Xiamen

Xiamen is a relatively small city (1-2 millions seems to be correct, by experience I trust Wikipedia more than Lonely Planet when it comes to figures) situated on the island previously known as Amoy on the Chinese southeastern coast. Many of the natives themselves say it's the best city in China and actually, it has recently been named the second most livable city in the country.

In many ways, Xiamen was different from the other places in China we had visited so far. It was a lot greener and also cleaner than in most other places. In some ways it felt more like a European city than a Chinese one. Contributing to that feel was surely the fact that both car horns and mopeds are banned in Xiamen. In other cities the drivers use their horns every five seconds and the mopeds are everywhere, this often leading to chaotic traffic situations. The horns really lose their purpose when you hear them everywhere and all the time.

When we arrived in Xiamen we made contact with Bill, a business companion of my father. He was really nice and we spent a lot of time with him. The first day, Bill took us to the office of his company. After he had showed us around there he gave us a lot of recommendations on what to do and what to see in and around Xiamen. We spent the rest of the day walking around in a rainforest-like park and visiting a temple area with very nice turtle-inhabited ponds and greenery surrounding it.

In the evening, Bill took us out for dinner. Xiamen is famous throughout China for its seafood and we went to a place that has to be one of the most exclusive seafood restaurants in the town (and in China). It's quite common in cheaper restaurants that they keep living fish and other sea animals in bowls to be able to serve it fresh. In this restaurant though, they had huge aquariums with turtles, oysters, shrimps, cancers, lobsters and all kinds of fish. Really impressive! Bill ordered a lot of different dishes for us and the meal was one of the best we've tasted so far.

After dinner, Bill showed us the "Swedish bar", a trendy place by the water which was actually run by a Swede. We got to talk to the owner and the moment he opened his mouth we could hear that 17 years in China hadn't changed his Stockholm-accent the slightest.

Our second day in Xiamen we spent on the island of Gulang Yu, a short ferryride from the city centre. It was nice to stroll around among the streets and along the beaches. The fact that the island was car free made it even more pleasant, but the fact that it was raining all day made it a little bit less pleasant. During the thunderstorm before noon, we were luckily inside visiting the Xiamen underwater world.

Our stay in Xiamen was short, but we got to see a lot of things and its difference from other places in China made it a much welcome break.

/Joel