Pink butterfly deleted her account accidentally and as a result her diary is gone. So sad......
In another world.....
I was doing my on-line research last night and chanced upon the possibility that one can fly direct from Taipei to Kinmen (Jinmen) which is an island off Xiamen in Fujian Province, using Mandarin Airlines; and then catch a ferry from Kinmen to enter mainland China (Xiamen). Many Taiwanese do that since 2008 and apparently it is also allowed for foreigners to do it this way.
I never thought about this route and had already booked TPE-HK and then on to Meizhou and Xiamen by coach/ train. I am dumb founded by this "discovery" and kick myself why I was in the "old world" thinking. This is a shorter route and costs less time and money.
Today I decide to cancel my China Airlines TPE-HK tickets and incur a small penalty loss of TWD1400 (A$45) and I am also prepared to take a loss on the coach tickets I already bought for the HK to Meizhou route of HK$210 (A$25). Instead I am going to rebook Taipei to Xiamen direct using China Airlines. I decide not to go via Kinmen just in case foreigners are somehow not allowed to enter Xiamen from there and then I am stuck in "no man's land". From Xiamen I can trace my route to Meizhou via Dabu or Yongding ( a distance of some 300km to 400 km depending on which way I take) so I can visit the UNESCO world heritage Hakka Fujian Tulou 土楼 sites there. It will be an event by itself.... immersing in one of the great Hakka culture and architectural past.
现存最古老的土楼——龙安寨。
最令人震撼的土楼群——初溪土楼群。
经典土楼最多的土楼群——洪坑土楼群。
最壮观的土楼群——南溪土楼群。
最具侨乡特色的土楼群——中川土楼群。
规模最大的圆楼——承启楼。
楼梯最多、最奇特的土楼——集庆楼。
最像布达拉宫的土楼——奎聚楼。
品位最高的五凤楼——福裕楼。
最富丽堂皇的圆楼——振成楼。
最具书香气的土楼——衍香楼。
最秀丽的土楼——振福楼。
现存年代最久的五凤楼——裕隆楼。
占地面积最大的土楼——永隆昌楼。
最高的土楼——福盛楼。
最大气的土楼——遗经楼。
防御功能最突出的土楼——五实楼。
最富传奇色彩的土楼——环极楼。
直径最大的圆楼——福盛楼。
最华美精致的土楼——永康楼。
最像仙境的土楼群——岩太土楼群。
围数最多的方形楼——绳庆楼。
This new route of travel also makes more sense now because I do not have to land in HK, travel north east to Meizhou, then south east to Xiamen and double back west from Xiamen to HK. I can now land in Xiamen, travel north west to Meizhou and then south west to HK in one shorter, "unified" direction.
The latest update on March 15 is that the refund from China Airlines has been processed. CAL are amazingly efficient and no fuss. I am so glad I chose them for the TPE-HK flight. I can now go ahead and rebook us on CAL for TPE/Xiamen. I am also happy that after one whole day of research I have now booked our hotels for Taipei and Taichung. Yes!
I am also keen on a 4-day train holiday covering Alisan, Kaohsiung, and Hualien 豪華環島遊．阿里山+高雄+花蓮 豐富4天(中部出發) with departure from Taichung and ending our journey in Taipei in time for us to catch our flight to Xiamen the next day. I trust the recommendations from The Man In Seat Sixty One and will use eztravel.com.tw for this special train journey. Quite frankly, wherever possible, I would prefer to use trains and coaches for domestic travels. And in Taiwan and China this is very much possible and the journeys can be enjoyable.
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