Xiamen

I arrived in Xiamen (Sharman) and it practically took a crain to lift me from the comfort of my luxury steed. Begrudingly, I gave it up and off I went, into the reality of the real world...To find a Taxi! This is normally not a problem. Taxi's a readily available. The problem is, to find someone who can read a map and speak a little bit of English, to get you to where it is, you want to go. I had a small head start and after previous dificulties, learnt this quickly. At the previous guest house, find someone who can speak English and get them to write your next destination down, in Chinese. Simple. But not always so.
I eventually find a lovely girl, on the street, who directs my taxi driver to the closest YHA. After a little concern that I am being driven half way across the surface of the planet. I arrive at a leafy, quiet , cosy, Guest house and as usual, I am the only Westerner to be seen for miles. I am really getting use to not having a conversation containing words of more than 3 cyllables. The food was good and the bed was big and comfy. This is all a girl needs right?
Until you try to find some where to consume breakfast or a good hardly lunch...or any meal of any type in fact.
I eventually and after much trouble, came upon a dumpling resturant, that did a decent and cheap feed of dumplings for breakfast. The rest I am sad to say, ended up being the likes of KFC and MacDonalds for lunch! Yuck! I know but when starving in a country with no where else to eat...what more can a girl do?
After that little stumbling block, I pretty much spent my time milling about the guest house and relaxing the days away. Only Twice did I venture far. Once to organise my train ticket to Shanghai. (This is usually a simple task that takes a god part of a day to complete. You have to go through the usual hurdles, leaps and bounds, sumbling blocks, hoops and high wires to get things done. But eventually you do. All the while muttering under ones breath...this is F**king China!)
And the other, to Gulangya Island.