Diplomats and Bureaucrats

When planning my visit, I did not quite realise the extent to which I would be coddled by the entirety of Kelly’s family, not just in the apartment but outside of it. After Kelly’s grandma made us breakfast and Kelly’s dad made us tea and coffee, Kelly’s jiujiu (paternal uncle) drove us to the harbour.

Along with Kelly’s cousin Yiding – a hilariously awkward fourteen-year old who made up for his shyness with a range of animated facial expressions – we took the ferry to the island of Gulangyu. Gulangyu is the site of a former international settlement: It housed a number of Western consulates after China lost the First Opium War and Xiamen was designated a Treaty Port by the Treaty of Nanjing. Nowadays, Gulangyu is a hot tourist spot, offering somewhat polluted beaches that are much better for taking pictures than swimming, as well as pedestrian, European-style streets and views of modern Xiamen.

 Leaving Xiamen for Gulangyu

 A papaya tree

 I am not sure what monument this is.

The coast at Gulangyu

We walked down the beach for a while before climbing up Sunlight Rock, the tallest point on the island. It was late in the morning, so the tourist masses were swelling by the second, and the peak became a trap as people clambered up while blocking the way for others to get down. Kelly smartly decided not to take part in the last leg of the ascent, regaling us with quizzical looks from the bottom of the rock.

 A temple at Gulangyu

 A statue of Guanyin

 Dragon statue

 The view from Sunlight Rock

 Xiamen across the water

Another view from Sunlight Rock

Kelly regaling us with quizzical looks

After escaping the stony furnace, we dragged our way through the island in the increasingly unbearable heat of the afternoon sun. We visited a garden and a piano museum, and ate a lot of shellfish for lunch. Having seen several consulates and churches – and with Kelly requesting breaks every now and then – we decided it was just about time to head back again.

 Sunlight Rock on the right

 A hotel

 Art deco

 A fusion of Western and Eastern features

 Catholic Church at Gulangyu

 Another view of the Catholic Church

 A statue of Christ

 The streets of Gulangyu

 Low tide

 A ship and a view of Modern Xiamen

 An organ at the organ museum

 The streets of Gulangyu, with modern Xiamen in the background

Modern Xiamen

The adventures of the day did not end there, however. When we came back to Kelly’s flat, I reminded her about a doubt I had been entertaining for a few days: That I could simply waltz out of a plane in China and stay at a person’s home. Kelly originally assured me this would pose no problems, but after checking the internet, she found that we would have to report at the nearest police station. Her uncle drove us there not once but twice, as the instructions on the internet were not entirely accurate and we had to return for extra materials. While Kelly brought documents proving her residency as she was instructed to, the police officer on site additionally requested a document proving her parents do indeed own the apartment they claim to own. Kelly’s frustration was contrasted by her uncle’s remarkable stoicism throughout the whole bureaucratic ordeal.