Amoy Wanderings

I took a walkabout today and encountered some very interesting sights. I'll try to give some commentary, but mainly I'll let the pictures speak for themselves since I don't know a whole lot about the area and I was just discovering it by myself. Enjoy the pics and feel free to ask questions in the comments section. My walk began at the North Train Station and it's surrounding garden. I really didn't know what I would find, so I was delighted when I happened upon a traditional Chinese theater, or at least that is what I think it is. There were many Chinese tourists there, and I just wandered around and took a few photos. The rest of the pictures are just from various things I saw including an open sewer, a few horses (a rare sight especially when they are in good condition), and an open market. And, a bonus to the day, I got a picture of the saxophonist who regularly plays in the underground walkway outside o

When we left for China, we had some idea as to what possible living situations we might face, but we knew that Chinese standards and western standards can differ drastically. For example, we were told we would have a furnished apartment and told not to bring too many household items. When we arrived at 11:30 pm, we were shown into a clean, furnished apartment. We were impressed with the general cleanliness of the apartment and with made beds; we were surprised and disappointed with the lack of toilet paper (there was none) and potable water (can't drink from the tap here), and the local store had closed long before we arrived. But we were so tired that we just fell into bed, planning on dealing with those issues in the morning. Fortunately, I had exchanged some currency before the trip and the next morning was able to go out and buy us breakfast and some basic necessities. Other things that surprised us (well at least me) were that the kitchen had nothing in it aside from the sto