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We still have a house there, I lived there and attended the Xiamen University for two years....TAKE MONEY! Usually nice weather - meaning clear air, but it all depends on wind direction from mainland. Others can advise you on "age appropriate" things to do, and as I also understand most of the KTV's and Disco's have been moved out of town and on the beach - beyond the University. Sort of putting all the places one can get in trouble in one place. It's a great little island, albeit crowded, but the seafood is good. Hard to find a bad place to eat - they just don't last long. They will not serve Snake or Turtle, something about a local law....but the underground still serves them - next to Wall Mart closest to Taiwan Village! Not sure about the hotel you selected - suspect it will be local Chinese style - don't set expectations too high. There are several "BIG NAME" hotels that have entertainment, Holiday Inn, SHeraton, etc in the town. Last I was there, Nov 2010 - no Hyatt or Mandarin Oriental, two of my favorite places. Main street in town is alive - crowded - but is good for "walking around". Not to far from the ferry to GuLangYu - which is a fun day trip or a night or two stay. Visit the Piano Museum there. Lot's of places to get snacks - watch the Chinese all walk on the sand, stand at waters edge and take a picture, and then check "Beach" off the list. As a last item, I feel perfectly safe walking around Xiamen - at all hours of the day and night. Doesn't mean something won't happen but the chances are low. Have fun...

Now that we have been here in Flushing for a few months, here are some thoughts about life in the big city. First off, Day to day life in Flushing, you can almost forget you are in NYC. It is only an occasional glimpse of the Empire State Building ore Freedom Tower off in the distance the can remind you. Also, the local media helps you remember as well. Living in California, there was a perception than New Yorkers believed they were the center of the universe. Living here now, I can say that is true. They do believe they are the center of the universe. I have to laugh when I hear things like NYC truly is Middle America, or how Washington might be the capital of the US, but NYC is the capital of the world. Really? And the other perception is true as well. Of all the paces I have been in the US, NYC drivers are by far the worst. Here in Flushing you throw in the fact that most of the drivers probably learned to drive in China or Korea and well… Now as Panda tours starts research for places to see here, one place you can scratch off the “must see” list is Rockefeller Center. I took Jen down there on New Year’s Day to see the big tree. (Local media states it is a must see at Christmas time) Both of us had the same thought, “that’s it?” Times Square is a much better bet. Once you figure it out, the subway is a wonderful way to get around. Just watch out for crazy people. They seem to like to push folks onto the tracks when you stand too close. Now back to Flushing, the food here is outstanding. The combination of Chinese and Korean places is real good. I have some leads on finding the great pizza places around, but that makes for traveling to the Bronx or Brooklyn. Here in Flushing, NYC could easily fund the government by simply putting police on the corners of the intersections on Main Street and hand out tickets for J-walking. I have not seen such blatant ignoring of walk signals since, well, China. But then, I’ve almost been hit a few times by MTA busses while walking with a walk signal. But I can’t knock the city. They have important work to do like protecting New Yorkers from the evil Big Gulp. I hope I don’t cross the political line here, but it seems so silly to me that as of March, most places will be banned from serving a soda over 16 ounces, while you can find a Dunkin Doughnuts every 100 feet. The last thing I’ll mention this time around, I’m not sure if this is a cultural, thing or a city thing, or a youth thing. When I was in the sixth grade, I, like so many children, entered the world of wearing prescription glasses. In the years that followed, I lived through all of the usual taunting that goes with the glasses. Imagine my surprise, when I start seeing younger girls wearing glasses, with no lenses. Did I miss something? Are glasses now so cool that young folk desire to wear them even when they don’t need them? I even saw a girl wearing contacts to color her eyes, and then frames with no lenses. Oh well, maybe I’m getting to the point when I have to start saying things like, “kids these days.” Well before I ramble on further, I must go. There are things to do and more observations to make. In all, I think the move east will turn out to be a good one for Jen and I. We are still adjusting, but in the end, I think we will do fine here.

I've got a funny story about that thar smog stuff. I've lived in very clean air for many years and on my first trip to me the store bought mail order bride I lined up a hotel room in a very nice hotel in Beijing and rented a room high enough up tht it completely overlooked the entire Forbidden City as well as mots of T-man Square. Okay, that first day we check in and you could see all of the Forbidden CIty before the sun went down and in the evenings they light up the roof tops wiht lights that highlite the curved roofs, etc. Yeah well.....we take off the next morning and goes see teh sights, come back and you can barely see the lights on the rooftops....lol Next morning....no more being able to see the Forbidden CIty, it was more like the Hidden Forbidden City. And with one more day left in Beijing we never saw anymore of the place....it was smogged in. Then we went up to Fushun for a few weeks and flew back down to Smogville for our last two days together. Oh my Gawd, we get into a cab to head back to the same hotel and I swear the air counldn't have been any worse if I had had an exhaust pipe from an old car blowing right in my face....actually, that's what it felt like, only I couldn't move away from the exhaust pipe...lol Wenyan and I got a laugh out of it. One one of the many rides back to Shenyang for me to catch a departure flight there on the outskirts of Shenyan is a 3 huge smike towers and buddy they put out many tons of pollutants in the air....I pointed it out to Wenyan with a laugh and said how in America they used to do that and then they made strict laws about it. Her off the cuff comment..."China official have laws too but one official give money ot other official and official stop look." I take all that crap in stride on my trips and laugh about it, it is what it is, many of our cities used to be like that, so the Chinese will turn it around, too....in their own time. I'm not a finger pointer like I see on other boards about China this and China that, especially when we've been no better in our time. They'll turn it around. Anybody remember flying around to different cities in America and seeing huge yellowish brown clouds over the larger cities in the distance as your plane few towards them? We had it just as bad in many of our own cities. I am glad our home over yonder is on the outskirts of the city proper, we have plenty of trees on one side of us that is undeveloped and the city on the other side, pretty rare we get the smog and filth and the racket of downtown Fushun blowing our way. My wife quickly lost her coal dust cough. IT was smal but it was there, kind of wet sounding like she had been a smoker. Within a month here......gone. After a year and a half out here in the rural mountains with air that couldn't get any cleaner I am anxious to hear the comments of Wenyan and Fengqi when they go back to Chinertucky in late May for a 3 month stay. I'm not going to mention it, just going to observe. They are very excited about their first time back.

Thanks Carl, not too stray too far from the topic, but I am so happy about the Niners! I have had fun showing my colors all season long here and will have even more fun tonight. WHO HAS IT BETTER THAN WE DO? :happydance:

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ChunMei are waiting ultil next year for the Guangzhou/Nanning route. We've ridden that trip on the conventional China Rail train a number of times, and I for one would like to see the countryside when it's daylight.