Day 7 in Xiamen - The Beach

Finally it's Saturday! We are all so ready to kick back and have a restful day. A bit of retreat from everything Chinese... Pancakes for dinner was a hilight! Was a little tricky because the gas stove has a very hot flame that is suitable for a wok, but you can't really turn it down to the temp you'd want for pancakes! The very uneven cooking didn't stop us from enjoying them!

Just to get out a bit, Christine and I went for a walk to the beach. It's about a five minute walk from our apartment, and has a really lovely walkway and rocky coast. 

The main activity at this beach is searching for tiny crabs. I don't know if they eat them, or if they just do it for fun, since in my opinion the crabs are way too small for eating! People of all ages are enjoying Saturday at the beach!

 
 

There were a  group of about 4 older ladies sitting on the rocks, and they signaled me to come sit with them (at least I think that's what they were signalling!). They talked on and on to me, and I answered back, but actually understood absolutely nothing. This is the very friendly lady who sat next to me. I'm sure she has so many stories to tell. It's harder than I thought to be unable to get to know these people and share in their stories.

  This lovely 5-star hotel looks out onto the beach. It's a stark contrast to a lot of what we see, but also a beautiful oasis!




From the beach you can see both ends of this bridge that goes from Jimei, where we live, to Xiamen Island. It's beautiful and modern. If you take a closer look at the boats in front of the bridge, they  look like some type of rafts that people swim off of. Looks like fun!