There it was

I am now in the unique position where I can say I've never been to the People's Republic of China, but I have taken a picture of it.

This is a picture of Xiamen, a city in Fujian province, as seen from the island of Little Kinmen. Xiamen is so close to Taiwan that with binoculars we could see people playing on the beach.

There was also a huge lettered sign facing Taiwan - kind of like the Hollywood sign, except in simplified Chinese, and, of course, in red: "One country, two shores, one China."

Before last weekend, I'd never even heard of Xiamen. But there it was - home to 2.5 million people - skyscrapers and everything. Xiamen isn't even the capital of Fujian!

Takeaway impression? China is big.

More on Kinmen soon - possibly my favorite place in Taiwan thus far.

Edit: My dad reminded me when we went to Macau in 1997, we could also see the PRC - making Kinmen the second place I've traveled and taken a picture of China.