Fujian and tourism in China

A brisk 3 day trip (it should have been 4, but a typhoon warning cancelled all trains for a day) to Fujian last month with my mum brings up some of the typical issues in tourism nowadays in China which is quite interesting to share.

Fujian is the province on Mainland China opposite Taiwan. It's capital, Xiamen is a large and bustling city with a small island no more than a mile or so long and half a mile wide. A century or so ago, when the Western Countries forced China to cede some territory in key cities that could be used for the Western Countries to establish trading posts, this island was one of them and it remains full of grand colonial mansions. It is car-free, leafy, hilly and pleasant. It is also known for its pianos as all the mansions used to have them. We didn't stay on the island, but in the main city, finding a nice airbnb place that was particularly kid friendly (since with 3 adults and 2 kids its better having an apartment than a hotel).

I first visited the area a decade or so ago and found it fairly busy, but away from the little port with dumpy tourist shops it was quiet and pleasant, with some nice little beaches too. Many of the mansions were run-down, which was part of the charm of the island. Now they have built an extra two ports on the island to handle the large number of (mostly domestic) tourists! Yet most of the shops are now more upmarket and trendy; many of the mansions have been restored, which is nice, and some turned into nicer shops, restaurants or hotels. I had feared the worst, but it was better than I had expected. On the whole it's not been too badly managed, although the beaches are unfortunately not particularly pleasant with driftwood and rubbish floating around since the seas around Xiamen are very busy trade routes.

Outside of Xiamen, previously a 3 hour bus ride away, but now only a 1 hour fast train ride away, in the hills are where the Hakka people live--or at least used to live. Trying to keep safe in the face of persecution from other groups of Chinese, they had fled to the hills and built the massive buildings which are almost fortresses. An entire village in one circular building (though some are also square or other shapes) where literally hundreds of people lived (the largest had 600 people living inside it and more than 200 rooms across 4 or 5 floors). The oldest were built seven hundred years ago but the most recent ones were built only 50 years ago. In fact they were designed with kitchens on the ground floor, bedrooms on the first and second floors, and grain storage on the third floor. Each had several wells, and in the middle of the buildings would be the toilets and wash areas as well as barns for the animals. They are truly unique with just a couple hundred of these buildings remaining and nowhere else in the world.

Returning to this area, again a decade later, and apart from the high-speed train, not a lot more has changed. There is some accommodation available inside these incredible buildings (known as "tulou" or "earth building") but not too much, partly due to the high cost of converting these buildings to be suitable for tourists to stay in (e.g. on-suite bathrooms etc), partly due to the dispersed ownership (each family only owns one room in each building), and partly due to the lack of interest from tourists in staying there (Chinese like their mad-dash tours where they do as much as possible in a short time and thus would just come visit for the day from Xiamen; they also like the more typical modern Hotel). It is a shame that more people do not stay overnight and experience living in these buildings, but they are a real highlight of China and thankfully being fairly well managed. I can recommend staying in the Fuyulou Changdi building.

There are fairly high entrance fees to see some of the buildings where the money is split between the local government, the local village committee and the building owners themselves which seems to work well and provides some funds for renovation and restoration. Of course many people have moved out to live in the cities so many of the buildings are sparsely populated compared to their peak period but there are farmers still living there and others looking to make money from tourists, selling tea or other souvenirs and local products. The Chinese do love their local agricultural products, and you'll often see them bringing entire boxes of apples or something or other with them on planes.

There is still not much interest in exploring the countryside, at least in this area; and China generally still hasn't found much interesting in hiking or trekking or exploring (though of course there are exceptions in some locations and with a growing domestic youth backpacker movement). It is mostly a tour bus or drive-by-car culture; take the photos; buy the souvenirs; get an introduction by the tour guide; move onto the next place.

With so many high speed trains now all over the place, it is much quicker and easier to get around; with so many places using wechat or alipay (a mobile phone based payment system), you don't need cash or cash machines any more. You have to beware the over-priced souvenirs and food, but you can find more local products to buy if you look, whilst carefully avoiding all the selfie sticks of course (it seems most phones don't even get taken out of the selfie stick any more!).

On the whole then, tourism in China is being managed fairly well. and that is nice to see.... it is not easy balancing gigantic numbers of people with cultural preservation. providing a real experience and supporting local jobs, but I think China has learned fast and has made much progress compared to the past. Although the tourists' habits have not changed as much (though fewer tour buses now and more Audis), they seem to be slightly better behaved!

Leah's words and Hannah's leadership

As Leah gets into her stride in her third year, she will likely start speaking, or to put it another way, she will use the same words that we use, and she will use more words!

At the moment she has a favorite word "yaya" (which is not a word in Chinese or English) which tends to mean either water or toilet (it is normally possible to work out which); another frequently used word is "jiejie" (which is a word in Chinese for big sister) and Leah likes using it along with the word "my" (which is a word in English) when she distinguishes between whose food, pencils, dolls or shoes she is playing with, pointing at or thinking about.

As other parents know kids tend to start speaking a few syllables and build from there, so the "m" is a frequently used one (of course the first use is "mama") and none much more so than "more" (English, of course). She just uses the simple "m" for milk. The other frequently used syllable stems from "baba" (Dad in Chinese) and includes "baobao" (Hug in Chinese).

There are some other syllables she sometimes uses, and some other words she occasionally pronounces when asked to, but then doesn't re-use. But there is a long way to go; much like Hannah, who only really got into her stride once she was close to her third birthday. These bilingual kids are slow speakers. The strange aspect of all this though is that her listening is very good, understanding thousands of different words, with just exceptions of words and concepts she cannot understand yet (such as distinguishing different colors).

It means you get to have amusing conversations with her as you have to guess everything she is saying based on context and her pointing, repeat it back to her and see if she confirms you are on the right path or not. Very one-sided, but of course we don't want to dent her confidence even if most of what is coming out is unintelligible.

She is though slowly getting more into reading and starting to listen to stories rather than just look at pictures; but she still lacks the patients to do too much and has such a strong character that she'll sooner or later decide she wants to do something else, or pick a different page in the book no matter what. Thankfully the biting has stopped now, though there is the odd bit of hitting if Leah doesn't get her way and can't explain her feelings properly.

In fact she is very very strong willed, proactively going to the toilet or taking a banana; putting on her shoes and opening the door to go outside and so on. This can be a pain when she wants to copy Hannah and refuses anything else... so even if she doesn't want or like something she will still demand it because Hannah has, and even if she does not understand something, she will still do it because Hannah has. On the whole it is great, since Hannah is such a good girl; generally very obedient, good at brushing her teeth, eating and the like.

It does sometimes lead to problems when Leah can't to what Hannah does, such as running fast or playing games with her friends, but Leah does try and play with them. It is funny how keen she is on playing with Hannah and with Hannah's friends, when she has no interest in playing with other kids her own age, instead usually seeing them as competition. And let's say that Leah definitely has not understood the concept of sharing yet! So Leah is in an interesting mindset where she is very strong willed but still very obedient to do what Hannah wants.

Yesterday evening Hannah voluntarily went to shampoo her own hair in the shower which is incredible as she usually hates that (all kids at some point put soapy fingers in eyes and then fear soap again for years, as far as i can tell). This was from the conversation earlier that morning when we discussed that she needs to wash her hair so it would be easier to brush. Her memory is fantastic, though selective...she rarely remembers what happened at kindergarten, maybe because it is so similar each day that not much stands out, but she will always remember specific things that her teacher says, such as around wearing certain clothes for the next day, and always remember other things we say and remember places we have been to before.

Hannah is definitely not shy, and is the driving force when playing with her friends; she is also actively talking to her friends at school and arranging play dates for after-school and enjoys giving instructions to others, not least Leah, who usually is very obedient. It makes me wonder whether their personalities would be different if they were not sisters, i..e. would Hannah be as bossy if she did not have a younger sister to give instructions to, and would Leah be as obedient if she was not so used to following instructions.

Thankfully Hannah's friends do like listening to her and she has 3 or 4 very close friends who she wants to see every day (and she usually does at kindergarten, though this is never enough) and normally gets to play with most evenings and some weekends.

So what is wrong with this picture which is so rosy and happy with two fantastic girls getting along so well with everyone including each other and their parents? Everything seems fine so that must mean something will change for the worse with one of the two girls, or the relationship between them, at some point, won't it?