FUJIAN TRIP (Part 1)

Day 1

At the KLIA Kopi Time 

After one whole night of packing, we were finally ready to go on the Fujian trip. We had to be at the KLIA by 2pm for the late afternoon flight.

Supper in Xiamen

After some delay we landed at Xiamen airport after 9PM. As it was already late, we decided to go out for supper immediately after sorting out our rooms. Our hotel Hua Qiao was right beside Zhong Shan Lu, so I expected some shopping. But by the time we ventured out of the hotel it was already 10PM and all the shops were closed. We ended up going to a small restaurant around the corner and had fried sharks, soup and dumplings. First day was very short. We slept early because we had to wake up early the next day.

Day 2

Morning call was at 6.30AM. We had a quick breakfast and a short half day city tour. One of the stops was the tea shop. I learned a lot about the history, origin and process in tea making and it seemed like I was the only one who was really keen. I expressed an interest in “Pu Er Cha” cos I heard it aids in constipation, which was something I had. After a lengthy talk and sampling various types of tea, all of us quickly left the room for the loo and I was surprised. Clearly, I didn’t know much about buying things. The sales lady was getting desperate as we didn’t return to the room or buy anything. Finally, she chased after us. Some of us reluctantly bought a couple of tea packets but they still looked angry so we left quickly. 

After lunch, we went to the airport to board the plane to Wuyishan. While checking in our luggage, something went wrong with the system. We were all registered as children and there were a lot of confusion. It was my first experience watching the ground crew supervisor running like a mad woman in heels. We ran after her and jumped queues amidst angry glare from other waiting passengers. It was an annoying and harassing experience but hilarious at the same time. 

After arriving at Wuyishan we headed straight to the hotel. There were shops below our hotel but they only sell three kinds of things: Tea leaves, wood carvings and mushrooms. We stayed at the hotel for the remaining afternoon as it was raining.

The performance “ Ying Xiang Da Hong Pao” 印象大红袍is one of the must see highlights in Wuyishan. Our guide told us it has been raining everyday and persuaded us to see the show that night. As there was no other program for the night all of us agreed to go for the show except for my niece because it cost 220 RMB. In the end she did not object after getting sponsors. 

The venue during daytime

The rain did not stop. During dinner, we could hear the drizzle getting heavier.  We were rather worried as it was an open air venue and it was freezing outside. The weather forecast said it was 3 to 8 degree Centigrade outside. We went straight to the venue right after dinner with our cute tour conductor. It was already dark and the road was filled with puddles. My sneakers were 100% soaked 

through. It was then that I made up my mind to 

buy boots, like my cousins’

which were waterproof.

The rain got heavier and the path got slipperier throughout our long walk to the venue. Upon reaching there we had a hard time finding our seats in the dark among the numerous rows and columns of plastic seats. We sat in the darkness and cold wet night waiting for the show to start.  After a seemingly long agonizing wait, the show

finally started.

I was extremely impressed by the whole performance but the enjoyment was somewhat spoiled by the persistent rain that would not give up. The lighting effect was fantastic with lots of laser and high tech projections and the seats revolved 360 degree with the stage surrounding the audience complete with jungle and mountain as a back drop. The local audience behind me were going in their cute accent: “Zha men zai dong mah?” It was so cool! Imagine how much energy was needed to move almost 2 thousand people? Words and pictures can’t 

really do justice to describe the show. You had

to be there to fully appreciate the performance.

 Another thing I really admired was the 

determination and dedication of the 300 or so 

performers. Even though it was raining dogs

and cats and they must be soaked to their

underwear, they remained so professional, 

forever with a wide smile on their faces. 

We returned back to the hotel after an hour and 15 minutes completely soaked. We slept early that night.

Day 3

It proved to be a busy day filled with activities. First, we went to two national parks. The first one was “Long Gui Yuan Jing Qu”, which was a popular spot. Each park required a little walking and climbing, but nothing too tedious. There were many waterfalls and rivers and the cold weather was terrific for walking. At first it was freezing, but once you get used to it you will be okay. After walking for some time, you body will heat up anyway. Golden and orange colour autumn leaves (枫叶) were scattered all

over the ground, not something you get to see

in Malaysia.

 It was beautiful and calm this morning. In fact it was quite sunny. After visiting the two parks, we had lunch and got ready for water rafting, 

or rather bamboo raft drifting. It was MUCH 

different from shooting the rapids we had 

in Taman Negara.

You just have to sit on the wobbly chairs on the raft made out of 16 bamboo sticks while floating down the river and enjoy the beautiful 

scenery. It is apparently one of highlights of 

Wuyishan for all visitors.

There were many vendors selling plastic covers for shoes at (RMB 1) a pair, ponchos and even fish biscuits. The fish biscuits were a con job as no fish could be seen in the cold water.

After the rafting experience, our tour conductor took us to buy tea and mushrooms. I was pretty doubtful about how much we were going to buy judging from yesterday’s experience. To my surprise, the mushrooms won us over and we ended up buying loads of the stuff. Some of us also bought dried fruit from the street vendor outside. We had dinner and after that and it was free time.

Mun-lin

14 Dec 2012