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We arrived in Fujian province with our guide Eva, a Cameroon national fluent in mandarin with a passion for the area, its history, the culture and the cuisine. At the station we met with an Austrian couple, Markus and Belinda who wanted to see as much of China as possible whilst Markus is based near Shanghai in a temporary Engineering secondment. Our driver was Mr Liu whos family have been living in Fujian for centuries and are native to the roundhouses (Tulous) that the area is famed for. The roundhouses were built by the Fujian communities between the 12th and 20th centuries and now hold UNESCO heritage status. For our first night we were lucky enough to stay within one of these roundhouses. It was very basic as you could imagine but we did have a TV which we utilised to watch some hilarious Chinese TV soaps and gameshows. We also went for a walk through the local village however it wasn't very lively at that time of night although very picturesque as the trees and some buildings had been lit up with various colours.
The next day we decided to explore the area by running to the village and back at the crack of dawn. There were many Chinese tourists in the village and every single one of them took the opportunity to photograph us as we ran past. When we returned to the roundhouse, Mr Liu took us to his shop and home a short drive away, this is where we would stay that evening. Mr Liu's shop was a short walk from a roundhouse with market stalls in the centre. Most of the stalls were either geared towards tea, peanut brittle or novelty tourist gifts. We sat at one of the stalls for a while sampling the tea which ranged from very bitter to very sweet, my favouite of which was the ginseng.
After the tea tasting we were driven to the main tourist attraction, a circle of four roundhouses around a square one. This area was very busy and there was alot of pressure to buy gifts or photos from the traders. It was very picturesque however and a very pretty location to visit, set amongst the hills and tea plantations of the province.
To relax after the hustle and bustle of the main tourist attractions we were taken by Mr Liu to a nearby swimming spot in a river below a waterfall. There was a spot at one end where you could climb up the rocks using a rope and jump off of the rocks into the river. The current was quite strong due to a waterfall beside the rope. Some of the kids from Mr Liu's family also joined who were keen to splash us with cold water before we acclimatised ourselves with the water temperature. We also had to try and help them across to climb onto the rope because of the current. I thought at one point I was going to inhale most of the river when I had the girl on my back and I was furiously battling the current as she was trying to grab the rope. We thankfully made it across.
After swimming we visited a rice and tea plantation and watched the sunset before returning to Mr Liu's village and participating in square dancing with the local pensioners. Square dancing in China is very popular and is carried out in many of the parks and communities as a social activity and to keep active.
The next day we were provided with mountain bikes and a support vehicle driven by Mr Liu himself and headed off on a twenty mile cycle out to a large town and back again. During the cycle we travelled through various villages and towns. On the way we stopped at the village that Paul and I ran through the previous morning. Whilst there we visited the local temple and was taken for a hike to a nearby peak for a birdseye view of the village which was incredible. We also visited the largest roundhouse a few villages along. The residents didn't seem to be too keen to have visitors. At the halfway point we stopped for lunch and were given the option of whether to cycle back or load up Mr Liu's vehicle with the bikes and catch a lift back for the remaining ten miles. Spurred on by Belinda who was keen to cycle, I decided to join whilst the others grabbed a lift. About a mile in, Belinda decided that the lift was probably the best option so loaded her bike into the vehicle whilst I persevered. On a particularly tricky hill I decided to grab hold of back of the support vehicle for a lift on my bike expecting to be shouted at. Making eye contact with Mr Liu in the wing mirror I was surprised to see his face beam with a big grin and present a big thumbs up as he towed me up the hill weaving around traffic.
Following some dinner we were taken to the train station to catch a night train to cross the Chinese border the following day into Macau.
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