While my Wife and her Younger Sister were off in Beijing, I took my daughters to nearby Quanzhou for a couple visits after they had recuperated a bit. One of our first stops was the city’s East Lake Park.

Quanzhou, though, is perhaps best known historically as the Asian end of the Marine Silk Route, or the Silk Route of the Sea, for its being the major point that the outside world–in particular the Arab world–traded with in the Song and Yuan Dynasties.

As I shared a bit earlier in this blog:

Back in Quanzhou’s heyday 400+ years ago, Arabic people were settled here in such great numbers that many became political and civic leaders–one even rose to the Number 2 position in the Fujian provincial government. But when that phase of China’s openness to the world ended, many of these people opted to stay, adopting Chinese-esque names. Round here, the surname “Ding” is actually the family line of one large group of Middle Eastern people who intermarried and decided to stay put.

We found Quanzhou an enjoyable place to visit. It’s the next administrative region up the ladder from Jinjiang (meaning that Jinjiang is one of the counties reporting to Quanzhou), but seems a bit more refined in the culture and arts department.

Anyway, the next several entries here will feature some Quanzhou highlights, but first we’re just starting out with some scenes from our visit to the aforementioned East Lake Park.

That last shot shows a unique-looking apartment complex, in a style I saw quite a few places exhibiting around Quanzhou. Never found out if the architectural style reflects some historical angle, but wouldn’t be surprised if it does.

We’re here for the next several posts; better bone up on your Quanzhou lore by reading Mystic Quanzhou (City of Light).

On the morning we were getting ready to leave Xiamen for other points on Fujian’s map, my Wife and Younger Daughter (age 2) weren’t quite ready to head out yet, so I took our Elder Daughter (age 4) across the street to wander around the Marco Polo hotel for awhile.

We had a great time walking up and down the grand staircases, exploring big dark empty “Cinderella ballrooms,” as she thought they looked like, and just checking out the scene.

At one point we ended up near a back entrance off the beaten path and found a scene where she asked to have her picture taken. Being as how she’s sometimes camera-shy, this was a pleasant surprise.

She was four when this picture was taken, and since has just turned five, but I’m going to leave a message for her here in case she someday finds this entry and has a question or two.

Dear Elder Daughter,

I’m calling you “Elder Daughter” here not because I’m trying to sound all Confucian or anything, but because your mother and I don’t like the idea of putting your name on the Web. Even though it’s a darn cool name.

Thank you for asking to have your picture taken that day at the Marco Polo in Xiamen. The way you asked, so thoughtfully and politely, was one of the sweetest things I’d ever seen and heard.

I have to apologize, though. I’m the one who helped you get dressed that morning–your mother was sleeping late–and so I’m to blame for putting striped Big Bird-like stockings and purple tennis shoes together with your beautiful dark flower dress and red coat. But see, they were all in the “clean clothes” suitcase that morning, and they all fit, and for Daddies like me, that’s the same as, “Hey, perfect match!”

Don’t worry, though. You were still picture perfect. And thank you again for all your smiles and giggles. That was a great morning.

Love,

Dad

Some quintessential Xiamen-related bedtime reading:

China’s Industrial Reform and Open-Door Policy 1980-1997: A Case Study from Xiamen (Ashgate Studies on the Economic Reform of China)

This is Uncle Ted in front of the house…This is Uncle Ted at the back of the house…And this is Uncle Ted at the side of the house….

This is the back of the house, with Uncle Ted coming round the side to the front…And this is the Cultural Revolution hiding behind the coal shed….

M’kay, just to tip this blog’s mundaneometer a tad bit further to the right, here are some pictures of the apartment, or flat, or condo, or whatever you want to call it, that we stayed at while in Xiamen. (Just a stone’s throw from the Marco Polo hotel, for those of you who have any notion of the layout of Xiamen.)

The place belongs to one of my Wife’s cousins–it’s sort of their “Weekend Home,” though they’ve been thinking of renting it out.

The partially-covered front balcony:

This is Uncle Ted behind the front door:

One side of the living room:

The other side of the living room, with the home office through the window:

The dining room (modeled by our girls and their dogs having breakfast)–and the darndest thing about that goldfish in the bowl in the center of the table: We asked my Wife’s cousin if we should feed the fish while we were there, and she looked at us like we were nuts. There’s a sprig of some plant, a vine, in the bowl, and the fish apparently nibbles at the plant and in return provides the nutrients to keep it growing. It had been living that way, one fish, one plant, no water changes, for nearly a year. Make me feel silly for the filters and food and water treatment drops we’ve spent for our goldfish:

The kitchen:

There is also a nice hall bathroom and two bedrooms, but I somehow ended up with no great pictures of those.

In case you need more Xiamen apartment video tours, this fellow has one too.

And if you seriously think you might like to get into the real estate game in Xiamen (or anywhere in China, really), better buy this first–or make sure your legal adviser has a dog-eared copy on his or her bookshelf: