I travel to China several times a year mainly for fun but
also to check out hotels and new tourist attractions for my book.
The following
information is not in my 2002 book.
The following items are dated with the month the
information was obtained. Everything is subject to change but this should give you a good
idea of what to expect. Please also look at our collection of photos from some of these
places.
Vertical Layout Slides - Landscape Layout Slides
The last time this page was updated was 12/31/08
Wuhan (pages 712-719)
We stayed in a new Chinese five-star hotel. I would have preferred the
Shangri-La, but the Logosun was good, comfortable, and cheaper. It was more like
a good four-star. The breakfast had a lot of variety and was fine. The rooms
were comfortable. The location was okay next to a photographable local food
market but away from department store shopping. It was fine except for some
minor problems.
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The bathroom had no privacy. Your roommate could see you from the bedroom.
If you turned on the bathroom light at night, it was disturbing. I know this
is the current style in hotels, but I don’t like it.
The Logosun had another problem. Some of its rooms opened onto an atrium. If
your curtains are open, you might be embarrassed to find that strangers can
see you undressing inside your room.
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Wuhan has changed a lot since I was last there six
years ago. It has huge new shopping malls and what Chinese city
hasn’t. The one near the Ramada Hotel calls itself the World’s
Largest Pedestrian Street. It is next to the French department store
Carrefour which was having problems in April because of the Olympic
Flame’s experience in Paris. Do you remember the French
demonstrators grabbing the flame out of the hands of a wheel-chair
athlete? There was a sign at its front door explaining its support
for the Olympics. |
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The Logosun Hotel is across a lane from a neighbourhood
morning market. |
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At first, this man put up his hand to keep me from taking his picture. If you cheerfully protest, he will not only let you do so but show you where to go. At least, that’s what he did for me. Here you can find people cooking yummy-looking food. If you eat it hot off of the wok it should be safe. |
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| Within a couple of hours drive of Wuhan is a fascinating copper mine still
in use today. You can look far down its open pit and see trucks at work. In
a nearby museum you can find out about ancient mining techniques that were
far in advance of anywhere else in the world at that time. |
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In Jingzhou, you can visit one of the best preserved city walls in China
with its 300 year old gate. Behind this wall is a delightful children’s
playground and if you ate where we did, you’ll see another playground
nearby. It’s a good place to take pictures of children. |
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You can still see children occasionally urinating on the streets, alas. And
the occasional people apparently homeless. You can see carts of coal bricks
used for cooking. Coal burning is the source of much pollution. |
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But you can also find wonderful things besides the pagodas and museums if
you go to Jingzhou about two hours drive away.
Don’t look at this 2100 year old cadaver if you’re squeamish.
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As you drive around from place to place, you can see for yourself why China
is such a powerful country. Outside of Wuhan, we passed an automobile plant
with new cars parked on its roofs in addition to its parking lots. But we
also saw trucks lined up for gasoline. There was a shortage here too.
And lest you think China is only factories, markets and ancient relics, we
did visit a fancy golf course. See also Yangtze Gorges. |
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Back to the Updates Index
Wuxi
Wuxi was voted the best tourism city in China in 1998 out of 54 cities. The competition was based on environment and hotels. Over 2000 factories around Lake Taihu have been closed to make the lake clean.
Wuxi's beautiful gardens are almost as good as Suzhou's and not as crowded with tourists.
Where to Stay: I spent two nights here at the Sheraton but wandered around looking at several hotels. Hotels here add a 10 to 15% service charge. Most accept major credit cards and can change travelers' checks. Hotels here have proliferated and there's a price war. In city center the best hotels are the Sheraton and the New World Courtyard. By the lake, I liked the Lakeview Park Resort as best for relaxed vacationing. The Hubin/Lakeside's e-mail is hnhotel@public . This hotel has gotten very commercial and crowded but it's still okay. The Taihu International Convention Center Hotel used to be the World Trade Center Hotel until June, 2001. Prior to that, it was the Taihu Hotel. It looks very good, new, and is on a hill overlooking the lake.
SHERATON WUXI HOTEL & TOWERS is now at 403 Zhongshan Road and it's e-mail is: Sheraton_wuxi@sheraton.com . (The street numbers have changed. The hotel is still in the same place.) The web-site is:
www.sheraton.com . It is almost a five-star now. Rooms are $143 to $163 and suites $224 to $828. It has been giving 20 to 25% discounts.
The Sheraton has some non-smoking rooms. All rooms have safes, irons, and kettles. Mine had a beautiful Chinese horse lamp-stand, clock, scales, hair dryer, and mini-bar. It has CNN and HBO and a data port. It provides broadband internet access for Y25 a day and has the best English in town. There's a sauna and clinic.
Its ballroom seats 180 banquet style. The dinner buffet in its Brasserie costs Y108. It serves great double-decker brownies for Y48. Live Chinese classical music is performed in its Chinese restaurant which is open 11am to 2:30pm and 5:30pm to 10pm. Recommended there are its hot and sour soup with seafood Y22, sweet and sour pork with pineapple Y35, pan-fried beef filet Cantonese style for Y45 to Y68, saut‚ed duck with garlic Y40 and Y60, Yangzhou fried rice for Y32 and Y48, and deep-fried spring rolls Y8 each. Ask for its downtown map which makes it easy to tell taxi drivers where you want to go along Zhongshan Road and beyond. The hotel has a gym with 17 machines and a 16 X 13 meter pool. It is in the financial and commercial district - surrounded by shopping malls and restaurants.
The 265-room NEW WORLD COURTYARD BY MARRIOTT WUXI (Xin Shi Jie Wan Yi Jiudian) is still referred to as its old name, the Ramada. It is at Zhongshan Road and Renmin Roads and is surrounded by department stores. It had a problem with thin walls when it opened, but the staff here says this was solved with padding between all the rooms in 2000. Prices are now $70 to $90 for rooms, $150 for suites, and $60 to $100 for apartments. It has been giving 30% discounts.
The New World is 30 km. from the Linshan Buddha, open 7:30am-5:30pm. Y35.00. Telephone 5996166; 13km from the Yuantoushu Turtle Head Garden, open 5am-6pm.Y35.00, Telephone 5866807; 20km from Three Kingdom Park, open 8am-6pm. Y30.00, Telephone 5888819; 4km from Xihui Park, open 5am-6pm. Y10.00. Telephone 3708324; 2km from the Grand Canal, open 8am-6pm. Y20.00. Telephone 5516739.
Closer to Lake Taihu; (about Y35 for a taxi from downtown)
The LAKEVIEW PARK RESORT (page 408) has developed into a good property, well worth considering. Its preferred address is: Tai-Lake Mountain-Water City Tourism Zone, 214081. Tel. 5555888, fax 5556909. Its e-mail is
sales@wuxiresort.com and web-site:
www.wuxiresort.com (English). It accepts travelers' checks. It is adding 50 villas in 2002 and apartments in 2003. It now has CNN and HBO. Free shuttle buses go into town four times a day. It's a Hong Kong-Shanghai-Wuxi joint-venture with a Canadian general manager. Rooms range from Y658 to Y888. Ask about a walk-in discount.
General Manager David Tang is very careful about the food served here. It is Chinese nouveau cuisine with no MSG, aiming at good health with as little salt as possible. Since customers keep coming back, he must be doing something right.
WUXI TAIHU INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTER HOTEL (Taihu Fandian), Yonggu Road, Meiyuan, 214064. Tel. 5517888, fax 5519964. E-mail:
thhotel@public1.wx.js.cn . Web:
www.taihuhotel.com . Formerly known by several names including the Tai Hu Sunshine Hotel, this five-star, 260 room hotel is 12 km. from the railway station, and 10 km. from downtown. This beautiful property is good for conferences and relaxing, but it's too far away from anything to be good for tourists unless they want to do some country hiking. The setting is beautiful and green. Guests could also catch up on Time, Fortune and Newsweek, which it has been selling.
Rooms range from Y660 toY1280, and suites Y1500 to Y2000. Villas range from Y1280 to Y22200. It has been giving a 10% discount. The outdoor pool is huge. And it has an up-to-date gym, bowling alley, table tennis, night club, billiards and tennis. It also has a children's play room. The English is better at the Sheraton but some staff here should be able to handle problems in English. It does not charge guests to book a flight, but charges Y10 to Y30 for a train ticket and Y20 for a bus ticket.
HUBIN HOTEL (a.k.a. Lakeside Hotel or Hubin Fandian) E-mail: hnhotel@public1.wx.js.cn
www.hubinhotel.com If you book by e-mail, there's a 10% discount. The assistant manager can give you a 30% discount. It's a "green" hotel. It is 10 km. from city center, 9km from the wharf and 12km from the railway station. Rooms range from Y480 to Y780 and suites from Y1080 to Y2380 in the main building. In its cheapest Shuixiu Garden section, it's Y200 to Y380 for rooms and Y570 for a suite. Villas are Y480 to Y28000. Rooms range from 22 to 40 square meters. It has western, Cantonese and Huaiyang food and a good-looking 25 X 11 meter indoor swimming pool.
Where to Eat:
The Wuxi Roast Duck Restaurant, a ten-minute walk from the Sheraton, is still good. Tel. 2708222, or 2729623. It takes no international credit cards, only cash and is open 11am to 2pm, and 5pm to 9pm. Yangzhou fried rice is Y15, deep-fried duck skewer Y28, and Wuxi roast duck half for Y25, whole for Y45. Its deep-fried pork steak costs Y25, pork chop Y30,and mushrooms Y18. It has white table cloths, and a menu in English with photos of its entrees.
Practical Information:
--Express buses go from the bus terminal near the Wuxi railway station to Nanjing, Shanghai, and Suzhou about every 20 minutes between 6am to 6:40am and 6pm or 7pm. Trains leave for Nanjing four times a day for Shanghai nine times a day, and Suzhou five times a day.
--A taxi to Nanjing could cost from Y500 to Y600, to Suzhou Y150 to Y180, to Shanghai Railway Station Y450 to Y500, and to Shanghai Pudong Airport Y550 to Y600. Wuxi is a 1.5 hour drive from Hong Qiao airport and a two hour drive from Pudong in Shanghai.
--I asked around but couldn't find a place where you can see silk worms grown. It has no silk market even though silk is one of its most important industries. The only bargains I found was a tiny temporary-looking four-person market in front of the Wuxi Silk Factory. Nor could I find a pearl market. There were stores where you could buy pearls, but nothing like Suzhou's incredible pearl market. Go to Hangzhou and Suzhou.
--Wuxi CITS is now at 18 Zhong Shan Road, 214002. Tel. 2725190, 2700224. E-mail:
engdep@public1.wx.js.cn . Web-site
www.citswx.com (Chinese only). Ask for Lu Xin Yi, Euro-American Department. Telephone/Fax 2700268.
--The Wuxi Tourism Bureau now has e-mail: wxtour@public1.wx.js.cn
. A web-site is being constructed. -- RLM, DATE, July, 2001.
Back to the Updates Index
Wuyi
Wuyi (page 321) no longer has direct flights from Hong Kong.
Back to the Updates
Index
Xiamen
Do visit the web-site of American and Taiwan expats who have been living and
teaching in Xiamen for over a decade for tips on good restaurants and places to visit.
http://www.amoymagic.com. -- RLM, November,
2003.
(Page 323) This city in Fujian province was recently in the news after the first
ship in 52 years arrived legally from the Taiwan off-shore island of Kinmen/Quemoy.
(Xiamen and Kinmen are only two or three kilometers apart.) Unfortunately, it's been only
one way so far. Visits from China to Kinmen are still illegal. When this route from China
to Kinmen opens, it should be easy to visit the bunkers and the big guns which fired on
Xiamen in the 1960s. It's also got the world's biggest amplifier.
This event is a big step in reopening direct flights between China and Taiwan. Hopefully
these will start soon.
Xiamen no longer has flight connections with Djakarta and Penang. You can get to Xiamen by
direct flight now from Bangkok, the cities listed in my book, and from at least 49 other
Chinese cities. You can get there by train from Beijing, Hangzhou, Huangshan, Shanghai,
Wuyi Mountain, and several other cities, but many of these routes are painfully long. From
Shanghai, for example, it could take over 24 hours. >From Fuzhou, it's 15 hours by
train. The bus from Fuzhou is much faster; it's only 3 1/2 hours. You can no longer reach
Xiamen by passenger ship.
I traveled by public bus between Fujian's cities. The buses in Xiamen can pick up
passengers at or near hotels, but it took an hour of several stops before my bus headed
out of the city. Travel time would have been shorter if I had booked to leave at the main
bus terminal. Wu Chu Bus Station is near the front entrance to the main railway station.
There I got an air-conditioned express bus for Quanzhou (Y32). These leave from here about
every 20 minutes during the day. (My bus showed the video "George of the Jungle"
in English, heard only if you sat near the monitors.)
Several bus stations and bus companies compete with different qualities of service but I
found no one who spoke English. Signs are all in Chinese so if you can't handle the
language, you will need help from a bilingual friend to get one. CITS charges Y100 for a
transfer that includes transportation from a hotel and a guide to make sure you get on the
right bus. Taxis start at Y8 for three kilometers.
Xiamen is one of the top 10 cities in China for clean air. Dell Computers, Kodak, Lucent
Technology and Microsoft are among the many international companies with projects here.
Xiamen Island with its city center and ferry terminals is being made into a tourist
district with no factories.
Xiamen's airport is huge, with giant portholes and lots of hotel representatives. A
hot-shot driver in the CAAC bus took us in 25 minutes past the container port and
petroleum storage tanks, palm trees and motorcycle riders wearing helmets. We hurried
beyond the entrance to the new Haicang Bridge, and along the one-kilometer of
newly-renovated waterfront parkland. We slowed down near the Lujiang Hotel, and a few
hundred meters further, arrived at the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza.
Zhongshan Road near the ferry pier has also had a face lift, with sidewalks now smooth and
free of holes. Many of its buildings, now painted and repaired, still hang over the
sidewalks in the charming old way, giving a nice feeling of history. The expressway around
Xiamen Island should be completely finished in 2001.
Where to Stay: the top hotels in my
book are still the top. The Mandarin, Holiday Inn and Marco Polo have all been recently
refurbished and all three have broadband communications or will have them soon. You can
take the Xiamen Plaza and Min Nan Hotel off my list, especially now that the Lujiang has
improved. Forget about the Xiamen Plaza and the Min Nan. Hilton International is building
a hotel here with no due date announced as yet.
The three, four and five star hotels listed here take credit cards, and can exchange
travelers' checks and foreign cash. Hotels charge an extra 15% for service.
The Mandarin is the only five-star hotel and it's good, but I would steer people who don't
speak Chinese towards the Holiday Inn and Marco Polo. The Mandarin is still isolated by
itself on its own hill. This is fine if you want to cut yourself off from the Chinese
masses and shopping.
The Xiamen Mandarin Hotel is now 20 minutes by car from the ferry pier, closer because of
the new expressway. It has a shuttle bus downtown eight times a day and free scheduled
transportation from the airport nearby. It is a beautiful hotel, very Chinese-modern, with
sparkling chandeliers and doors framed with brass. Rooms now range from US$120 to $230,
suites from $280 to $700, and villas from $580 to $12000. Rooms in its Tianfeng Building
start at $180, and in its Haiyu Building, they start at $200. It's been giving 50%
discounts if reservations are made in advance. Together it has 208 five-star rooms and 79
smaller "economic single rooms." The e-mail is now: mandarin@public.xm.fj.cn and web-site: www.xmmandarin. com . It has non-smoking
floors.
Its new Hai Yu Building looks palatial with couches trimmed in gold. The bedrooms have an
ancient poem in Chinese calligraphy above the headboards, and wide desks. Rooms are 45 to
50 square meters, with HBO, CNBC and CNN, and a few have balconies. Its white marble
bathrooms have big bathtubs and separate shower stalls.
The Mandarin charges Y50 an hour for its internet. It now has VOD. It offers the South
China Morning Post in its lobby lounge. The breakfast buffet costs Y88, lunch Y58, and
dinner Y98. The breakfast buffet was good with a choice of five juices, cold cereal,
toast, eggs to order, and many other dishes. It has a western restaurant that was offering
a set menu for Y198. It included soup, Black Angus beef, salad and dessert.
Its ballroom can seat 450 banquet style. A large new garden has been added. In 2002, it
should have new buildings for meetings and a health club. Its current gym has only five
machines. The grounds are so big, you need a golf cart to get around quickly. I didn't
have a chance to test the English generally but that of Public Relations vice-manager
Melody Zhang was fine.
HOLIDAY INN CROWNE PLAZA HARBOURVIEW: I stayed here for two nights and really liked it
because I could walk to shopping on Zhongshan Road, and walk to the Gulangyu ferry. Across
the street was a tiny bus station where I caught a bus to Shantou. This station might be
gone soon with the building of roads connecting to the new six-lane road. This road has
made the Holiday Inn even closer to the Gulangyu ferry and the new OCBC office building
near it (one minute by taxi). This hotel is on a small hill within walking distance also
of an interesting residential area with a hospital of traditional Chinese medicine. From
its higher rooms, you can see the ocean. It has a shuttle bus to the factories. The
web-site is now: www.hi592.com . (English) The
e-mail is still hixmnch@public.xm.fj.cn .
It is good in other ways too. By March 30, 2001, it should be completely upgraded
including its suites and a reconstruction of its entrance. It will have new televisions
and VOD with guest information and flight schedules.
The published rate is $160 for rooms, and $350 to $820 for suites. It has been giving 40%
off for e-mail reservations and walk-ins, any time except during trade fairs. If you book
through Holiday Inn's toll-free U.S. telephone number, membership in the AAA and AARP rate
discounts, and weekends are cheaper than weekdays. It has golf and conference packages.
The Holiday Inn has a small outdoor pool, and a good gym open 6am to 11pm. It has enlarged
its coffee shop, and added a night club. Its banquet room can accommodate 550 people for a
sit-down dinner. It houses the offices of Silk Air, American Express, ANA, and Malaysian
Airlines.
Its coffee shop looked American, with its beer advertisements, Tiffany lamp shades, and
oil paintings in western style of Paris and Xiamen. Breakfast there was good. Its
breakfast buffet cost Y138, its set lunch Y78, and its dinner buffet Y158. It has an
Italian and a Japanese restaurant, as well as Chinese restaurant. In one of its three
bars, a Filipino band plays nightly. Its standard room is around 28 square meter and has
two telephone lines. Its business center rents out mobile telephones for a Y400 deposit
and Y80 a day. These are good for anywhere in China. Staff study English three times a
week.
MARCO POLO I spent one night here and enjoyed it. It has a more modern feel than the
Holiday Inn with more glitz inside and more space outside because of nearby Yuan Dang
Lake. It is in an area of spread-out modern high rises, near the City Hall and Cultural
Centre. It has a complimentary shuttle from the airport 14 times a day. On Saturdays and
Sundays, it has a shuttle to the main tourist attractions four times a day. The web-site
is now: www.marcopolohotels.com . Its
new e-mail address is xiamen@marcopolohotels.com
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Its lobby is bright and airy with sandstone carvings of Marco Polo's travels and big gold
fish. From its eight-story atrium, you can look down (if you don't have vertigo) at the
entertainment below. Its business center charges Y3 a minute for internet service and
offers the Asian Wall Street Journal, South China Morning Post, and the Herald Tribune.
Its modern gym has heart monitors on its machines. Its year-round outdoor pool is 16
meters long and is open 6am to 9pm. It has tennis.
Rooms have scales, and its bathrooms have big tubs with safety bars. Prices range from
US$160-$225 for rooms and US$250-$980 for suites. It has weekend packages and in low
season, it's been giving 12 to 20% discounts. Its ballroom can seat 350 for banquets and
its breakfast buffet cost Y110, lunch buffet Y72, and dinner buffet Y158. Its Japanese
restaurant serves robatayaki, sushi, noodles and tempera. Staff here also is studying
English and Japanese.
The 153-room LUJIANG HOTEL looks much better after its recent refurbishment but don't
expect perfection. The e-mail is: lujihtl@public.xm.fj.cn
. The web-site is: www.fjta.com/xmlujiang .
(Chinese only with photos.) Rooms range from Y410 to Y700, and suites cost Y830-Y1360. It
has been giving 30% discounts. It takes credit cards and changes travelers' checks and
foreign cash. It has an American breakfast but no buffet for Y25. Its Chinese breakfast
costs Y15 but you don't get coffee. It charges Y10 for 10 minutes of e-mail. Its business
center is hard to find and is open 9am to 11pm. You have to go up a dirty, narrow
staircase.
During two short visits, I only found one person at the reception desk, and one restaurant
manager who spoke some English. Rooms have an electrical outlet by the desk, kettles, and
little closet space. The view of the harbor is good from the top floors and it has IDD,
satellite television, mini-bar and refrigerator, but the grouting is moldy, there's no
CNN, and no in-room safe.
Gulangyu:
The pretty three-star 75-room GULANGYU VILLA HOTEL is on a swimming beach on the south
shore in the western part of the island. It is relatively near the Arts and Crafts School
and Gulang Rock. It's at 14 Gusheng Road, 361002. Tel. 2060160, 2063280, Fax 2060165.
E-mail: glvhotel@public.xm.fj.cn . Rooms
range from Y360 to Y550, and suites cost Y880, and it has been giving 20% discounts. Rooms
have only showers, no tubs, and are air-conditioned. They have balconies, and there's a
coffee room and Chinese restaurant. It also has a business center, IDD, conference room,
and spacious grounds bordering on its beach. It is managed by China Travel Hotel
Management Services H.K. Ltd. I could find no one who speaks English.
Also on Gulangyu is the two-star 42-room QINDAO HOTEL (Jiudian) at 8 Lu Jiao Road, Tel.
2066668. Fax 2066688. It is about 200 meters to the left as you leave the main ferry pier
beyond the station for renting electric cars, and has a Chinese restaurant,
air-conditioning, satellite television, ticketing office, and international direct dialing
facilities. I could find no one who could speak English. Rooms are clean but with peeling
plaster, and cost Y235 to Y320. Suites are Y620. No discounts, they said.
Where to Eat: The best western food
found is in the MARCO POLO HOTEL and THE HOLIDAY INN CROWNE PLAZA (See above). I didn't
have a chance to eat at the Mandarin. The coffee shop in the MARCO POLO charges Y45 for a
Caesar salad with chicken, Y75 for a prawn cocktail, Y50 for tortilla chips with guacamole
and spicy tomato salsa, Y42 for a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, Y54 for a Reuben
sandwich, Y54 for a beef burger, Y32 for French onion soup, Y88 for pork chops and Y145
for a 220gm imported prime sirloin steak. The breakfast buffet cost Y110, lunch Y68, and
dinner Y158. The breakfast had a choice of 19 breads, three fresh fruits, three cold cuts,
five salads, two noodle soups, 16 hot dishes, two congees, five cold cereals, yogurt, and
five vegetables.
There's also a clean, new, huge PIZZA HUT with a great view of Gulangyu on the 24th floor
of the Haibin Building at 53 Lu Jiang Road to the left on the waterfront road as you leave
the Lujiang Hotel and cross Zhongshan Road. Tel. 2033876. It is open 24 hours. Hot milk
Y8; minestrone soup Y11; spaghetti's Y25 to Y28; onion rings Y8; pizzas - a 6" costs
Y23 to Y29; a 9" costs Y42 to Y49; a 12" costs Y58 to Y68. For ice cream it's
Y11 but only chocolate and vanilla are available. The pizza is served on a hot platter by
a friendly staff supervised by a manager who speaks English. The food tasted just like it
does in Pizza Huts everywhere.
XIAMEN SHUYOU SEAFOOD RESTAURANT, North Hubin Road, Tel. 5098888. This is close to the
Marco Polo Hotel and beside the Bank of China. Tel. 5098888, 5095588. This is a popular
four-story restaurant with moderate prices. Its private rooms have their own toilets.
Lobster costs Y195 for 500 gms., prawns Y98 for 500 gms., scallops Y55, Shanghai fresh
water crab Y68 each, sea crab Y70 for 500 gms.
Shopping: You should be able to buy
commodities from Taiwan on Da Deng Dao Island, near Kinmen. It has over 200 stores. The
main shopping street with big fancy department stores is Zhongshan Road. Ports
International no longer has a factory outlet in Jimei.
What to See: (page 327) I haven't
ridden these myself yet, but if you do, let me know if these buses are correct. A tourist
bus now stops at the major tourist sites and charges Y58 a day and includes lunch.
(Telephone 3352833, or 3332702). The commentary is in Chinese so take a good guide book or
carry an illustrated map with photos so you will know what you are seeing.
Bus no. 17 goes from the railway station to Pearl Harbor near Xiamen University for Y2.
#18 goes from Xiamen University to Jimei for Y5. #28 goes from Xiamen University to the
National Exhibition Centre on Qian Pu Road for Y1. #67 goes from the harbor near the
Lujiang Hotel to Tong An (movie city) for Y6.
The standard tour: A one day in Gulangyu; B one day South Putuo Shan, Hulishan Fort,
Overseas Chinese Museum; C one day Jimei school, Turtle Garden, Home of Tan Kah Kee (about
20 minutes from downtown); D one day Wanshi Botanical Garden, Tiger River Rock, White Deer
Cave and downtown. E One day: underwater world. For ten people and up, a full day's tour
costs about Y190 each; a half day's tour cost Y150.
Ferries to Gulangyu haven't changed but I discovered that there's an upper deck with
stainless steel seats and tables for an extra Y1. Otherwise you will probably stand. The
trip only takes about five minutes. Cars are still forbidden on this lovely little island,
but there are now electric carts that can give you a tour of the island for Y30. I took
one to the Gulang Villa Hotel and it took two different routes, one through a long tunnel,
and on the way back, up into the hills, a good opportunity to see the whole island. At the
hotel, it waited about 10 minutes for me.
On Gulangyu, Bright Moon Park (Tel.2069783) is to the left as you leave the main ferry
pier. If you want to walk to Shuzhuang Garden (Tel. 2063715), take the road past the
Concert Hall and People's Stadium. Sunshine Rock (Tel. 2067284), further west, has a
cableway. The island also has a piano museum.
At the main wharf are bathing suits for sale, and to be avoided, sea turtles and coral if
you want to discourage the market for these endangered creatures. Peacocks roam the island
freely. The population of this island has dropped to about 15,000 from 25,000 as the
government returns houses to original owners. Its houses are being transformed into
multi-storied resorts and apartments. It would be a wonderful place to live, so close to
downtown and yet so idyllic.
If you want to swim, check out the E-coli count first, and let me know what you find. I
could find no place to rent equipment for water sports.
Practical Information:
Travel agents.
--American Express can be e-mailed at: XMNCH@public.xm.fj.cn
.
--China Travel Service is at 70 Xin Hua Road. Tel: 2024286, 2079408, 2042206, Fax:
0592-2031862. The e-mail is: xmcts@public.xm.fj.cn
. Contact: Ms Doris Liu.
--CITS is now on the 15/F of the Zhenxing Building, Tel. 2231259. Fax 2231260, 5145063.
E-mail: CITSXM@public.xm.fj.cn . Contact Nancy
Chen, International Dept. Manager or Linda Deng (Deng Lin), Tour Dept. Manager.
--At a travel trade fair, I met Kevin B.L. Fang, Manager, Xiamen C&D International
Travel Service 7/F, Sealight Building, 361001. Tel. 2134631, or 2033404 X 3814. Fax
2110284. E-mail: lxs@chinacdc.com . He was
knowledgeable about Xiamen and his English was good, but I haven't dealt with him. In a
pinch, you might want to try him and let me know your experience.
-- Xiamen Travel Service says it has 10 English-speaking guides. It's at 5, Lianhua Nan
Road, 361009. Tel. 5128855, 5132056 Fax 5138877. E-mail: xm_travel@xiamenair.com.cn . Ask for Chen Yu
Cheng, Vice G. Manager, Foreign Liaison Center. I haven't dealt with this agency either
yet.
Internet services:
--Internet Cafe, 230-232 Hubin Nan Road, across from the Min Nan Hotel. Operated by China
Telecom, it has fast computers. Tel. 5155167 and 5155169. It's open 24 hours and costs Y7
an hour. Its e-mail address is: Intercafe@public.xm.fj.cn
.
-- The East Ocean Hotel directly behind the Lujiang has e-mail for Y20 an hour. It's at: 1
Zhong Shan Road, Tel. 2021111.
Factory hours: 8:30am-11:30am and 2pm to 5:30pm. Office hours 9 to 5 with lunch 12 to 1.
Monday to Friday.
Tourist Compaints: Supervisory Bureau of Tourism Quality, Tel. 5056777.
Excursions: Xiamen is the best place
to make your base because the hotels are the best and there's a lot to see. From here you
can take buses northeast to Quanzhou for about Y40 in two hours for a day trip. >From
Xiamen to Fuzhou it's 3 1/2 hours also northeast.
Going in the other direction, you can stop in Shantou, another interesting city. It's on
the way to Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Xiamen to Shantou takes four hours by bus and costs
about Y80 or Y90.
Most highway signs are in English or in easily understood symbols like a gas tank for
petrol. Occasionally you see something like "Welcome to Putian" in English. Toll
booth attendants wear good uniforms.
Few North Americans and Europeans go to Fujian and they're missing out on a wonderful part
of China. It is different from the rest of China but still very Chinese. Few people speak
English here, but travel agents, hotels and colleges can supply interpreters. The
countryside is full of flat rice paddies, fish farms, sugar cane fields, and fruit
orchards. The land is flat, mountainous and hilly with interesting minority groups.
I spent five nights in Fujian in November and it wasn't enough time to see everything I
wanted to see, and I've been there two other times and have already been to Wuyi Mountain.
I missed out on Yongding, said to be a six-hour drive from Xiamen. Here are the "tou
lou," the square or round clay villages (thought at one time by American intelligence
to be missile sites). Actually, these three-story "tou lou" structures are in
typical Hakka architecture, the front doors of each home facing inwards to the village
square. They were built this way for mutual protection and probably to keep control over
the families. Roads to Yongding are not great and tours usually spend two days. The
villages organize typical Hakka programs.
Getting around was relatively easy, even without speaking the language but you really need
ingenuity. To get a big highway bus, the magic words are "Volvo" or
"Daewoo." See also "Quanzhou," and "Fuzhou." Fujian has ten
golf courses. - RLM. Date: November, 2000.
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