Last year, I spent this holiday in Shanghai with my roommates at the time. Since them, I have been to Shanghai at least a half dozen times, so I needed to explore a new destination this time around. I decided on a place called Gulangyu.
Small. Island. Beach. Seafood. Green trees. No skyscrapers. No cars. All the positives that drew me to the island.
Now for the negatives: Trash on the beach. Expensive seafood. Too small for so many people. Crowded, crowded, crowded. Such is the downside of traveling during the national holiday. The amount of people traveling across China during this week is equal to the population of the U.S. That's a lot of people! Both the flight to and from were delayed somewhat, though as to why and if this correlates to the amount of people traveling that week, I am not sure. Truth be told, most of my flights within China have been delayed.
Despite the crowds and the dirty beach, the vacation was still very enjoyable, even peaceful. The seafood was quite good and the tourist attractions were interesting. There was a piano museum, a large statue, a high point overlooking the island and the bay- that was probably my favorite. I really liked to look about the island and contrast the small buildings with the tall skyscrapers across the bay, those of the city Xiamen.
I did some swimming in the ocean water but I, being one of the only white boys there, stood out like a shark sighting. Especially since the Chinese are won't to absorb sunshine and everyone else remained in their normal clothes on the beach, not changing into swimwear...When the locals went down to the water, it was mostly just with rolled up pant legs to kick at the waves, so it was amusing for them to see me get in and swim! But we all had fun :-)
