We visited Xiamen over the May holidays and it was crazy! Didn't realise it was also China's golden week where all Chinese were given 4 days off. Anyway, decided to visit Xiamen to have a first hand experience of Fujian province - where my ancestors came from. My mental picture of laid back villages and filthy streets was totally wrong when I came face to face with a modern clean city bursting with colours and life!
But I must say the overall experience was less than perfect. You can imagine the crowds that we experienced at every nooks and corners. It was the May holidays and the in-country migration of local tourist was at its peak. Some of the places we visited include the Zhongshan shopping street, Hu Li Fort, Xiamen University, Nanputuo temple, Xiamen Railway Cultural Park, Cat Alley, Coffee Street, Gulangyu Island, etc. And at all these places, we were subjected to crowds pushing their ways around and screaming their heads off.
We also made a trip further out to Zhangzhou Nanjing where we visited the World Heritage sites Hakka Tianluokeng Tulou villages and the Yun Shui Yao ancient town (a town that existed since the Ming dynasty)... The sights were really interesting and the views were at times stunning.
But as I said, the crowds really dampened the whole experience, especially when the locals spoke loudly and their social habits are not what I am used to... nonetheless, the 5-day break was a good one - not just from the stress of work, but also from the terribly hot weather back in Singapore.
Looking forward to my next trip!
No comments:
Post a Comment