Mid-autumn festival and exploring Xiamen

This past Monday was the mid-autumn festival here in China.

I know what you're all thinking.

MID-autumn?! It's not even the beginning of autumn yet.

Remember, though, China works on the lunar calendar, not the solar, and on the 15th day of the eighth month of every year, the Chinese (and Koreans and Japanese and Vietnamese) celebrate this holiday.

I can't really comment on the festival's origins or traditions since I didn't really partake in any. But I'll include a link here so that you can read up on it if you're interested.

The two things that I did do was eat moon-cakes and play bobing, also know as "moon-cake gambling." The interesting thing is that we teachers actually played bobing at the school on the last day of class before the holiday. Apparently, gambling on school property is not frowned upon. And what's more, the school actually gave out cash prizes to the winners! I wound up with 40RMB, Maffi won 30RMB, and Loren was the big winner with 100RMB. We were also all given a cash "bonus" for the holiday as well.

I purchased the mooncakes at one of the local grocery stores. Mooncakes come in all shapes, sizes, and flavors so I chose chocolate, sweet potato, and jasmine tea. Traditionally, mooncakes have egg yolk in the middle to symbolize the moon. In the pictures below (of my chocolate mooncake) you can see the little bit of yellow peeking out.

We foreign teachers decided a better way to celebrate our three day holiday from school would be to explore the south of the island.

Now, Xiamen is an island, but there are also parts of Xiamen located on the mainland and that's where I live. All of the touristy spots, however, are on the island and Maffi and Loren assured me that the south of the island was the place to be.

So on Sunday morning we hopped on bus 946 and took a quick 30 minute ride south. It was a gorgeous, sweltering, 90 degree day. Perfect for sightseeing--and regular bouts of heat exhaustion. 

We began our excursion at "Little Taiwan" where we perused the seemingly endless alleyway of wall to wall food and fruit stalls. The majority of the vendors catered to seafood lovers and I saw everything from lobsters to octopus tentacles to whole fried squids. There was also more traditional fare like dumplings and ice cream. I was completely overwhelmed with the array of sights and smells that seemed to float from every direction. I was definitely ready for a snack after our little bus ride but every time I was sure that I had seen the most delicious thing to eat and was ready to buy, my eye caught something else. The end result being that I made it down the entire alleyway without making a single purchase.

Yes. Those are octopus tentacles. On a stick.

I think I could get a week of meals out of one of those bad boys.

We left Little Taiwan for Zhong Shan Lu which is the "walking street" of Xiamen (appropriately called that because it's a pedestrians-only street). There we found an eclectic blend of restaurants, cafes, clothing stores, jewelry stores, food marts and, of course, WalMart. The brands ranged from  obscure, foreign companies I'd never heard of to things like Nike and Sephora. Along the way there were also a few stages set up for televised events to advertise different products.

Occasionally, we would come across an employee standing at the entrance to a store loudly clapping their hands at the passersby. In answer to my questioning look, Loren explained that the "clappers" were used to attract people's attentions and draw customers into the store. Ever the actor, I had to restrain myself from bowing or curtsying as we walked by our clearly adoring audiences.

Along "walking street," Loren found a small food stall that he had visited before which made exquisite spring rolls for 3.5RMB (about 57 cents). With our hunger satisfied we opted for another short bus ride that would take us closer to the beach.

Before rushing off to the sand and waves, we visited the Nanputuo temple, a gorgeous religious complex full of shrines, statues and exquisitely designed buildings. I know I've been in China for almost two weeks but aside from the language barrier and the people it hadn't really hit me that I was in China until I saw the entryway to the temple. 

Here at last was the China that we see in the movies and drool over in the guidebooks. Here was the quintessential image of the East that's been firmly stamped in our minds since we were kids. Finally, finally, I had made it to that fantasized version of China. 

The grounds of the temple are extensive and due to the heat we only explored a small portion of it. Still, what we did see was breathtaking. Unlike some temples, this one allowed photography and I wandered around snapping shots of the architecture and of the devout paying obeisance to the array of gods perched behind glass panes or sequestered away in candlelit alcoves. 

We did wander a little ways up the mountainside and came across a small shrine tucked away in a small cave. Here people (or perhaps the monks?) had left statues that apparently had continued to grow into a collection over the years. 

(apologies for the poor quality--it was really dark in there!)

The main building of the temple actually involves a hike up the mountainside so, with a promise to return in the cooler month of November, we contented ourselves with the ground level buildings and then went off in search of lunch. 

One of the biggest problems I've faced so far in China is the simple fact that I can't read anything! So something as simple as finding a place to eat can be quite difficult. Especially if the entire menu is in Chinese and has no pictures. So the two things we usually look for when scoping out a restaurant is 1) whether they have menus with pictures and 2) whether or not the restaurant is full. A busy restaurant is typically a good restaurant and a safe bet for a meal.

After wandering up and down a few streets we came across a small place that seemed to match our criteria so we sat down and hoped for the best. We were pleasantly surprised. For less than $2.50, I wound up with a heaping plate of exceptional beef and noodles!

The last leg of our trip was a brisk walk from the restaurant to the seaside. Check that. It was 90 degrees so it was more like a slow, perspiring shuffle. Regardless, we made it in about ten minutes and gratefully plopped down in the sand under the shade of the overpass. 

Since I've been spoiled by Australian beaches, I've got pretty high standards for them. This one ranked somewhere in the middle. It was mostly clean and the sand was soft and smooth. The water temperature was warm enough that I didn't let out my customary squeal, but not so warm that it wasn't refreshing. However, the water was pretty muddy and I could feel a fair amount of sediment and other "sea bits" rummaging between my toes as I waded around. Loren assured me that the "good" beaches were further along the coast so more exploration is in order. But until then, I can certainly content myself with this one. The ocean is the ocean and it still mesmerizes me wherever I am.

Per Chinese culture there were very few people actually in the water or out in the sun. Here the ocean is just something to look at or briefly stroll next to. Sunbathing is very uncommon since the Chinese prefer to keep their skin light. I had expected people to show up with swim gear and sunscreen and instead I found myself smiling at the primly dressed women in their frilly sundresses trying to make their way across the sand in high heels. (Yes. High heels! They wouldn't even take them off at the beach. Did I mention that Chinese people are obsessed with height? Here tall is beautiful and it is rare to see a woman walking around without a heel, wedge or platform of some kind on her feet, regardless of what she's doing. They'll even go hiking in them!!)

Our day concluded back on "walking street" where I found some delicious fruit sorbet to top off the afternoon. All in all, it was a relaxing and informative excursion and seeing as south Xiamen is only 30 minutes away, there will be countless more trips there throughout the year.

If you'd like to see all of the pictures from my trip, just click here!