Xiamen

I'm in Xiamen. If you'll trace your finger along a map of China according to where I've been thus far I've nearly come full circle, geographically speaking. Xiamen is an absolutely lovely city, possibly my favorite yet. It's right on the ocean, mildly hilly, good cost of living, very clean, really delicious cuisine, etc. This city is also the 'least Chinese' that I've been to, in terms of atmosphere. The downtown is decorated with buildings from many different architectural styles. There is a heavy Spanish and Portugese influence there. It almost felt like Cuba when I was having a stroll the other day. It is a little less crowded than some of the other cities, and also windier. The first time I went to Nanning I said "one day I will live here" (see an earlier blog). And now here I am living in Nanning (at least until August anyway). I got the same feeling when I came to Xiamen, I think one day I will live here.