Nimon Hao,
So Han and I were off on a whorl wind tour of the Fujian Provence, a mere 18 hour over night train ride to Wuyi shan.
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| Our travel feast... |
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| Wuyi Shan |
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| The paths up the mountain sides |
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| This is "Hero Hill" one of many in China ... there are a lot of people here, you couldn't have them all go to one hill ... that's just crazy |
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| The view from half way up the hill |
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| Han at the top |
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| "Thread of Sky" Path |
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| The path gets as narrow as 40 cm |
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| Here's how it got it's name... that and a tone of bat guano... |
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| The outside cave wall |
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| One of the many scholar caves in Wuyi Shan |
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| This is called Water Curtain Cave ... but there's a bit of a drought so, not curtain |
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| If you look closely you can see the extent of the curtain right now |
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| Tea ... Famous black tea |
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| This tea plant is one of the original... 300 years old... |
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| Not sure... a pillar of rocks... |
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| The canyon wall |
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| Here's the canyon from the peak |
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| There's a serious zombie problem here ... |
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| ... hard to deal with ... |
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| ... Chinese zombies ... |
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| ... too late ... |
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| We took a bamboo raft ride through the valley |
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| These sorts of rafts have been using the river to transport tea for hundreds of years, you can see the impact of the poles on the river rocks |
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| Here's our guide |
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| The canyon wall from the river |
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| Not graffiti, there are many famous quotes and proverbs carved into the canyon wall |
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| Nice hat... |
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| My travel companion finally decided to shoot back |
Fujian Tulos (or Tulous)
From Wuyi shan to Xiamen is a 45 minute flight, or a 2.5 hour bus ride... so Han and I took a 12 hour over night train ride... In American we might describe Han as a bit of a penny pincher... we saved 30 RMB by taking the train over the bus...
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| These round structures were build by Henan immigrants tot he Fujian Province of China, the walls range from 1 to 1.5 meters thick of packed earth. |
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| This is a protected historical site, but it is also still completely inhabited |
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| Because it's a protected site construction is strictly limited to renovations. |
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| The countryside |
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| The mill ... and refinery |
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| Here is the main structure... built with tobacco money |
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| Here's the inside, 45 families still live here. |
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| Here's a close up of the walls |
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| Han trying to make a cigarette... |
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| ... poorly ... |
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| Some of the trees have been here for over 1000 years. |
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| The original school house |
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| This is a village, home to over 1000 families |
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| We were part of a tour group for this ... one of countless group photos... there were at least 30 more people in our group. |
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| Out side the refinery... not for oil... |
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| The alcohol here was ... interesting... |
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| Here's the fermentation room. |
Xiamen and Gulan yu
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| Here's the statue of ... a guy ... on Gulan yu Island, a former foreigner stronghold |
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| Here's Taiwan ... well not the main island, but the nearest point of Taiwanese property to mainland China |
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| The three principles for one China ... a very rough translation. |
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| The ferry to Gulan yu |
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| Clear Western architecture |
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| Restaurant and store on the ground floor, home on the top floor |
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| peak-a-boo |
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| That guy is really gonna regret getting buried on this beach. |
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| This island was heavily fought over during both World War II and the Revolution/Civil war |
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| Most of these bunkers have been removed or buried, but a few are still very visible. |
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| Classless international stereotypes... |
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| No trip to Xiamen is complete without seeing the worlds largest military megaphone... used to shout propaganda at the Taiwanese soldiers across the straight |
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| Yeah ... it's big... |
Next stop Jimei...
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| A warm welcome indeed |
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| Here's the middle school... pretty sweet middle school |
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| Here's the Dragon Boat racing pool |
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| Dragon graffiti |
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| Chén Jiāgēng, the Henry Ford of China and founder of the Jimei University town |
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| An odd entrance to a pet shop... I think I'll pass |
Two and a half weeks till I return State side, no more major trips planned, but that doesn't really mean anything so we'll see what may come next.
Zaijian
