Harder Family

Harder Family

Thursday, June 26, 2025

Update 6/26/25: Day 29&30 - Guilin Day 4/Xiamen Day 1&2

Psalm 25:4-5 “Show me Your ways, Lord, teach me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long.” 

6/25/25-Guilin Day 4 & Xiamen Day 1

Today is our last day in Guilin. Since it is as a rest day, I let the kids sleep in until 9. We then grabbed our free breakfast and filled a container with food for lunch (trick to save some extra money). The free breakfasts in China are amazing! They have so much variety from fried rice and veggies, fruit, eggs, congee, pastries, and even custom made noodle soup. There is a chef on hand that will make you your own meal if you request it.

They have enjoyed watching hours of Boonie Bears. They can’t understand it, but it’s a cartoon so you can figure some things out. 

After running some laundry and packing, Juyi and I took a walk to Elephant Rock. It was a great little hike, but it was so hot. It was 92, but felt like 103 with humidity. 











We climbed to the top of the rock and saw some beautiful views of the city.





This monument dated back to the Ming Dynasty. 














The tree lined path helped cool us down. 


TSA in Guilin was serious! They checked us from head to toe, literally. Poor Shan had to be taken to a back room where he had to strip down and they ran his leg through the x-ray machine. Juyi took him to the first class lounge for food. The girls and I found a place with pizza. It wasn’t great, but it was something different from Chinese food. We had an egg waffle for dessert. Now we wait for our flight to Xiamen.





6/26/25-Xiamen Day 2: 

It is HOT in Xiamen. We started off the day by taking a ferry to Gulangyu Island. This island has had many international/foreign invaders, so the buildings bear a resemblance to other nations. It reminded me a lot of Shamien Island in Guangzhou. 


Wei Wei and Yuan! First time I have seen them in person in 5 years. It’s weird to finally be with them and not see them over a phone screen.








Our guide for the day who explained the influence missionaries had on the island. They brought music and Jesus to the island, which still has effect today. The island still has a famous music school and has produced many famous pianists. The nickname is “piano island”. We were able to visit the piano museum, which made my heart so happy! 


The oldest church! It no longer is in service, but the history behind it was amazing to learn about. 













I love that they have preserved the history from the island. This story is a modern one, but it still bears the marks of the tract society from years ago.


The Bible translated into the local dialect of the island. 






A typhoon from 2016 knocked over this 300 year old tree. They ingeniously came up with an idea to keep it alive. 








The Ling family from Taiwan, a rich family, came to Xiamen and built this personal garden. They even created their own fake mountain from rocks. 




The garden meets the sea…literally. It was gorgeous!!



My two friends and English students-Wei Wei and Juyi. 




Trying to stay cool in the shade. It was 94 and felt like 104 with the humidity. 






Piano museum. This made my inner pianist so happy. 



Piano made of mahogany. 











The details on this piano were stunning.



A harpsichord piano specially made for this museum. It was so amazing to hear it played. 


This piano was designed just to be a piece of furniture and can’t be played. 




A custom made piano for China to look like  traditional furniture. 


















The largest church in the Fujian province is being built across the street from my friend’s house. 


Catching up with Wayne. 








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