I found the nightbbus from China tougher than the ones previously taken in Vietnam Although the bus itself was no different with 3 beds laid out across the aisle. As Rob and I were the only westerners on the bus full of Chinese, I was slightly more skeptical about this journey, with us not knowing when to get off (we didn’t know where the bus finally stopped as we couldn’t read Chinese) and I was also slightly worried about my rucksack being stolen (a fear of the unknown rather than racism!). There was a woman on the bus checking tickets who loudly blabbed some stuff at us in Chinese a few times, even though we clearly didn’t have a clue what she was saying- that didn’t help with confidence. Our transfer from Xiamen to Yondling County was simpler, a four hour bus journey, the duration of which was spent sleeping, getting us into in the small village of Luliabn around midday.
The village was basic, a few guesthouses and a police station lined the paved main street, opposite which was the reason we were here, a round donut shaped building called a Tulou. These concentric structures, up to five storeys high, have a thick outer wall made of glutinous rice and rammed earth, reinforced with bamboo. Into the walls were built entire communities, with solid wooden doors guarding a lone entrance. The Tulous were originally built by the Haka, a people who migrated to these Southern Regions from Northwest China to escape persecution during the Jin dynasty (AD265-314). Each structure was designed to protect its clan from marauding bandits and wild animals. Over 30000 survive today in the region with some still partly in use, though numbers are declining.
In the afternoon, we took a taxi round some of the major Tulous in the area, the most spectacular of which was a community of several called Tianluokeng. From above I think they look just like a Chinese version of the Wimbledon tennis courts. We were allowed to fully explore them, going inside and taking photos.
In one we were offered tea, which the residents farm in the surrounding countryside.
That evening we ate in one of the few local guesthouses in the village,chatting to some Americans staying in the region.
On our second day, we, along with the bus loads of Chinas expanding middle class tourists, walked around the impressive local scenery, akin to the shire in Lord of the Rings. In this yet unseen part of the village were impressive Tulous set against a backdrop of lush green hills, gentle streams and shady trees.
Unlike the Chinese, who paid extra on top of the 100RMB (£10) entrance fee to be driven round in electric buggys, we walked round the newly laid paths(new as in laid in the last year). Hence our walk round the shire was shared with many others, a sign of the growing wealth of the people here. The final night in Yongding County was spent in a Tulou across from our hotel, built way back in 1550(and subsequently burnt and rebuilt in the 19th century). The small bridge was overrun by rainfall earlier in the day so we had to take a detour to get in before the gates closed at 9pm., The accommodation was basic with no shower and a toilet consisting of a bucket. It was novel to sleep in such a place, though the dusty room and hard beds didn’t provide the most comfortable of nights.
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| The Tulou we stayed in |
We took the bus back to Xiamen the next morning, where we met up with Dai, a Japanese doctor turned traveler, who we met when eating the night before. At Xiamen our decision to prebook was justified as all tickets for the day we arrived were sold (as a result Dai couldn’t leave, and so decided to join up with us). After queuing for 45 minutes, at 12:30, one place from the counter the woman at the desk clocked off for lunch for an hour. We were pretty annoyed but they large queue of Chinese people behind us didn’t seem to mind, staying where they were for the hour lunch till the counter reopened (I guess complaining isn’t really an option here). I joined another queue, in the end getting to the front of the new line only 15 minutes before the original terminal opened and booking our tickets for two days ahead. The effort of getting the tickets(sounds fussy but only being there lets one understand) and having had no breakfast meant we were in a stressed state and so ended up devouring a Whopper at the Burger King next to station before grabbing a cab and 5 minute ferry to Gulong Island.
Unfortunately the island, recommended for it’s colonial architecture, wasn’t particularly special, filled with what seemed to be fairly wealthy middle class Chinese tourists. It contained a few beaches and some colonial buildings which weren’t really that interesting(at least to me as a westerner). However we had some good food on the island, a sort of seafood pancake with a dash of mild sauce and some excellent Chinese dumplings which stuffed with pork, herbs and spring onion-very similar to something I had in Krakow.
We had wisely decided to spend 309 RMB(£31) on a bullet train which would take 6 hours to Hangzhou rather than the conventional option of 270 RMB(£27) for a 22 hour slog. This made the journey significantly easier.
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| Robert with Dai on the Bullet train to Hangzhou |
