Gulangyu Ferry
Feb. 5th, 2012 06:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranSo, you'd like to go to Gulangyu Islet from Xiamen? It's easy. First, find the ferry dock on the Xiamen waterfront.
Next, buy a ticket here. Choose one of the ticket windows labelled "Xiamen to Gulangyu Route" (1-3 in this picture). The fare should be 8 yuan. Your ticket will be a little plastic disc.
Next, go through the gates here. You need to slide your disc over the sensor pad at the turnstile and it will let you in. Make sure you keep the disc, because you'll need it for the return trip.
The ferry does get a little crowded.
(In the interest of full disclosure, that last pic was from the return trip, but the queues on the Xiamen side were just as bad.)
Okay, at this point it gets a bit interesting. Once you're inside and queueing up, ask one of the other passengers if the next boat is going to Gulangyu. You may need to speak some Chinese for this. However, if you only speak a little Chinese and he mishears you, he may say "No", when in fact it is going to Gulangyu. When this happens, force your way back through the queue to the turnstiles, ask the official there, and be reassured that it does in fact go to Gulangyu, then join the back of the queue again. At least, that's how it worked out for me.
Just to be sure, start a conversation with the next passenger you see, and confirm it really does go to Gulangyu island.
When the doors open, get ready for the crowd to rush aboard. The ferry is going to be standing room only. Luckily it was a calm day, and I didn't need one of those handstraps.
Other boats on the water...
There, you made it!
On your way back, just look for this Ferry terminal. This time, you'll need to feed your plastic disc into a slot to get through the turnstile.
Of course, Gulangyu islet may also be a little crowded.
Next, buy a ticket here. Choose one of the ticket windows labelled "Xiamen to Gulangyu Route" (1-3 in this picture). The fare should be 8 yuan. Your ticket will be a little plastic disc.
Next, go through the gates here. You need to slide your disc over the sensor pad at the turnstile and it will let you in. Make sure you keep the disc, because you'll need it for the return trip.
The ferry does get a little crowded.
(In the interest of full disclosure, that last pic was from the return trip, but the queues on the Xiamen side were just as bad.)
Okay, at this point it gets a bit interesting. Once you're inside and queueing up, ask one of the other passengers if the next boat is going to Gulangyu. You may need to speak some Chinese for this. However, if you only speak a little Chinese and he mishears you, he may say "No", when in fact it is going to Gulangyu. When this happens, force your way back through the queue to the turnstiles, ask the official there, and be reassured that it does in fact go to Gulangyu, then join the back of the queue again. At least, that's how it worked out for me.
Just to be sure, start a conversation with the next passenger you see, and confirm it really does go to Gulangyu island.
When the doors open, get ready for the crowd to rush aboard. The ferry is going to be standing room only. Luckily it was a calm day, and I didn't need one of those handstraps.
Other boats on the water...
There, you made it!
On your way back, just look for this Ferry terminal. This time, you'll need to feed your plastic disc into a slot to get through the turnstile.
Of course, Gulangyu islet may also be a little crowded.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2012-02-05 08:55 am (UTC)And thanks for the photographs also.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-05 09:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-05 02:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-05 09:34 pm (UTC)Once upon a time in China, I had to catch a local ferry to cross a river, in order to catch a boat down the Yangzi, and I had no idea how to do it. I think that moment was one of the defining moments of my life, or certainly that trip. If you're not assertive enough and resourceful enough to get across the river, you miss your boat and everything goes downhill from there. I made it across...