February 2018 feels doesn't feel like a world away, it feels like an eternity if I am completely honest with myself! During 2018's Chinese New Year celebrations, I took a flight down to Guangdong's Shenzhen City to be within a warmer climb within China's Mainland. Fujian's Xiamen City was also discovered after I stepped down from my China High Speed Train. 去吧!
Life in China second time around saw me arriving back into the Mainland in November 2017, I had to start again like everything was brand new. Without any Christmas holiday, I decided to keep things within the Mainland when Chinese Spring Festival came back around. That 2018 CNY trip within the Mainland would be my final one, I had plans to take things outside of China for the following year, that being 2019. Anyway, I jetted off from Beijing Capital Airport down to Shenzhen's Bao'An Airport and when I felt that warm air hit my face, well that was bliss! Beijing's wintery springtime had me freezing on a daily, Guangdong's warmer climbs had me feeling looked after! The first night had me relaxed, finding some Halal food near the hotel was a winner. The area around my 'Vienna Hotel' glowed in the nighttime with a laid back ember, the holidays had everybody on a 'homeward bound' flex, the city felt calm. Recharging for the next days adventure, I had much to see in the city of Shenzhen! I had a bit of drama, what was new?
Climbing to the top of 莲花山 (LianHuaShan) allowed me to see the 'Walt Disney' like statue of former leader, 扽小平 (DenXiaoPing) at the top of that 公园 (GongYuan/Park). The view from the highest point of the park had me looking at the a futuristic viewpoint with the Shenzhen Museum at the centre-point, one of my intended points to visit. The day did get a little crazy but after a little route-recalculation, everything seemed to normalise. The museums exhibits regarding the British period in the Canton interested me greatly, indeed it did. Getting down to the shores of the Shenzhen Bay had me feeling as if I had met with a sunshine moment. The freeze experienced in Beijing disappeared as I sipped on my fresh mango juice. Hopping over to the 'Overseas Chinese Town' allowed me to see a very quiet former factory complex, like many across China it stood as an artists community with galleries. Shenzhen had served up a lot to me during that first full day! Shaking off that shady business, I was ready for an early night. Exactly!
My second day in Shenzhen had me taking buses, almost crossing borderlines as finding out some serious truth! In 2016 for the same holiday period, I had took the train form Wuhan to Shenzhen in order to cross the land border at Shenzhen's 罗湖口岸 (LuoHu Border Point) over to Hong Kong. I was feeling clever, after my gorgeous Dim Sum breakfast at a nearby restaurant not far from my hotel, I boarded a bus that was bound for Shenzhen's Yantian District. My intended plan was to cross the border over to Hong Kong to buy some familiar HK imported brands along 中英街 (ZhongYingJie/Chinese English Street) but after my HK bestie, Kelly informed me that only residents of the respective districts could cross the border. It was an experience to say the very least, I later found out that only two of the borders between HK and the Mainland can be used by people who were not connected to the districts. With that plan dashed, I made my way back to the city to hatch another plan. S, Luo Huo gave me a flashback!
Needing some lunch, I headed back over to the around where I had my breakfast because something told me a Hong Kong Cantonese presence would lift my spirits. The informal restaurant that I chose had some UK favourites on their menu, I went for the Lasagne! My meal lifted me, it was warm and filling and that helped because the weather had taken a serious dip! The rain had poured nonstop all day, being on the southern tip of China's Guangdong Province, the humidity had caused a huge rainstorm. With evening drawing in, I had something to do before the sunset happened! To 华强北街 (HuaQiangBeiJie), being the electronics powerhouse in China, I wanted to at least see from the outside how those electronic superstores looked without every man and his dog present! Impressive it was from the outside! A quiet evening was definitely on the cards for me, with some CNY red packets in my WeChatPay wallet, I made use of that kindness to have a chilled meal with drinks. Shenzhen had served 'Eventfulness', baby!
Returning to 深圳北站 (Shenzhen North Station) was an actual mood for me, some two years before that 2018 date I had arrived there from Wuhan feeling nervous, really nervous. In my stride, me and my Starbucks drink boarded my Xiamen bound train with much anticipation! Some five hours later I found myself at a more than bustling Xiamen Station, it was practically heaving and alive with people traveling during the holidays. Checking into my 汉庭酒店 (HanTing Hotel) then allowed me to see why Xiamen would be so very busy during those days I had planned to stay there. Making my way down to the city's 中山路步行街 (ZhongShan Pedestrian Street) confirmed the bustling nature without question, my own eyes didn't deceive me! Sliding through the alley ways with the help of my 百度地图 APP, led me to Taiwan Snack Street. The offerings along that foodie street were tempting enough, my omelet wrap moment tasted like heaven! Oh, I had plans to visit Xiamen's Gulangyu Island, that would be interesting.
My island plans had to be scrapped, apparently the tickets had all sold out and frankly I wasn't going to waste anymore energy on it! Asking a parent from my then Kindergarten had to be done, the family hailed from Xiamen so that Mom was able to redirect me to several alternative sightseeing options. Scanning a MoBike, I made my way back to the Zhongshan Road area to catch a glimpse of the said island from a distant view. The Xiamen Botanical Gardens injected a much needed slice of calm into my life with all of the greenery and Chinese garden beauty. Shapowei Art District was about to save me, redeeming all qualities the cake that was enjoyed at 'CHELLO' was the right thing to do! That 'cake-stop' had me feeling brand new! Shapowei had me sorted for my pre-evening meal because I was done with early nights, of course Xiamen had a few drunken ideas for me to act upon! Being as busy as it was, Xiamen had me thinking about the following CNY. CNY 2019 outside of China? It was time to further spread my travel wings!
With a hangover that hurt like nobody's business, I ventured out of my hotel room to be at one with the growing crowds that kept building in Xiamen. It was like every man, woman and child had rocked up to spend their Chinese New Year government holiday in Xiamen, it was that busy! Ditching the bus, traffic had literally stopped me dead still, what was I going to do? I just wanted to find 南普陀寺 (South PuTuo Temple), after walking most of the way from the gridlocked bus, I was able to find the temple. Heaven needed to help me out, I was dealing with a roaring hangover and the largest holiday crowds that I had ever set my eyes upon! With some kind of holy spirit activated, I made my way around the gorgeous temple with the task in hand, I wasn't messing about! Getting what I needed done I stayed away from public transport, my final destination of the trip had to be Xiamen's 胡里山炮台 (HuliShan Cannon Fort) because I wanted to look out into the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait in one glance. Xiamen made it work! 行!
With the day done, I made my way back towards my Hanting Hotel but not before eating McDonald's out of its finest food! My Xiamen hangover needed a good meal before I could crawl into bed, I had a flight to catch the next day! My 2018 Chinese Spring Festival trip down to Guangdong and Fujian Provinces in China had me challenged but served at the same time. I had the immense opportunity to build upon that snatched encounter from 2016 in Shenzhen, she kept me on my toes for sure! Xiamen brought me back down to reality, it wasn't because I was a foreigner I had those issues, it was due to the city being crazy busy with holiday tourists all at the same time! The security within the Mainland during this time of year had me cocooned but not in an adventurous way, I owed it to myself to make plans for the next year to spend the CNY holiday outside of China to challenge myself further. I will return to Xiamen in the near future to see that Gulangyu Island, maybe outside of the CNY hysteria might be a better time? 非常感谢!
Next Stop... DPRK!
Joseph Harrison