October 13, 2013
Today was the last day of the Tea Fair. Since we had taken in so much during the last few days, we slept in a bit. We met for breakfast, then followed Wingchi and Master Zhi to the office of the Commissioner of Xiamen Jinhongxin Exhibition Co., Ltd. inside the Exhibition & Conference center. We met the commissioner, who proceeded to make tea for us. His office was on the top level overlooking Xiamen Bay and a very green park area on the north end of the hotel. The office views of the bay and the green area were spectacular, so I shot some footage. There's an example of how some of the locals entertain themselves in high tech Chinese fashion on a sunny day in the park. A man was flying a remote control helicopter. He was either extremely talented in the wild way he was flying it, or extremely lucky he didn't crash.
Tea Fair Wrap Up - Travel Day
During the tea, Darrell presented the Commissioner with a gift of 1972 Corti Brothers "Early Landed" Hine Grande Champagne Cognac.
The tea lasted about an hour after which we went into a near by office where Master Zhi demonstrated his talents in Chinese calligraphy. Master Zhi made a number of large and medium sized works. Darrell even had him make one for the U.C. Davis Department of Asian Studies back home. Wingchi translated the meaning of the prints. Master Zhi stamped each work with his stamps in red ink.
Master Zhi finished his demonstration and we said goodbye to the Commissioner. We went back to our rooms to freshen up for lunch. I took a look outside from my balcony and was surprised to see some serious softball being played out on the grassy area. Apparently softball is quite popular here in Xiamen.
Continuing with our respect for Master Zhi, we dined to yet another completely vegetarian meal for lunch. We ate in one of the hotel restaurants. They served a wide cut fresh noodle dish with Chinese greens which was absolutely delicious, as was the very simply prepared dish of lotus root with Chinese celery.
After lunch it was straight back to the Tea Fair. Wingchi wanted Darrell to taste the teas of the Chao'an Xian Ji Yun Xiang Tea Co. Ltd. from Guangdong, China. We found the booth and tasted numerous teas. All were of very good quality.
The tasting of the Chao'an Xian Ji Yun Xiang Tea Co. Ltd's teas was pretty focused and lasted nearly an hour. We took in more of the fair and saw quite a few old teas from the 30's to the 50's. We also began to see the show tear down as closing time drew near. It seemed to become fever pitch with empty boxes, packing tape, and cushioning lying everywhere. Some of the displays were built so well, they had to bring out the saws to cut them down.
With the afternoon turning late, the 2013 China (Xiamen) International Tea Industry Fair officially closed. The experience over the past few days was mind boggling. It was time to head back to the hotel to pack up and prepare for our ride to the airport for our flight back to Hong Kong. With my bags packed, I walked out onto my balcony for a last look around. The wind was still present and to my delight a number of people were out flying pretty decent kites.
Our Cab arrived as darkness fell, so or last looks at Xiamen were lit with some occasionally colorful lighting, especially when we passed an amusement park along the coast.
We made the airport in good time and arrived with a comfortable margin of time before our 7:20 pm flight. Check in went smoothly. I got a little quick scare when we made it to the the top of an escalator, which spilled directly into the China immigration inspection. I was filming and didn't realize where we were, nor saw the no photo signs. An immigration officer immediately shouted "No Photo." Wingchi laughed a little afterwards and told us a few airport stories he encountered when traveling in China was less civil.
Our good margin of time suddenly grew when we made the gate. Our 7:20 pm flight was delayed with no immediate update of a new departure time, so we sat, and sat, and sat. I took a look around the gate area. There was a typical gift shop with lots of cheap trinkets and souvenirs. On the very cool side, they also had some nice painted posters. After a good 45 minutes, they had us switch gates. Although the Xiamen Airport is very modern, it apparently suffers from delayed flights. Our flight finally boarded an hour and a half late. The delay was obviously an equipment issue. We were supposed to be on a single aisle Airbus A320, but boarded a wide body two aisle Airbus A330. There were a lot of empty seats, so we could move about with lots of extra room. They served us a pork bun which seemed to be a bit airline Americanized as it was some what like a hamburger. It was pretty good. I don't know if it was because we were hungry, but Darrell and I both had seconds.
The takeoff was very smooth on a very clear night. There were a few brief views of Xiamen lit up at night before we settled in for our short 1 hour and 15 minute flight back to Hong Kong.
I was hoping that I might just get a chance to see Hong Kong lit up at night, if the pilot cooperated with a fly by. About 10 minutes before we flew over, the pilot announced that we would do just that. At his announcement of Hong Kong on the left side of the aircraft, I unbuckled and beelined for the other side of the plane. I buckled in to my new seat, peeked out the window, and rats... clouds everywhere down below. As we got closer, some of the clouds were scattered. When we were over Hong Kong I did get a few quick glimpses of the lit skyscrapers, but nothing like I wanted.
After a smooth landing, a walk down the stairs across the tarmac to the bus, and retrieval of our luggage we hit the MTR Airport Express back to the Upperhouse Hotel for the night.
As this was the last night of the trip, Darrell asked if I wanted a drink. After such an amazing trip a toast was in order, so we met at the Café Grey Deluxe bar on the top floor. I got there first and took a last look at Hong Kong by night.
We made our toast and drank our drinks. It was now just past midnight. We adjourned to our rooms for a short nights sleep. We had to be up by 5:30 am.