the end and popped up at this bunker-type exit—the kind of place that you wouldn’t give a second glance at if you were just passing by the road.

Then back into the adjacent village for a couple of hours of roaming, looking at some very nice traditional architecture. Took another passing bus about 10-15 minutes to the “second town” of Kinmen—Shanwai, whose bus station also has a Visitors Center and bike rental shop. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to do more than quickly look around Shanwai (which seems livelier than Kincheng, relatively speaking) then had to take a bus back to Kincheng to check out of hotel and head to ferry port. But first buying my main souvenir: PEANUT CANDY. It is every bit as good as the FT poster mentioned upthread. Yummmmm. While I wasn’t interested in the Kaoliang liquor, one of those Master Wu’s chef’s knives made out of old bomb casings would have been great, but I waffled and decided to wait until next visit.

Managed to get a taxi from near the hotel to ferry port, and at 12:10 walked into the departure building and got a ticket for the 12:30 boat back to Xiamen Dongdu, changed the remained TWD back to RMB, then quickly through Taiwan exit immigration and customs, and right onto the boat. This time, there were maybe only about 40 people on a boat for 200, so it was nice and roomy. The PRC daytrip tours would likely be taking one of the last boats back. Trip back actually took under an hour, then PRC re-entry and Customs was again, quick and painless and about 30 hours after setting out from Xiamen, I was back again with a fresh duration of stay.

I Played Kinmen All Wrong

It was apparent by the end of my brief stay, that I had not done the best job I could of at optimizing my time. It would have been less frustrating if I’d taken an immediate dislike to Kinmen or found it boredom-city...but instead I’d ended up hungry for more and unsatisfied. In doing my advance research on Kinmen, which wasn’t too extensive, I kind of assumed it wouldn’t have too much of interest and I’d get bored and ready to move on after a day. Boo to me—I should have spent more time doing homework, even though good information on Kinmen is surprisingly hard to get your head around. That was mistake #1. Mistake #2 was not figuring out better transportation. In retrospect, I should have either (a) found a way to practice a scooter in advance so I would have felt comfortable enough to rent one upon first arriving; OR (b) had a car rental pre-arranged at the airport, then just taxied from ferry to airport to pick it up. Cars I can do, and the cost of a day’s rental would have been worth it. What either of those options would have allowed was to cover more of the island in the time I did have. While Kinmen has a decent bus system for part of the island, the northern part is not as well served, and for most bus routes, route timings aren’t necessarily good if trying to see a lot quickly. I only managed to see about 1/3 of Greater Kinmen Island, and nothing at all of Little Kinmen. So I have resolved to return and with better understanding of the layout of the island and the logistics, will do a more credible job of it.

Cost of Kinmen Excursion

Ex-Xiamen Dongdu Ferry Port, I spent a total of RMB 160 (outbound ticket) + TWD 3,276 which in USD is about $133. Breakdown in USD equivalent was:
Round-trip ferry tickets: $50
Local Kinmen transport: $15 (taxis and buses)
Accommodation: $33 (one night)
Food, Snacks, Drinks, Misc: $35

******

Note: Immigration/Customs for Taiwan and PRC:

Your passport will be checked and for most developed nations, Taiwan does not require a visa for visits of less than 30 or 90 days (depends on your country), which makes Kinmen an easy and uncomplicated trip. Ditto for certain other Asian passport holders who also hold permanent residency in a First World country, but some advance prep is needed. If your passport country is one for which Taiwan requires a visa, you’ll need to have this in your passport before you hit the ticket purchase counter, or be eligible for visa-on-arrival at Kinmen. Your PRC visa will also be checked—mine is a multiple-entry so there were no questions posed about my onward plans after Kinmen. However, if you are on a single-entry PRC visa (or 2nd entry of a double-entry) and thus will have no valid way to return to the PRC, you may get questioned about your onward plans, for which the only rational response is “am flying on from Kinmen to Taipei (or other city) and then home from there.” Note that if you leave the PRC with a visa that will become null and void upon exiting, you cannot get a new one on Kinmen or anywhere else in Taiwan. You would either have to hole up in Taiwan and have your passport couriered back to a visa agent in your home country, or you’d return via HKG, BKK, or elsewhere, and get a new Chinese visa there. Also note that Chinese citizens may not enter Taiwan this way unless they hold proper exit and re-entry permission (individuals) or are on escorted group tours. Just before PRC exit immigration at the Xiamen terminal, there are plenty of blank departure cards, in case you lost/misplaced the one given back to you on your previous PRC entry.

Once you reach Kinmen terminal (which is the port of Shuitou), follow the signs to the entry immigration area. To one side are some desks with Taiwan entry forms. They are short and straightforward to fill out. The officers do want to see an address on Kinmen if you are staying overnight, so have the name of one ready to fill in. I used “Haifu Hotel” which is one of the better ones on Kinmen even though I had no reservation or intention of staying there. I believe there is a desk for visa-on-arrival, if one is eligible for this. Queues are short, but if your ferry has a lot of PRC tour groups (usually the first and/or second sailing of the day), get off the boat and to immigration quickly, which isn’t difficult. Once you pass immigration, you can head to the exit if you just have carry bags, or pick up luggage with your claim check if you used baggage service. Customs is fairly innocuous with Green/Red channels. They didn’t seem to be stopping anybody when I went through.

In the opposite direction, the ticket desk at Kinmen departure building will want to check the PRC visa in your passport, then issuing a ticket takes only a minute or so. Taiwan immigration will stamp you out, security is completely painless on your way to the boarding gate. Once back at Xiamen Dongdu port, enter the arrival terminal and head straight ahead. There are yellow standard PRC arrival/departure cards on the counter before the immigration officer desks. Try to remember the name of your boat! There is also a visa-on-arrival counter off to the left, and I saw ethnic Chinese heading there, who I assumed to be Taiwanese and needing to complete paperwork for their PRC entry permit. Chinese immigration had short to zero queues, and Customs is similarly low-key, though the officers might look for people bringing large quantities of duty-free liquor through (Kaoliang is a popular purchase for Chinese tourists on Kinmen.) For the obvious foreigner, passage through entry Chinese immigration/Customs at the Dongdu ferry port is similar to arrival by air, but with no queues is comparatively quick and painless. From Kinmen, there are also sailings to a second Xiamen port, that of Wutong on the north edge of the island towards the airport. I do not know PRC exit/entry procedures at that facility, but assume they are similar to those of the Dongdu port. From the boat through PRC incoming formalities to the taxi queue, I think it took about 15 minutes total and most of that was walking, not queueing.

Short Version: Gulangyu is a small island accessible from Xiamen by a 5-minute ferry ride, part of the city politically yet a world of its own. Formerly the enclave for the foreign community, Gulangyu retains a large percentage of its colonial architecture and ambiance. An island with a long musical tradition, it is also unique in that no motorized vehicles, scooters, or bicycles are allowed. This means that meaningful exploration must be done mostly by walking, and as Gulangyu is hilly, bring stout legs. Exploring Gulangyu in-depth requires a full daytrip from the main city, or an overnight stay bracketing a couple of days or part-days.

Long Version

From Kinmen, I landed at the Dongdu International Ferry Port at 13:25, and was through Chinese Immigration, Customs, in a taxi, and to the very central Lundu Pier for the Gulangyu ferries by 13:50. This pier is on the waterfront near the Liujiang Riverfront and Wyndham Hotels. (Note: A new Gulangyu ferry port is under construction, I believe it is at the BRT light rail station terminus. It supposedly will become operational August 2012, with the existing pier to be run concurrently for a couple of more years.) Ticket booths are clearly visible at the pier, and a roundtrip costs RMB 8, for which you’ll receive a scannable round token. Just missed the ferry heading over, so a brief wait for the next one, and I was on Gulangyu Island at 14:10. I had purposely scheduled the Gulangyu day for a non-weekend, as I knew that on the weekends, the place was incredibly popular with local Xiamen folks and other regional visitors. Nevertheless, on this Wednesday the boat over was surprisingly crowded with Chinese tourists, both groups and individuals. When we landed, I let the throng pile off and then with gear in tow, exited nearly last. I had a Chinese map of Gulangyu on my Xiamen city map and knew where I was going, sort of. It was a surprisingly long walk to the small hotel I had booked—about 20 minutes from the pier, and with a couple of confusing forks in the road (set on the right path by questions to passing local) I found the place.

It is a Jiejie Given that every trip will have one hotel that turns out to be a mistake and needs an emergency change. And on this last hotel night of the journey, this was that mistake. As I approached the hotel, I could see construction debris out front and smell the intense odor of high-VOC oil paint. Oy, what timing! They were making improvements in the hotel, which was accessed by a steep flight of stairs. When the building’s resident ground floor Public Security lady saw me staring upwards in dismay, she came out to ask me what’s what, I told her that no way was I even going to go up to see the room, that I couldn’t breathe those fumes. She understood and got on her phone and called upstairs to let them know that I wasn’t going to be using the reservation and would be heading off—saving me the trouble. As my reservation was booked through sinohotel and guaranteed by credit card that would be charged for no-show, I fished for their number to call and to have them cancel this and find a new hotel when I found....NO SINOHOTEL PHONE NUMBER. :eek:

After preaching on this forum to all and sundry about the necessity to take these hotel phone numbers with you, I somehow had misplaced that of the booking agent, and stupidly hadn’t yet programmed it into my phone. Administered this trip’s only Duh! Head-Slap for Stupidity to myself, I made emergency SMS’s to Ambassador moondog and another friend asking for lookups and dispatch of sinohotel phone (Thank You again!), then picked up stuff and got moving down the road back to the central area, where I’d passed two small hotels on the way. First one was OK but wanted too much money for the offering, but the second one—the “Siyu Coffee Hotel”--was very cute and clean and priced right....and much closer to pier and not up a steep hill. Got registered quickly, and put stuff in room. By then had sinohotel’s number and called them to explain the situation and to cancel the first hotel, only to find that they’d already received a call from the hotel itself with apology for not notifying about the construction, and had of their own volition cancelled the reservation with no charge to my credit card. This was pleasing. ^ This kerfuffle cost me an hour of sightseeing time, but around 15:30 I set out to look around.

Decided to use what was left of the daylight to explore the area east and south of the wharf, ending up at sundown back in the central area with the shops, market, most restaurants, etc. So headed to the Visitors Center near the wharf to purchase what I thought would be a better map—cute for souvenir purposes but ended up being more than useless for navigation. Grrrr. Passed the little electric trams which are the only way tourists can get around the island by means other than on foot. The standard trams don’t go everywhere, but are on circuit routes that make a select few stops. And they are quite expensive—RMB 30 – 50 depending on exit point. Saw some separate touring trams that can be privately hired in time increments I believe....and I didn’t check but shudder to think of the cost. Walked along the waterfront to the big imposing statue of Koxinga, then cut inland and upwards to a lovely wooded area with old villas, then back to a secondary commercial area clustered around the sports field. Was heading to the south coast of the island but somehow got totally turned around and ended up in the opposite direction. But lots and lots of atmosphere wherever you went. I did not go into any official attractions such as the Aviary, Sunlight Rock, etc since it was pretty late in the day and I wanted to get a better feel for the island by walking around, poking my nose into cafes and shops, etc. Ended up heading back to the main restaurant/commercial area around 17:30 and getting something to eat. I could see a lot of the locals hanging around for dinner, then heading back to Xiamen city. Most of the Chinese tour groups seem to go back in late afternoon also. So in the evening, the number of visitors to the island progressively dwindles and things get quieter...well, theoretically at least.

I only had the next morning until 10:30 to continue looking around, as I figured I needed to ferry off the island around 11:00 in order to get to the rail station and catch a 13:30 train to Fuzhou to connect with my Beijing-bound train. So I was up early and out by 07:30 to explore---this time heading to the north part of Gulangyu where the old US Consulate used to be. This area turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the island, some really nice villas and very quiet and atmospheric, lots of mature trees. The US Consulate grounds are sizeable but the place is deserted—I have heard that local tourist authorities are planning to refurbish many of the old diplomatic missions and open them to tourism. I noticed a smaller, secondary pier which was receiving ferry boats from Xiamen main city, but not sure what the route or timing is for those—would be much more convenient for those coming for overnight and staying in this part of Gulangyu. Then walked in the area of the Organ Museum (musical instrument, not human!), followed by getting pleasantly lost in the “upper highlands” as I decided to call it—since it seemed to be one of the steepest parts I’d encountered. Also noted that Gulangyu residents, even the senior citizens, must have legs of iron, since they do these walks daily. It is absolutely true that there are a lot of musicians on this island, and I frequently heard pianos (and a few more instruments) being played as I meandered through Gulangyu.

Having failed the previous day with p!ss poor navigation, I was determined to get down to the south coast by Gangzaihou beach, and finally figured out how to get there. Managed to find a gorgeous path that went through Xiamen University’s specialty plant research areas, completely away from the tourists. Ended up down at the beach....well a strip of sand, anyway. Completely deserted at this time of morning, but the spectre of multiple cargo ships in the distance heading between Xiamen port and open sea was eye-opening. Next headed east through the tunnel that goes under the hill with the Aviary on the top. On the other side, found some upscale-looking waterfront hotels which might make for a pleasant stay...though they are a long walk from anything. I was running out of time so did not have time for the Piano Museum which I was rather interested in. Passed the Gulangyu Concert Hall which looked pretty impressive for a tiny community—made a note to do the Museum and get to a concert on a return visit someday. Back to my hotel at 10:30 to toss things in the bag and check out. Back to Gulangyu pier at 11:00 for next ferry out.

General Thoughts on Gulangyu

1) Definite must-see if in the Xiamen area, probably one of the highest priorities.

2) A good exploration of the island can be done in a full day, particularly if you are a walker or hiker and aren’t too fussed about hills. So the strategy of a daytrip out of Xiamen city itself is viable. I recommend getting an early start and getting a Gulangyu-bound ferry about 07:30 then coming back after a seafood dinner on the island. Advantage of this strategy is you can leave your stuff in your Xiamen hotel and come unencumbered. Also, lodging on Gulangyu for what you get, is higher-priced than in similar in Xiamen proper. There aren’t any international branded hotels on Gulangyu but there are a bunch of boutique ones. However, most lodging is adequate but not swanky. For my next visit, I will daytrip over rather than stay.

3) There are proponents of staying overnight on Gulangyu for atmosphere, peace, and quiet, and this is what I came for. The reality though, can be different. Unless you stay in a remote part of the island, there are enough restaurants that attract noisy patrons until 23:00 and later (in my case, a group of obnoxiously noisy Taiwanese). Also, in the early morning beginning around 05:00-07:00, you’ll hear the Cart Guys. Hand pulled carts are how most goods brought to Gulangyu get distributed, and of course early morning is prime stock-up time. The sound of the cards going over the cobblestone streets is quaint but not particularly soothing. Just be forewarned. I’ve heard of some people staying for days on Gulangyu, but I found that one day/night was enough. For me, more than that and Gulangyu would have gotten a bit insular and claustrophobic. It’s definitely a drag schlepping your own luggage from pier to hotel and back, but you (or the hotel) can hire the cart guys to do it. Be very clear when you make a booking, on how far it is and whether uphill or downhill, particularly if your mobility isn’t 100%. I believe a few of the upper end hotels that are a bit distant can arrange an electric cart, check when you make a booking.

4) The locally-available maps I found of this island suck for navigation—they look more like artist-drawn mementos and are incomplete, out of scale, and misleading in depiction. Truly, I couldn’t find anything that worked well or that also had pinyin rather than just characters. And it’s easy to get lost when walking around. This isn’t such a tragedy in itself, as eventually you’ll find your way back to the wharf, or landmark or something. But it’s annoying to waste good physical effort slogging for 15 minutes up a hill in one direction, only to realize you’ve wasted that effort and need to expend yet more effort slogging up a different hill. My advice is in advance of a visit is to use the internet to try to locate some decent Gulangyu street maps, to scale, and with pinyin labelling.

5) I know it seems against the laws of physics, but there seemed to be many more uphill walks in Gulangyu than downhills. :D

6) Certain roads are lovely to walk with mature trees and all that, even in winter, but also have little to see besides high privacy walls. Frustrating to me, as I KNOW there must be something incredible behind there. (Forbidden Fruit Syndrome) Happily, there are enough Gulangyu streets where visibility is not restricted, so one can find plenty of gawking subjects and camera moments.

7) Entry fees: A bit steep, as is everything on this touristy place. A package ticket is offered that encompasses several sights, and is probably worth doing if you are interested in everything included. Individual tickets are also available if you are selectively interested. Again, do some advance internet research on the various sites and also try to find feedback and reviews from foreigners. IMO, some of these attractions are Wow! factor mostly to Chinese, ho-hum to foreigners. That said, the main draw of Gulangyu is the general atmosphere you get from walking around and exploring, and that can be had for the RMB 8 price of the ferry ticket.

8) Lots of enticing little cafes and galleries, but be prepared to pay a bit more than usual. And lots of fresh seafood restaurants—pick what you want swimming around in the tubs and they’ll cook it for you Just make sure before you purchase/sit down, that you come to a clear agreement on what the final price will be—and get it written down so there are no surprises when the check comes.

9) Ferry schedule: They start running between Xiamen and Gulangyu between 05:45 and 06:00, at about 07:30 they start running every 10 minutes and basically that continues through about 20:00. Service continues until around midnight, but after 21:00, ferries are about every 20 minutes apart and then only one or two after 23:00. So for those coming/going or daytripping, you've got a lot of flexibility.

From the Xiamen side of the Gulangyu ferry, tons of taxis await. I grabbed one to the train station and arrived at 11:30, far more quickly than expected. I played this too safe—depriving myself of an extra hour in Gulangyu which would have been enough to see the Piano Museum. So for benefit of other readers for time estimating purposes: from Gulangyu side of Ferry Port to Xiamen Main Rail Station, allow 30 minutes (40 in rush hour). From same to Xiamen airport, allow 50 minutes (60 in rush hour). Taxis actually bypass the central city and use a much faster tunnel route to head north on Xiamen island. I killed a bit of time in the Xiamen Rail station before boarding my train to Fuzhou (ticket prepurchased 10 days earlier in Beijing), pleasant trip on the D fast train, then time for a late lunch at the Fuzhou train station before boarding the Z60 overnight express to Beijing (also prepurchased in Beijing).

Train back was quite nice—my hard sleeper carriage was only about 3/4 full and the middle bunk across from me was empty. Unlike the usual rowdy chatting, laughing, and eating you get in the first hours of hard sleeper travel, this 17:00 departure was sedate. By 18:00 people were either reading, napping, or quietly talking. A carriage of librarians—yes! And no screaming kids, no smokers on this one. Actually got some decent sleep prior to reaching BJ. This is a good train to travel between BJ and Fujian. Arrived on time at Beijing West at just after 12:30 lunchtime.


Hotels

As is my custom, I used hotels with private room (usually a double) and bath, generally simple but clean and comfortable. All had 24-hour hot water, TV (generally Chinese only) and free internet. Cost per night all-in and paid at hotel on arrival.
--Quanzhou x 1 night—Jinjiang Inn North Wenling Road (RMB 179) This is a chain, urban motel-style, that I have had good luck with.. Booked in advance through sinohotel.com
--Xiamen x 2 —Elan Hotel (renaming to City Inn) (RMB 277). Booked in advance through ctrip.com. I liked the central location of this hotel but I did not like the room I was given, I felt I was given a shabby, unrenovated room which was not worth the money, and I will be complaining to ctrip. Had I not sprained my shoulder/back, I would have walked around and found another place.
--Kinmen Island x 1—Jindi Business Hotel (TWD 1000) Walk-in. Was OK, traded off one of their bigger corner rooms in favor of a smaller one with internet. Bathroom the open shower Chinese type. Probably would choose another place next time.
--Xiamen Gulangyu x 1---Sifu Coffee Hotel (RMB 200). Walk-in. This was a replacement for the original reservation of Qicai Linglongge Inn via sinohotel—the property that had a bit too much improvement going on. The Sifu is a cute little place that’s well-located above it’s own cafe/restaurant, very friendly. My pleasant front-facing room was a bit noisy at night and at dawn though.

Total of 5 nights in hotels, bracketed by overnight train sleeper night each side.

On this itinerary, only Xiamen is stayable in international hotels and/or on points. Not sure if Quanzhou has anything (maybe a Holiday Inn) and Yongding and Kinmen definitely are small family-run places only. It would be theoretically possibly to replicate much of this itinerary coverage by staying only in Xiamen and then daytripping, one day each for Quanzhou, Yongding, Gulangyu, and Kinmen. Although as already described, Yongding tulou visits in particular are short-shrifted with no overnight, and Kinmen really begs for at least two days/one night there.


Cost Breakdown

I spent a total of about USD 650 for this Dec 16-Dec 23 trip, roughly as follows:

Intercity Travel Train, Bus, and International Ferry: 36%
Local Transportation: 13%
Accommodation: 28%
Food and Drink: 18%
Entry Fees: 3%
Miscel: 2%

Although I expected this to be quite different from the cost profiling of my Sichuan/Yunnan trip, in fact it was surprisingly similar (few entry fees on this trip, though). For a couple traveling and sharing accommodation and private car, following this exact trip the way I did it would have cost an incremental USD $400, as hotel, taxis, private car need not be duplicated.


Miscellaneous – Trip Pacing

From the outset, I had a feeling that I was cramming too much in, and that became quite apparent as I went from day to day. I’m normally a fairly fast-paced traveler and especially traveling solo. Not the “speed visit” type unless no other option, but I’m also not the relax-at-a-teahouse-all-day type either. But by trying to put five places (Quanzhou, Xiamen City, Xiamen Gulangyu, Yongding tulou, Kinmen Island) in one week, I didn’t feel I did any of them justice. To properly do this assortment of locations the way I’d like to have, even though they are in close geographic proximity, I needed another 3 days: 1/2 each for Quanzhou and Yongding, 1 for Xiamen, and 1 for Kinmen. And I’m sure I could have found a use for 2 more days on top of that! Conversely, I should have truncated something off the list, logically the tulou since they are more the outlier and hardest to access.

With China travel, it’s the classic quandary that both newbies and experienced hands find themselves in: how fast is too fast? At what point does trying to cover everything diminish the experience? Too many neat things to see, never enough time....

There are other parts of Fujian that get good reviews, particularly Wuyishan northwest of Fuzhou, which my train passed through but I did not have time for on this trip. I did not realize that western Fuzhou province is quite mountainous. Particularly for a late fall-to-early spring China trip, when much of the rest of China is cold but this area of the coast remains pleasant, little-heralded Fujian is worth consideration. Kinmen Island aside, it would be quite easy to spend 7-10 productive days on a Fujian trip.

As always, Jiejie’s rules of China travel remain in effect:
1) Always keep enough money on you. Cash.
2) Always have Plan B.

Comments and questions are fine. I am working now on getting photos uploaded to one of those photo forum places, and will do some links after I get down that learning curve.

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