Xiamen - a taste of China
Few of us can claim to know China well. Given its vast size, I could just as well write that I was never even there, because those few days were, compared to its scale, literally one great big NOTHING. I merely caught a whiff of it and had a little taste. All in all I visited 3 cities, and one of them was Xiamen.
Before I set off for China, I couldn't really grasp what people there could do without Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the other internet services we use every day. The idea that hardly anyone there speaks English as a matter of course, and perhaps isn't even interested in the outside world, was also hard to comprehend. It was only there that I realised that when a single nation has more than a billion inhabitants and such a huge and varied country, it really doesn't need to care about the outside world at all, because a Chinese person simply makes do with Chinese and with China.
I wouldn't have said at all that Xiamen is some big city, and I'm sure many of you have never heard of it. I wouldn't be surprised. Of the cities I visited in China, it was the smallest, since it's inhabited by "only" 4.4 million people. By Chinese standards, a perfectly ordinary city. Actually, I almost forgot, I also stopped in one city that had just 250,000 inhabitants, but most Chinese would probably speak of it as a village.
From 1541, Xiamen was one of the most important Chinese ports, where the Portuguese and other European merchants sailed and through which the main trade route for Chinese tea flowed. The city still ranks among the major ports today, but the lustre of bygone years has faded somewhat. It's now better known for its subtropical climate, and so many locals like to seek it out as a holiday resort. There really is a pleasant atmosphere here. It's also home to one of the most popular universities in China, which is why you meet so many students here.
In the not-quite three days I spent wandering around Xiamen, I met perhaps 3 other Europeans. I felt utterly anonymous, lost in the whirl of a Chinese city. Almost no one spoke English, no one could ask me about anything, and so basically no one paid me any attention either. Only one taxi driver asked in broken English where I was from, but when instead of the expected USA I answered Czech Republic, he just shook his head, baffled. So I tried Germany and Europe too, but I got nowhere with that either.
Every place in China, and Xiamen was certainly no exception, was a paradise of food for me. So many street stalls with beautifully prepared food (mainly seafood, oysters, octopus, crab, fish balls in curry sauce and many other delights) I don't think I saw even in Hong Kong. At one stall I came across probably the best mango I've ever eaten. Well, I put away at least half a kilo of it, it was impossible to resist. Lovers of Asian cuisine simply get their money's worth. At my last dinner in the city I nearly fainted from that dose of delicacies.
Tip 1: Stop by the Taiwan Folk Village. It's an artificial tourist spot that has nothing to do with any traditions, but you'll find plenty of great food here.
Tip 2: In the southern part of the island you'll also find modern architecture, mostly high-rise buildings that are worth seeing.
Tip 3: Even though you won't be able to communicate much, get hold of a map of the island and have the cheap official taxis drive you around by it. Beware the unmarked ones, which will end up costing you more.
Tip 4: If you're travelling to China via Hong Kong, buy a SIM card there that gives you data both in Hong Kong and in China. That way, on the Hong Kong roaming, even internet apps that are otherwise banned in China will work for you. Google Translate, for example, was a necessity for me.
Tip 5: Take plenty of cash with you on the trip. For one thing, you won't get far in China with a VISA or Maestro payment card, and besides, any transaction at a bank, as well as exchanging dollars or euros for the local currency, is a drawn-out affair that you won't want to go through very often. I changed dollars about twice and each time it took a good half hour; several times they photocopied my passport and half the bank gathered round just to be able to handle the operation at all.
Gear: bring your equipment according to what you want to shoot. I think here it'll mainly be street photography, and you'll enjoy having a quick, responsive camera with a 35mm or 28mm lens. Possibly a wide-angle lens for architecture.