Daily Updates from Xiamen (Day 3)

Today, we took a road trip to Quanzhou. It is situated in the southern part of the Fujian province. Our Chinese forefathers were really so creative! For example, the Chinese word “fujian”（福建） is also known as “min”（闽）. The character has a “chong”（虫） in it, meaning slow but of a shrewd nature, which is the general perception of the Fujian people in ancient times. Highly interesting! And they have a saying for everything. The one that really caught our attention was this,“地下看西安，地上看泉州” which can be loosely translated to, “Underground, look at Xi’an. Above ground, look at Quanzhou”.

Well, Xi’an is the location where all the terracotta warriors were found buried underground. This meant that Quanzhou contained as much culture, art and history depth above ground as that of Xi’an underground. The Chinese certainly do have a way with words!

Our very first tourist landmark was the Maritime Museum. It was interesting to learn how the ancient Chinese invented boats of all shapes and sizes and that they were actually more technologically advanced than the west during that era. Admiral Cheng Ho, a great explorer at that time was said to have led several huge envoys to India, Africa and the “Maritime Silk Road”. It is indeed a feat considering the huge perils of traveling at sea and the lack of navigational instrumentation.

We were all mightily hungry after the museum tour and headed off to lunch. (Another wedding banquet-like feast!) Some of us were extremely happy to find out that we had to walk to our next destination as we were feeling heavy and very bloated by then.

The landmark was a very old mosque which was one of the earliest built in China. Filled with quaint architecture, it is built next to a temple. The early Muslims assimilated into the Chinese culture but still retained their religious practices. This is evident in the architecture of the mosque, where Islamic inscriptions can sometime be seen with Chinese architectural styles.

We headed to our next destination which was a monster fortress of a museum, the China Museum for Taiwan Kinship. Basically, it showcases the intertwining of the two state provinces’ history, culture, art, politics and traditions. It reminds us that no matter where we are geographically and of what dialect we speak, the Chinese people have shown through history that they have and always will fight together as one Chinese nation with fierce passion and loyalty to defend their national pride.

The weather was getting chillier by the moment and as we headed off to the next destination, we were all wrapped with scarves and jackets. We arrived at a quaint little village which is said to be very old (on our itinerary, it is called the Ancient Dwellings). An equally quaint old man welcomed us and he was to be our entertaining and animated tour guide for the remainder of the tour. He brought us through old wooden corridors and age covered rooms. The spacious courtyards reminded us of those olden day period dramas. What amazed us was that there are still people living there.

The people of Quanzhou are indeed proud of their culture and they have every right to be. Steeped in a few thousand years of history, the culture is evident in the stories told and the architecture of building roofs and stone wall carvings. The architecture of the Ancient Dwellings is also mind-bogglingly practical in every little aspect. For example, the suitors of a maiden can be invited to the courtyard by her parents for a drink. The maiden then can peep through the windows of the rooms that surround the courtyard without being noticed by the suitor. In our tour guide’s own words, the maiden can have a “3D” inspection of the suitor before deciding to come out and meet him, or simply drive him away!

After a long bus ride back to Xiamen, we had dinner in the hotel and headed to a nearby bookstore on foot. The bookstore occupied 5 storey’s of floor space! We certainly had a good time looking through the huge collection of books, which are all very affordable.

Here are some pics from the day’s exciting experiences. Enjoy!

And now, some after meal entertainment from our pupils!

A great musical in the making?


Our very own Subway advertisement!


Terisha-Ann want to show this photo to her parents:
"Best Friends"

That's all we have for today's daily update. Remember to check us out tomorrow for another exciting update!