Last weekend, I went with my co-workers to a town 3.5 hours away by train to the west, on the coast looking out towards Taiwan. We had a great hotpot dinner full of Sichuan peppers. We walked around the small streets and saw lots of interesting and fun things being sold - bugs in jelly, amazing mango, coconut milk, Taiwanese cakes with pineapple inside, seafood on sticks and oysters.
The next day, we took a 30-minute ferry to Gulangyu, an island just off Xiamen. It was full of 19th and early 20th century mansions built by "overseas Chinese", Chinese people who had gone abroad to work and make money. Now, it has a very pleasant look of decay and banyan trees and moss. It reminded me of Charleston.
There were lovely streets with tea shops and interesting things to buy and eat, such as buns filled with custard or rose apples or passion fruits stuck with straws to drink. The local noodle soup dish tasted of peanuts. I had sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf a few times. My Chinese friends were happy to see a local drink of black grass jelly in a cup with soft fruits, raisins, nuts and milk tea, with rose petals on top. You can refill for free all over the island.
Apparently, when you travel by train in China, you eat duck neck. It is sold in plastic at all the stations.
It was a really nice weekend, seeing another part of China. It was a touristy place (for Chinese people - almost no other foreigners to be seen the whole trip), but boy were there a lot of people everywhere. No quiet spots. I did find a tea shop that looked a bit European and I sat there for a half an hour having a cappucino once. I think I needed a little non-Chinese for a moment. It can be overwhelming, but also very interesting and tasty. They really do know how to eat.
The next day, we took a 30-minute ferry to Gulangyu, an island just off Xiamen. It was full of 19th and early 20th century mansions built by "overseas Chinese", Chinese people who had gone abroad to work and make money. Now, it has a very pleasant look of decay and banyan trees and moss. It reminded me of Charleston.
This is the little tea shop I went to.
Some congee with seafood we had one morning.
an example of the mansions all over the island of Gulangyu
Ms Zhou's tea shop, where I bought some black tea with rose
This is sticky rice in lotus leaves with chili sauce
Apparently, when you travel by train in China, you eat duck neck. It is sold in plastic at all the stations.
It was a really nice weekend, seeing another part of China. It was a touristy place (for Chinese people - almost no other foreigners to be seen the whole trip), but boy were there a lot of people everywhere. No quiet spots. I did find a tea shop that looked a bit European and I sat there for a half an hour having a cappucino once. I think I needed a little non-Chinese for a moment. It can be overwhelming, but also very interesting and tasty. They really do know how to eat.
We were having the spicy hotpot in Xiamen. The little yellow cans are sesame oil, not a drink!
Fujian Province from the train window
the beautiful mangos
My European escape cappuccino moment
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