Some Sights on Gulangyu

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During the course of a lovely day, we wandered the narrow streets of this island, enjoying the architecture, and avoiding as best we could the masses. It's actually not that difficult, as long as you stay clear of the main thoroughfares.

There are a couple of exceptions to the no vehicle rule. One are electric carts that seat about 20 folks who are either too old or lazy to get about on foot. They are only slightly annoying and make their presence known with an electronic version of "Jingle Bells" constantly playing. I heard that they had to lobby pretty hard to get these, and I saw few elderly folks on them. They were mostly people who seemed to get some kind of face enhancement by cruising by the unwashed masses while one of the top 5 worst Christmas songs ever is playing over and over.

There are nice bronze statues throughout the city depicting life in the past: gamblers, peasants and manly warriors. There is also a wonderful temple complex.

Hotels were booked up for the holiday, but we checked the rates and most were quite reasonable. This would be a very nice place to stay during a non holiday time. Too bad holidays are the only time I'm off work.