I visited Xiamen University and was able to have a quick peek into Chinese school life.
Before we even start to laugh, the Japanese and Americans were also on the same boat before their nations became industrialised. Surely Europe as well during the medieval period.
But during this Xiamen trip, all the negative Chinese stereotypes I know flew out the window.
[To read the rest of the post and see more pictures, click the READ MORE link below]
First things first, I rarely saw people spitting on the streets. People say that this is the only city in China where people do not make spitting in public an ordinary regular thing. I have no idea why. The city has a lot of open green parks for wellness and relaxation. It is also environment-friendly, only allowing entry to bicycles and e-bikes in the city. And although people do not speak English, I was surprised how polite and helpful the locals were.
Well, I got thrown out by the police though, but they did it with finesse haha. Read here: Chinese Police Threw Me Out of the 100-Year Old Mansion Hotel
The story of this entry began on my visit to Xiamen University. I know very little about the university except that it is located across the Nanputuo Temple where I was visiting on the afternoon of my first day in the city. I heard it is a nice place.
After my visit to Nanputuo Temple, where I climbed the cliff at the foot of the Wulaofeng Five-Old-Men chain of hills, although I did not go all the way to the top because I got distracted by the tea offering at Tushita, I went to check out Xiamen University. I did not read any information about Xiamen University beforehand so I came a bit unprepared. Well, I do not mind being spontaneous sometimes.
OF STEREOTYPES & WHERE IS MY ID?
As I entered the what seems to be an old Chinese gate, I was stopped by the security guard and he pointed me to the left where a long line of people was standing behind the railings. You know in China, you have to get used to queuing up. Be it an attraction, a food stand or a university. So I quickly pulled in line hoping that what I am doing is the right thing. The problem is, no one speaks English and I am the ONLY FOREIGNER standing in the line. I tried asking the ladies in front of me if this was indeed the line to get inside the university, but I get replies in Chinese and lots of smiles.
Luckily, a couple behind me overheard my predicament. The guy speaks amazing English, he must have studied abroad, but he offered to help this damsel in distress! He told me that it is indeed the line to the university and from him, I learned a few things about Xiamen University. He said it is one of the most beautiful campuses in China and that they have a nice park inside. Thinking about the line and that it is almost twilight, I was wondering if I ever will get to see that nice park. He further told me that the university was for a time closed to outsiders and they have just recently reopened it back to the public but only on certain days after 17:00.
Well, I can understand if the university wants to tone down the number of tourists visiting. If I was the dean of the school I would not want to see a horde of tourists gallivanting around the campus during school hours. But still quite grateful that they have opened the campus to the public. I am very fine with that!
This is the long queue to enter Xiamen University. All local Chinese tourists, except me.
I got into a really nice conversation with the couple, albeit with the guy because his beautiful girlfriend (she was very tall for a Chinese and looked like a model) don’t speak English well I think, although I believe she can understand as she was listening intently and was smiling and nodding along. They said they were from the north in the region called Shandong and they are local tourists in Xiamen. He even brought up the Philippine president Duterte which he was very amused about in a positive way. This was the time when Duterte was spewing expletives to the USA whilst downplaying the Scarborough shoal issue with China. He was very updated with international news!
As you can see, the Chinese are not only travelling the world but they are also actively travelling in their home country as well. This couple was not the only local tourists I met. In Xiamen, most of the tourists are LOCAL tourists. I realised that China really does not need our foreign money to boost their tourism industry. They can sustain it themselves with their almost 1.4 billion population, the year-on-year GDP growth and the increasing consumer buying power. The Chinese are spending money. They are travelling.
Anyway, the gates to the university were finally opened!
As people were going in one by one through the guarded gate, I noticed that each person had to identify himself with an official ID. Oh no – I do not have my passport with me! I looked around to the couple and the guy quickly understood my predicament. I told him that I left my passport in the hotel. He said not to worry as he tells the guard that I am with them.
When it was our turn, he quickly explained something to the security guard and then he just let me in. Wow, that was nice and quick! I don’t know how thankful I was with this couple who went all the way to help me. I thank them profusely! They have again rescued the damsel in distress for the second time, haha. He then asked me if I am okay to go around on my own. I told him I am fine and thanked him again for the 100th time before saying goodbye.
So yeah, stereotypes exist for a reason but when we encounter situations like this, it does shed some perspective on everything.
XIAMEN UNIVERSITY
I have already been clacking away so I won’t bore you with details about Xiamen University. Below you will find some links with information about the university and my (evening) picture gallery.
Xiamen University website
Xiamen University campus tour photos (daytime because most of the pictures I took were during the evening)
Xiamen University (according to Wikipedia)
Xiamen University campus from the hills of Nanputou Temple.
Xiamen University from the Tushita building in Nanputou Temple.
PICTURE GALLERY XIAMEN UNIVERSITY
The picture gallery is really my campus tour as I was able to witness a few stuff within the 2+ hours I was there. I was able to take a peek into Chinese student-life, albeit really quick.
There were free campus maps but they were in Chinese.
Like most university campuses, you will find a number of shops and mini-marts here.
This dormitory building looks really nice!
Student life and laundry life =)
Just a quick peek into one of the dorms. Many of the students living here keep their doors open.
This cafeteria building's design looks like it is influenced from a Tulou dwelling that is famous in the Fujian countryside. I wanted to visit one but my 72-hour visa-free transit is only valid within Xiamen. At the top of the cafeteria is a restaurant.
The menu at the largest cafeteria in the campus.
This is campus student-life food. Not bad at all, huh. I am lusting after that noodle broth.
I saw 2 cafeterias and this is I believe the biggest of the 2.
This coffee shop called Hu Pan Coffee has colourful post-its all over the place, on the walls and on the glass windows.
The man-made Furong Lake in the campus. It has views to the tallest twin tower buildings in the city, the Conrad. It was a bit dark here though, they seriously need to put some street lighting in this park.
This is the other cafeteria in the campus. I actually wanted to eat here but it looks like they only accept 1 form of payment, and that is through a local card.
I could not go in the library as it has an access point, so I was eavesdropping at this student while she is reserving a seat in the library. Quite high-tech, huh.
Going back to my hotel I picked the bus which was located just outside Xiamen University. All bus routes in Xiamen City is a flat fare of 1 Yuan.
Destination: Siming, Xiamen (Fujian), China
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Happy Travels! Enjoy Life =)
All pictures were taken by a point and shoot pocket camera or a smartphone.