On May 23rd 2021 the MTS team joined the Guanren Community Center volunteers (also known as the One World Project volunteers) on an excursion to a quaint seaside town called Kuixia which is located in Quanzhou, just about an hour’s drive away from Xiamen. Historically speaking, many foreigners who would have decided to call Xiamen their home have chosen to settle in the Binbei and Guanren areas. Seeing this, local officials have established the Guanren community center to aide foreigners in integrating with their local communities by providing free survival Chinese language classes to assisting with vaccination appointments and in other various ways. As a thank you for their hard work and dedication, Master Translations decided to treat the volunteers to this excursion.
Bright eyed and eager to tackle the day, both our team and the volunteers sacrificed their early Sunday morning to board the bus at 9:30 AM and make their way to Quanzhou.
After an hour’s journey from the center of Xiamen Island we arrived in Kuixia village, Nan’an at approximately 11 AM. Instantly everyone noticed the stark yet charming differences the village has in comparison to most communities in Xiamen. As it is a seaside community, majority of the houses are concentrated along the coast and fishermen could be seen readying their boats or cleaning the catches that they would have made that morning. To assist us in showing us around, we were lucky to be joined with a local friend from the village, Belinda, who currently resides in Xiamen but visits her hometown frequently.
The day started with an official guided tour in the ancient village which to the surprise of many was still intact and illustrated the tremendous history that exists within the community. Many of the houses to this day are still “stone houses” which is a specific kind of architecture synonymous with the Fujian region.
At around midday we were shown tremendous hospitality by the local community at a nearby restaurant which served specialty seafood dishes which everyone enjoyed! This time was everyone’s favorite as they got to try food that they may have never had the opportunity to try before!
After a delicious lunch, we headed back to rest then play a treasure hunt game where the participants in teams of 5 had to look for specific places shown to us during the guided tour and take pictures.
As part of the day’s activities, the community organized and performed a music festival which some of our volunteers and MTS team took part in! Participants in the festival ranged from toddlers who sang and danced to the elderly who kept tradition alive by playing ancient instruments. This was the perfect end to an amazing trip which let everyone take in not only the wonderful sights of the village but also taste the amazing food and appreciate all the talent that lives there!
We definitely look forward to coming again and thank you for having us, Nan’an!
Thanks for your hospitality!