Just generally annoying stuffs.

With all of yesterday's fun of getting some adverts slipped in the taxi window as I was heading home from the airport I forgot to mention some of the less interesting parts of my trip...

This was just a quick trip out of Xiamen for one night, really just to give Tina some time to relax without me - or to make her miss me - something like that. But, because it was a short trip it meant an early morning flight and I had to be at the airport at 06:00. So at 05:30, still half asleep, I wander downstairs to catch a taxi. Getting a taxi is never a problem because there is a 24 hour massage place located in our complex and apparently it does a good business in the late hours.

A twenty minute taxi ride later and I'm at the airport - there were a few times the driver tried to talk to me and in addition to not understanding I was tired and just went with the simple "听不懂" (I liken this to - I don't understand you at all, please stop talking). When we got there the diver couldn't produce a receipt for me, trying to explain in some way how his new car and meter didn't work - I was too tired to argue and more shocked and slightly worried about the hundreds of people at the airport.

Big crowds at airports are never fun, especially at 06:00, but it turned out that they were all big travel groups that felt the need to stand outside and just block all the entrances until each of their 50-60 members were there - once you fought your way through them inside the airport was still empty. There were also several groups inside blocking the security area, but at least the ticket counters were all empty.

The flights up and back were fairly uneventful, for some reason we took a flight with a layover which makes a 2 hour flight take 3-1/2, and then rains at our middle stop delayed us for an hour on the way out and 30 minutes on the way back.

Getting back into Xiamen and apparently we arrived at the same time as several other flights, again masses of people acting like they've never been in an airport and pushing to get somewhere quickly only to realize that they need to go back to wherever they just came from. It get's slightly less annoying every time you go through it. The line for the taxis was as bad as I have ever seen it, taking me almost 30 minutes just to get through that line.

It's the end of the taxi ride that I get most bothered, as the taxi gives me my 50 back explaining that it's a fake. Damn. Now I have to break on of my 100's and find someone else that will accept my fake 50.

Now, I didn't know that the 50 was fake when I tried giving it to the cabbie, and I'm not sure whom I should now try to pawn it off on. I received it from the taxi driver that took me to the airport - he was probably figuring that I was just some foreigner that would never be back again, but the lack of a receipt makes it so that I don't have his taxi number and can't call to lodge a complaint. I should give him credit for that, and as an upside I'll be more observant in the future, even if it is six in the morning and I'm still asleep. It's not even a good fake - it may be hard to spend.

But it is Friday, and 老Joe is in town which means that we will be out at bars, so right now I'm presuming that the 50 will find its way out of my wallet and become someone else's problem before the weekend is through....

Xiamen

We've talked about how Xiamen has gotten some awards for being the friendliest city, the most beautiful, most livable, and some other best of China items. Every city here seems to have at least one thing that everyone can brag about that makes them unique in this country of billions.

We have also noticed a lot of cleanup and changes since we have been here, older buildings being torn down and the constant construction of high rises and more apartment and office space then a city of this size could ever fill. There was a short panic last year, at least from us, when the city went through one of their beautification processes and we were worried that we would never see the girls that polish our shoes again... Luckily they have returned and we have relaxed a little about losing some of the little things that we love the most about living here.

One thing that had disappeared were the young kids crowding at the major intersections spending time throwing cards into open windows or wedging them under car wipers or into door jams while you waited at stoplights. The card they have a ads for girls - I'm presuming that they are for legit massage services, but I can't read the cards. I saw these on my very first trip down to Xiamen and the guys that had picked me up explained that the use kids to had out the cards since the cops don't care as much then...

But all of that seemed to have stopped, probably at least six months ago, and I never really gave it much of a thought. That is, until today when I hopped in a taxi to return home from the airport. When the taxi slowed down to turn onto the main street out of the airport a young boy stepped forward and slid the following two cards into the taxi window and onto my lap... Strange how we hadn't missed this part of Xiamen as much as we missed getting our shoes polished....

Friendliest City in China!

The one thing Mark and I will miss when we return, is how friendly the people are in Xiamen. Last week, I was coming home from Metro, carrying a heavy box full of groceries, as they no longer offer shopping bags, even if wanted to fork out a whopping 3 kuai. Didn't get the memo. I digress. I was leaving the taxi, attempting to carry this box, that was almost falling apart because the cardboard boxes here are very thin, and look like they could disintegrate at any moment. Back to the story, okay, so the young security guard offers to help me, and carries my box of groceries, to our apartment complex. Though he was explaining to me that it wasn't heavy, I saw the beads of sweat over his eyebrows, and I retrieved the box as I now only had to get in the elevator and to our apartment.

As I was standing in the elevator, a middle aged women who works here, wanted to help me with my groceries, and told her politely in Chinese I'm fine, just hit our floor. She pushes the button, and then turns around and grabs the box of groceries. Why? I have no idea, thinking she probably wanted to take a look and see what exactly laowai's eat.

Why, am I mentioning this? Last year Xiamen won the award for being the "Friendliest City in China", by a Beijing based company called Horizonkey.com.

You won't get any arguments coming from me.

Xiamen ranked #1

Yesterday I was reading an article that claimed that Xiamen was chosen as the friendliest city in China.

Questions ranged from economic development, public services, the community, and the environment according to the article I read on the What's on Xiamen website. Hangzhou was second and Shanghai came in third. The year before, Shanghai failed to even make it in the top 10 so it made great improvements over the past year.

As I read this to Mark, he quipped, "I guess we're not the only ones that think that Xiamen is friendly".