Xiamen, China

We arrived at 7am. The temp was 14C, cloudy but dry. We took the shuttle bus to the dropping off point in Xiamen, a journey of only ten minutes. We passed some lovely gardens close to the waterfront. As Xiamen is sub tropical, although it did not feel like it, there were plenty of palms and other exotic plants. Firstly we headed into the shopping area, expecting to find traditional Chinese goods but, in fact, almost all the shops sell western products, which was disappointing as we wanted to buy a few traditional items of clothing to bring back with us. Having failed in our attempt, we walked to a ferry terminal to take the local ferry to Gulangyu Island, a very popular destination for the locals and visitors. The short journey cost the equivalent of .80p return. The boat was crammed full of, mainly, Chinese visitors but, amazingly, we began to talk to a man standing next to us with his bride and they were going to have their photographs taken on the island. He spoke excellent English but she spoke none at all. Gulangyu Island does not allow any motorised vehicles except golf buggies, so most people just walk. We walked for a long time along narrow lanes between shops and houses until we stopped at the Cezanne cafe, where Erica had a coffee and I had a very large glass of green tea. Nobody spoke English but we managed. The owner very kindly gave us two postcards of the cafe to take home with us. We returned on the ferry, braving the scrum, and headed back for the ship on the shuttle bus. A very good day.Read more