Xiamen China

September 23, the four of us set out to ascend South Putuo Mountain on a mountain hiking/climbing trip. Leaving the "5-star" hotel at 6am, we travelled to the mountain to see who could be the first to the top. These competitive, young and strong athletes shot up the mountain with strategies in mind to beat the others to the top. While I thought Jimmy was my biggest competitor, he ascended the mountain last. Althought Eileen was a very close second, she dangerously underestimated her competition. Although Eunice came in third, you can now guess who reached the summit first.

Reaching the summit, where the air was much thinner, we all felt great but exhausted. After a few photos, some water and food, we began our descent. Lessons were learned as we each knew our competitor's strengths and weaknesses our opportunities and threats (SWOT) a little more.

After a planned photo opportunity, at the half way of our decent, the competition got fierce. While Jimmy and Eunice were never a threat, Eileen and I had a better understanding of each other's strategies, strengths and weaknesses. Eileen immediately took a rather large initial lead, however I waited for my opportunity. While traffic began to pick up, caves and cliffs got too dangerous for tom foolery, and Eileen is a strong leader who is hungry to be first in what she does, she beat me to the finish line almost effortlessly. Almost.

Nice work at decending the mountain first Eileen, and I also want to thank you for taking me to the Xiamen International World Trade Exhibition on my second day in China and for this days fun.

It is tough to get a smile out of Jimmy.

From the mountain, we could see most of Xiamen and the Taiwan Strait. In the near distance there about 2 km offshore is Piano Island. Xiamen is an international shipping port as you can see hundreds of ships lining up at sea to be loaded for their journey.

Next time I will bring 4 pairs of sunglasses and 4 hats.

Xie xie ni men rang wo du guo le yu kuai de yi tian, bing you feng fu de wu can :)

This page will be continuously added to as trips, adventures and excursions continue.