Aug. 6, 2010
Shanghai
I spent the whole day checking out the World Expo (160 yuan) in Shanghai. Some of the most popular pavilions like those of Saudi Arabia, Japan, Korea, France, Switzerland, etc. took hours to get in and I definitely ignored them. The China Pavilion even needed reservation in advance therefore not on my list either. I spent over 2 hours checking out Africa Pavilion and spent quite some time in Central and South America Pavilion. These two continents are least visited by me. I also spent 50 minutes lining up to see an 8 minute 4D movie at the Angola Pavilion.
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| Suzhou River, Shanghai |
Aug. 7, 2010
Quanzhou
I arrived in Jinjiang by train from Shanghai in mid afternoon, took a minivan to Quanzhou and found a hotel near the bus station. Around 5 p.m., I took a local bus to the most famous site in Quanzhou city, the Kaiyuan Temple (10 yuan). The pagodas inside the temple are famous for their quake-resistance. Not too far from the temple is Zhuangyuan Street, another must-see in the city. I finished my day by some delicious beef noodle soup at a Shaxian Xiaochi restaurant.
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| A Pagoda at Kaiyuan Temple |
Aug. 8, 2010
Mount Qingyuan & Gulangyu
Mount Qingyuan (80 yuan) is in the suburb of Quanzhou and is within easy access by city bus. The mountain is not very high and the trails are (almost) well marked. It's some good hiking/climbing to Tianhu (Heaven Lake) where motorcycles can take you to some other parts of the mountain (including a viewpoint overlooking Quanzhou) as well as the city.
In the afternoon, I took the luxury bus to Xiamen (1.5 hours, 40 yuan) and visited the famous Gulangyu in Xiamen. Gulangyu is an island off Xiamen's main island and can be reached by boat (going there is free, coming back costs 8 yuan or 4 yuan in the evening). The boat runs 24 hours with different frequencies. Entrance fees only apply to certain parts of the island. Walking around the island is nice and free. There are many uniquely designed houses with gardens on the island and numerous cafes and specialty restaurants around. A quite relaxing trip.
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| Mount Qingyuan |
Aug. 9, 2010
Fujian Tulou
Fujian Tulou have been there for a long time but became popular recently after many of them were granted World Heritage sites and the Chinese president Hu Jintao paid a visit in February 2010. From Xiamen's Binhe Bus Station, there is a direct bus to Tianluokeng (in Nanjing county) at 8:30 a.m. in the morning. Before entering Tianluokeng, entrance fee (90 yuan, covering 3 sites in Nanjing) is charged. The bus arrived at the viewpoint around 11:30 a.m. The viewpoint has some good views of Tianluokeng's 5 tulou, also called “Four Dishes and One Soup”. Walking down I got into the biggest of the 5 tulou, Wenchang Building (oval shape), and had some delicious lunch there.
There are free shuttle buses between some of the tulou but they are very infrequent. I waited almost one hour to get on a bus (all other passengers are from a package tour) from Tianluokeng to Yuchang Building. Yuchang Building is famous for its irregular poles. Because of the possibility of collapsing, Yuchang Building is not a World Heritage site but it's very popular among Chinese tourists. Not too far from Yuchang Building is the picturesque Gangxia village. Many tourists stay here overnight. I instead hired a motorcycle to Gaotou (Gaobei) to see Yongding tulou.
Yongding tulou are generally bigger than their Nanjing counterparts and usually have some separate buildings inside the main building. I bought a combined ticket of Gaobei and Hongkeng tulou for 98 yuan. In Gaobei, Chengqi Building is the biggest of Yongding tulou and looks grand both outside and inside. 5 km away (motorcycle 10 yuan) in Hongkeng, there are a couple of tulou worth seeing: the round Zhencheng Building and Rusheng Building, the square Fuyu Building and the palace-like Kuiju Building - all within walking distance to each other.
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| Yuchang Building |
August 10, 2010
Dapu
There are numerous buses from Hongkeng to either Longyan or Yongding. I took one of them and got off at Qiling and caught another bus to Dapu in Guangdong Province.
About 20 minute walk from Dapu Bus Station is Taian Building, made by stones. Some say this is the origin of Fujian Tulou. You can have your own judgment.
From Dapu it's about 2 hours by bus to Meizhou (formerly Meixian), the capital of Hakka. Meizhou seems quite organized. The famous One Thousand Buddha Pagoda can be seen from many parts of the city.
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| Taian Building |
Overview
Southeast China is normally not a major destination for a trip to China. However, if you spend more time in the country, this is an area worth seeing, especially Fujian Tulou - not only because of the unique architecture, but also because of the friendliness of many people living there and the delicious food around.
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