October 10, 2013

We left the Hotel and walked south along the front of the hotel, then went around the back of the hotel until we came across the south east entrance of the conference & exhibition center. We had to wait about 15 minutes until they allowed exhibitors and media guests inside. The general public had to wait about another 30 minutes to enter.

Once in ahead of the general public, we walked through the Tea Fair which saw exhibitors making last minute adjustments and preparations to their booths. We were headed to the main entrance to take in the opening ceremony.

The walk through saw a few stops before we made it to the main entrance. We even squeezed in a short tasting session at the Xianfang Foshoucha booth. Darrell was immediately drawn to this booth because they were displaying a 3 year old dwarf bonsai Buddha's Hand Citron plant. Buddha's Hand Citron is likely one of the oddest looking citrus fruits with its many fingers protruding from a lemon like base. Darrell grows them and has both a fascination and appreciation of this amazing plant. Xianfang Foshoucha is a grower of Buddha's Citron. They dry the peels and blend them with tea.

We made it to the main entrance with a few minutes to spare. A quick pass through the main doors saw us getting a spot in front of the outdoor stage where the opening ceremony was being preformed.

Here's a look at the promo video I shot and edited for the 2013 China (Xiamen) International Tea Industry Fair, which now resides on the Official Fair website - www.teafair.com

Here's the entire opening ceremony in English & Chinese.

With the short ceremony complete, we went back inside to take continue taking in the three Fairs.

We made our way through the Tea Fair, then through the Buddhist Fair to get to the Vegetarian Fair.

The 5th China Xiamen International Vegetarian Food Fair .

The Vegetarian Food Fair was very interesting, by small in scope compared to the two other shows we would now take in. There were a few interesting products which caught our eyes. Perhaps some will find there way on the shelves at Corti Brothers one day.

Finished with the Vegetarian Food Fair, we made our way back through the Buddhist Fair to the Tea Fair, stopping to look at some of the displays along the way. One of the more unique things at a Buddhist Fair like this are the noise makers. I think almost everyone would have an appreciation of the sounds which the gongs, bells, drums, and bowls make.

After having marveled at so many products and such diverse booth offerings in the Buddhist Fair, we made it back to the Tea Fair.

Near one of the entrances, Darrell stepped into a good sized tea booth. The company was offering their teas from Taiwan. Darrell managed to sit in on a brief tasting.

Not too far away from the Taiwan booth, we came across an interesting producer of green tea. Quan Guo Cha You Pin Ming Hui had a small table where attendees could try to make one of their hand pressed green tea cakes. The had a square shaped hollow piece of would open at both ends and a precisely fitting handled hand press. The object was to first place the square wrapping paper on the flat table. Second, place the hollow wooden tube on the paper. Third, stuff a small hand full of green tea leaves inside the tube and plunge the hand press into the tube compressing the tea against the wrapper.. While holding the press handle down, the trick was to lift up the tube while keeping the tea compressed with the handle. Lastly, very quickly lift the press handle and fold over the wrapper while keeping the cake compressed, and finish wrapping the cake with the rest of the exposed wrapper, the heat sealing the very last corner of the wrapper. It take some practice to do it correctly. Darrell sat for quick taste of some of their teas and I tried my hand at pressing one of the green tea cakes. They told us that an average employee will press one thousand cakes a day.

The day was passing by very fast. It was now passing mid afternoon. Darrell wanted to take a break and headed to his room to check in to see how things were going at home before it got too late. It was 3:30 pm Thursday here, but only 11:30pm Wednesday at home in California. We left the Convention & Conference Center by riding up the escalators and walking across the upper hall foyer to the skyway connected to our hotel. I took some shots from the upper balcony of the foyer overlooking Xiamen Bay.

I wanted to see what the beach area looked like in the daytime, so I took a walk across the grassy area to get to the beach walkway. When I got there, I walked south to see the Banyan tree grove just off of the grassy area. The views of the various islands in the bay were completely captivating. The street food vendors were about. The most unique was a small bicycle with a basket on the handle bars filled with chicken feet. China is the world's foremost destination for chicken's feet. In some areas of China the price of a pound of chicken feet can be more than that of breast meat.

I then walked north along the beach walkway to get a look and the sampans anchored in a cove near the walkway and to do a bit of beach combing.

Located just to the north of our hotel was the Xiangshan International Yacht Club. The most eye catching feature of this whole development is the 108' tall statue of Mazu , or Mat-Su, the Chinese Goddess of the Sea. Built from high quality granite blocks, it is the tallest Mazu statue on the west coast of the Taiwan Strait and the second tallest Mazu statue in mainland China. Master stone carvers from Hui’an, the Stone Carving Capital of China, were enlisted to design and build the Mazu statue, which took 2 years to complete.

Mazu is the most worshiped sea goddess in China's coastal areas, especially in the southeast and on the Taiwan islands. Legends and stories have been told over centuries about Mazu rescuing and helping fishermen in distress at sea. People in these areas who make their living by fishing believe Mazu is their patron goddess of the turbulent sea.

I stepped out onto the beach, which narrowed against a retaining wall by the walk way. There were some unique scallop type shells around, so I managed to find a few to bring home. There were a few colorful eels washed up along the sand to the likes of which I'd never seen before. I wondered why they were washed up on the shore. Sadly, there was some noticeable garbage scattered along the beach line by the retaining wall. Was pollution the cause, or was this just due to a lack of regulations preventing the sampan owners from dumping trash into the water.? Such a picturesque area. I hope that the people of Xiamen begin to realize that they should do all they can to keep it clean.

The sun was starting to set, so I made my way back to the hotel. I got to my room and freshened up a bit before meeting Darrell and Wingchi in the lobby for dinner. We were joined by Professor Quinjin Liu, managing director of the Research Institute of Tea Science, SouthWest University, BeiBei District, Chongqing, China. Professor is a friend and peer of Wingchi's, who was also in Xiamen for the Tea Fair.

What does one do after dinner in China? Go drink tea! We hopped into a cab and drove another 4 miles south to the south end of Xiamen Island. Our destination was an upscale teahouse operated by the Xiamen Yushangming Tea Industry Limited Company, who were exhibiting at the Tea Fair. This was a beautifully designed and furnished tea house. We were greeted and lead into a private room which had the reminiscence of a fine Japanese private dining room. We were treated to a number of teas. Darrell brought some Traina California Sun Dried Strawberries as gifts along on the trip and gave some to our hosts. Not only were they all delighted by the delicious strawberries, everyone agreed that the strawberries were an excellent snack to have along with tea.

After a number of flights of tea, we prepared to depart. We looked through the main room of the tea house as it had some very nice displays of tea related things and art. One last cab ride to the hotel and we called it a night. On the drive back to the hotel, I had to ask Wingchi a question. I noticed that there was a flash of light taking place about every 500-1000 feet as we drove done the main roads at night. I asked if this was some sort of traffic photography with a flash at night. Wingchi said that I was correct. All of the main roads have cameras which document the movement of all traffic 24 hours a day. They use flash photography at night. He said that it's very helpful if there are accidents first and foremost, but are also utilized if there is any crime which can be traced by vehicle movements. I was amused at being correct, not because I was right, but because the biggest hint came when noticing that, just like clock work, the cab drivers sped up after passing a flash, and always slowed down just before every flash of light.

Bedtime!

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