Idyllic countryside? No way ...

We took the high-speed train from Shanghai to Wyuishan, and then took a bus to the city. The first big surprise awaited us in this Chinese holiday resort. Our booked hotel 'Olive Garden' was nowhere to be found.

After desperate wandering around, a kind English-speaking employee from another hotel guided us to a hotel called 'Jardin d'Olive'. It was the only hotel in Wyuishan that had 'Olive' in its name. Unfortunately, the owners neither spoke English nor had heard of Booking and our reservation. However, they made it very clear and believable! Besides, the address didn't match the one provided by Booking at all. (By the way, there are restaurants and shops at the address provided by Booking)

However, the hotel owner was not stupid. He saw the opportunity to charge two tourists without a hotel a higher price in a popular holiday destination in China shortly before sunset. So the nice man wanted 400 yuan per night from us, which was already negotiated down from the original 600 yuan. Our non-existent hotel should have only cost 300 yuan for 3 nights.

Although we never wanted to pay that much, we still considered it because we knew it would be difficult to find alternatives. The hotels are almost fully booked and often only accept Chinese guests. And one thing is for sure, as foreigners we definitely stand out :-) .

Thankfully, we were allowed to take a look at the rooms before we had to make a final decision. And from that moment on, it was clear that we wouldn't stay there for a night!!!!!

So we unpacked our luggage once again, walked along Tianyoufeng Road for what felt like the 100th time, and finally were kind enough to use the Wi-Fi in the fully booked Super 8 Hotel. That was very kind, because not only is it easier to search online without carrying your backpack of almost 20 kilograms through the city, but it was also already dark at that time, which didn't make the search any easier (fortunately, there is still the sympathy bonus for two tourists).

We finally booked the only hotel in the nearby area that still had available rooms. We won't talk about the price here, but we were once again in front of the nice English-speaking lady who had shown us around before.

We had a big dislike for Booking, but as life sometimes goes, this hotel turned out to be THE perfect find for us.

We were able to comfortably (and in English) book our tickets for the national park, a rafting trip, and we always received friendly and helpful answers to all our questions (such as how and where to catch which bus).

There was also a typical restaurant for the area across the street where we wanted to have dinner in the evening. Initially, it turned out to be more difficult than expected. Here, you don't just order a dish. You first choose the main course and then the side dishes (vegetables, mushrooms, etc.). However, you choose them fresh and then say how you would like them to be prepared. In Chinese, of course :-)

Once again, fate played a role and the niece of the owners, Jeans (pronounced Jingx), a student from Beijing, always helps her uncle during the peak holiday season and speaks English.

She walked around with us and asked us what we wanted to eat, and then she clarified the rest with the cook. We had chicken stew, fresh vegetables, and everything was not as spicy as it probably would be here otherwise.

We don't have a day of arrival like this every day, and we went to bed completely exhausted because the real challenge, hiking in the national park, was still ahead of us.

The next morning, we left early by bus to the park, and as soon as we arrived at the entrance, we realized that escaping the crowds and peacefully exploring the countryside was not possible here either. The national park was beautiful, but just as crowded. (See pictures of the mountain). Therefore, we limited ourselves to the secondary attractions and not the highest peaks and most amazing attractions, because it was very crowded there. And here, no one knows how to stand in a line or walk on a narrow path one after the other. People push and shove, and it is accompanied by a noise level that is almost unbearable. But we still found beautiful and quiet places and were able to enjoy the day in the park (after the first few hours of getting used to it). Back at the hotel, we usually ask ourselves where we want to eat. Not here, because only Jeans understands us here. So we went to the restaurant across the street. The food was great again, and Jeans and we exchanged WeChat contacts so that she has someone to practice English with. Additionally, she kindly invited us to her parents' place for tea the following evening.

The next day, we didn't choose the main entrance of the national park, but the north entrance. It was much quieter and more relaxed there, and we had a nice day visiting tea plantations and a waterfall (well, more like a dry waterfall, not much water was flowing... There is always a bit more after winter than in autumn).

In the evening, as mentioned before, we went to Jeans and her parents' place for tea. A great way to end the trip with sensational tea with such a nice Chinese family.

If anyone ever goes to China and comes near Wuyishan, please let us know, and we will connect you with them.

The next morning, we had to wake up early (5 o'clock), as we had managed to get a spot for a rafting trip through the national park at 6:30. At first, we weren't thrilled about the time, but it turned out to be perfect. Gliding through the mountains at sunrise, in complete peace, without feeling like there were millions of Chinese tourists at certain spots and probably even more at many other spots, it was simply wonderful.

After that, we went back to the hotel, packed our things, and took a bus to the train station to go to Fuzhou from there.

Fuzhou itself is also a topic on its own, which can only be described as 'fckn Fuzhou'. This time, I'll keep it short. We were greeted with rain and unfriendly looking Chinese people everywhere. The taxi drivers also didn't want to take us for some reason, nobody knows why, and as we have already gotten used to by now, the hotel booked through Booking didn't exist again (but it wasn't a big deal, there are enough alternatives in a city of almost 3 million people). --> Sorry Booking, but we will never book anything through you again because you don't even respond to our emails, we only get emails from you and are asked to rate non-existent hotels!

Of course, it was evening again and we checked into some random place (I actually wanted to just take a taxi to the train station and go directly to Xiamen, but Rahel was tired and wanted to stay) and went to KFC. Big mistake, it didn't sit well with my digestive system....

Why does everyone warn you about Chinese food when traveling to China, but no one warns you about Chinese KFC?? I hereby warn everyone reading this: Don't go to KFC in China!!!

I spent the following day in the hotel, not because of my digestive system, but simply because it was still raining, and I could update and take care of things on my laptop, phone, etc. (writing the blog, researching and directly booking a rental car in New Zealand), and simply because I was done with this city.

Rahel, on the other hand, wasted the beautiful rainy day by spending 2 precious hours trying to visit some park that actually wasn't really worth seeing ('not that impressive'). Just fitting for Fuzhou...

So we ended the day in Burger King in a relaxed manner, as the restaurants and streets in our area didn't look as inviting as they usually did.

Therefore, we went to bed early and the next morning we got out of there as soon as possible.

Xiamen, we're looking forward to you! Even though 4 days of rain are forecasted.

P.S. Even the 'getting out of here as soon as possible' didn't work out properly, we were initially at the wrong train station :-) :-), but for about 10 yuan, you can get driven 24 kilometers through the city here. If you're lucky enough to find a taxi that takes you, that is ;-)