a day to jimei

the best company one can have, is oneself. haha, if there's good company, the journey would be interesting too but sometimes, it's important to have personal space and some private time to be immersed in one's own world.

 

that, is my perspective. so despite the blazing sun, i embarked on another journey, this time taking the bus all the way to Jimei Island. Xiamen's made up of Xiamen Island, Jimei Island, Zhang Zhou and Haicang. The main city is on Xiamen Island, which is also where the main campus of Xiamen Uni is. (at this point, I have this urge to write in chinese because the adjectives and names are more apt in chinese. what an achievement! i have started the transition to better chinese standards! ;P). To get to Jimei Island, the bus crossed the Xiamen Bridge and the view of the two islands separated by a wide channel was quite a sight. Jimei Island was quiet, dusty and noticeably less vibrant than Xiamen Island. It was rather like the suburban cousin of the bright city - which it probably is. The streets were lined with small shops, and their owners were sitting outside on stools, sipping tea while gambling/watching people walk by/chatting. Jimei University looked new from far, but on closer inspection, it did not have the comfortable, worn in charm of Xiamen Uni.

 

While walking along the street, I was handed a flyer and asked by this very ernest looking lady to pick a lucky draw slip from the pink bag she was holding. I wouldn't usually stop to take a second look, but the street was narrow and empty and she looked like she had been waiting all day, melting in the sun just to get a passerby's attention, and despite the obvious heat, she still sounded chirpy and enthusiastic. If anything, i admired her perseverance. so, apparently it was my lucky day and i won a complimentary 68yuan facial! wahaha im sure the entire bag had only 1 type of slip, but before i could protest and slip away, she held my arm and led me to the facial shop, which was located in the neighbourhood just behind the street. Truth be told, i was rather taken aback and was feeling very suspicious that the shop was in a house (the typical chinese house is NOT very pretty). But the shop was indeed in the house and there was a shop front (easy enough to fake), real products displayed (also easy to fake), and even beauticians there who were 'so happy to see me'. They sat me down to congratulate me, and started explaining the facial steps, saying how it will elp improve skin etc. While being polite, i firmly declined the offer and made up some excuse to get out. Then they looked at me and said, "其实, 你的皮肤保养得很好, 真漂亮啊! " and they both kept smiling while looking at me, and saying, "小姐真挺漂亮, 又是读厦大."  So they decided that there was not much use trying to persuade me to go for the facial, and they started chatting with me. Haha.. quite hilarious. This is China, the land where all is possible, and I ought to be on my guard, but these two ladies didn't seem like cheats. rather, i felt humbled that while i get to study, and be so free as to ake a bus aorund to wander, there were people out there who have to toil in order to survive. They are willing to withstand rude people, the merciless sun, bullies and unpleasant working conditions because of they have to earn money, honestly. I checked out the shop name, and there's one right in Xiamen Uni's shopping area , so they probably weren't cheats. perhaps im just gullible, but there's no need to be so suspicious too yeah.

 

Instead of the usual taxis, jimei had little blue bread taxi vans 面包车. the drivers would honk at passerbys, and they would pick up several people headed in the same direction. I wanted to return to Xiamen Island and had great difficulty finding the bus stop. the jimei bus stops seemed to be invisible sign posts that only the locals could see. For a moment i panicked, cos the streets were rather quiet and somehow, i felt that many people were turning to look at me when i walked past. That was not a nice feeling cos it's either there's no one else to look at, or i stick out like a sore thumb, and am about to get into trouble. Seeking help from the kiosk owners was exasperating cos they would either say 1)我不知道! I don't know or 2) point in some random direction before you finish asking. Quite unhelpful huh.. especially since the bus stop ( as i discovered later) was a mere 10m away from the last kiosk i asked directions from. sigh..

 

on the way back, across the xiamen bridge, a giant banner greeted us "Welcome to the special economic zone of xiamen!", and a strange but comforting feeling of home beckoned.