Tonight was the first night I spent in Xiamen. I was extremely tired from all my traveling earlier so the prison like bed didn’t seem as hard. Again I woke up at 5:00am naturally and opened the curtains to my room. The view again is simply breath taking but the bathroom was the opposite.
I took my shower quickly and prepared for my day. Downstairs two Xiamen University journalism students were waiting for us to take a tour of the South Putuo Temple. Though I had not heard of this place nor did I have a general idea of what it was, I was naturally excited to cease the day.
I met “Emma” along with other volunteers and they took us outside the gates of the campus and toward this little village. When I arrived at the temple the smell of incents burned my nose. I looked to my left and noticed people bowing three times with a burning incent in their hands. This gave me a shift of emotion from playful to serious.
Emma informed us that this was the place that the people went to pray to Buddha. This is also where the monks go to pray for the people of China. I got to witness the monks in prayer and the people of Xiamen kneel and pray. This filled me with a sense of respect for the temple and made me put my camera away for a while.
We walked through the decorated walls to the mountainside and climbed the scenic route to the top of the mountain where the view was astonishing. We could see the entire island from the top. Though the climb was very tiring it was worth it in the end. We took several pictures then started to leave the temple.
For lunch Emma told us of this noodle and soup combination that can only be found at Xiamen University named “Cha-Sha” noodles. This is what we would have for lunch. The soup kitchen style café we entered had very poor ventilation and the chefs looked like they had been sweating over the food all day. Though this was not the most appealing atmosphere I did not let this stop me from trying something Xiamen is “famous” for producing.
It was similar to build your own noodle bowl so I could pick what went into my dish specifically. This I enjoyed! I picked shrimp, oysters, and crab which together only cost 7 RMB. Costly and appetizing I watched as they prepared my meal. I ate the first bite and knew I would demolish this meal. I had worked up an appetite and was very pleased with the legendary “Cha-Sha” noodles.
After the meal we had a few hours to return to the room and rest before the “Hip-Hop” show the university would be hosting tonight.
That’s right, I had a hard time believing it to, an all Chinese Hip Hop show. To my surprise it was outstanding! The show included break dancing, pop locking, and well as some jazz and free style pieces.
The entire day made me extremely tired and once again that hard bed definitely sufficed for tonight.