Xiamen (厦门)

Xiamen does not feel like China. The brick buildings, colonial columns, and jazzy boutiques displace this city from the herd of China's other industrial or newly built cities. Influenced by Portuguese settlements, heavy British trade after the First Opium War opened Xiamen as one of the first free ports, Japanese occupation, and Taiwanese proximity, this city has a rich history that shows up in its modern landscape and culture. Xiamen is also a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which means that after heavy investment it is economically years ahead of other Chinese cities. Additionally, the close economic relationship this city has with its across the straits neighbor, Taiwan, boosts the prosperity and tourist attraction of Xiamen.

Despite its worldly and prosperous feel, Xiamen is apparently not so 开放 or "open" that Foreigners can blend into the city. Once again, I have become a novelty here. Children stop and stare up at me with wide eyes, strangers look sideways at me as I pass them on the street, and almost every shopkeeper and waiter has commented on my Chinese language ability, which happens far less often in Nanjing where there is an abundance of foreign students.

The unique mix of China and foreign influence make this feel at once more like home and less like the China that I know (though the spitting always seems to bring me back to my geographic senses). I am now comfortable using Chinese for everyday communication, so speaking Chinese doesn't feel Foreign, it just feels like a second mode of functioning and communicating. However, in that mode I have certain expectations, and Xiamen's eclectic and trendy nature has subverted those expectations on more than one occasion. However, no matter how much of a novelty I am here or how inconsistent Xiamen is with other Chinese places, this beautiful beach side city is relaxing and friendly enough to make me--and any other traveler, I'm sure--feel comfortable, safe, and happy.