Suggestion 1: When traveling to Xiamen, you must book a hotel in advance, and it is best to consider alternative plans in advance.

Tell a story that sounds unbelievable, so unbelievable that only friends who have experienced the same incident will believe it.

On February 19, 2021, the eighth day of the first lunar month, the child said he wanted to go to the beach. It just happened that I had just been to Gulangyu in late November 2020, and I felt quite good. I simply discussed with my family leaders about going to Xiamen for a family of three on May Day Labor Day. That night, I booked a flight and hotel to Xiamen.

The ticket is a half-year free flight for a low-cost airline I bought before. I can take care of a child with a few more yuan. Before the child went to school and for well-known reasons, he had never redeemed his child's ticket. This time, I was able to redeem the air tickets for my child and I from Shijiazhuang to Xiamen on May 2 and from Xiamen to Shijiazhuang on May 4 (Don't ask me why I only stayed for three days, it's just that Airline tickets are so popular. If you can get it during May Day, you will earn it). Coupled with the additional round-trip air tickets purchased separately for the family leaders, our transportation to Xiamen has basically been solved.

I booked a hotel for two consecutive days on a certain platform that night, and the total cost for the garden villa queen room was less than 400 yuan. Then there was the purchase of round-trip high-speed rail tickets from Baoding to Shijiazhuang Airport, and the plan to book a night of free accommodation at Shijiazhuang Airport on May 1 to make it easier to get up early on May 2 to catch the plane. Other things such as transportation and itinerary after arriving in Xiamen, since I just went there not long ago, I am confident.

In the coming days, we should eat and drink. The family is looking forward to the three-day and two-night free trip to Xiamen during the Labor Day holiday. Everything seemed to be going so well until on April 22, I received an unfamiliar phone call from Xiamen, Fujian.

On the phone was a middle-aged man with a southern accent who asked me if I was XX and if I had booked a hotel in Xiamen on May Day. According to my vigilance in the past, I would hang up these calls directly. That day, I heard him talk about the corners, so I answered the phone and asked him what was going on. Brother said in a crying tone on the phone that he was the owner of the hotel we booked, and that the hotel had to close for 15 days for some reason (the reason sounds very logical and reasonable, and it is not convenient to say it here, but it can only be said that it violates the current A certain regulation). He kept crying and saying how helpless he was and asked me to cancel the reservation on my own.

Originally, I didn't think it was a big deal. At worst, I would just change houses. I also kindly comforted my eldest brother a few words, and then replied that I would see how to operate first. When I opened the hotel reservation platform again, I was stunned, really stunned! The hotel we booked was not removed from the shelves at that time, but during May Day, the price of the same room had increased to an unbelievable price. I guess it will be difficult for friends who have not experienced it personally to imagine that during the May Day period, more than 2,700 days! What is this concept? More than 5,000 yuan in two days, which is more than ten times what I booked!

At this time, I was a little suspicious of the boss's explanation. Was it because we booked too early and the price was too low? There is no time to consider whether it is true or false for the time being. Anyway, this hotel is probably impossible to stay in. The top priority is to find accommodation again quickly. Looking through several major platforms, the prices of similar room types are almost more than 2,000 yuan per day. To be honest, it's not that I can't bear to part with it, I just can't afford it at all! I searched for the cheap hotel where I stayed last time on Gulangyu. In the off-season, the price of tens of yuan rose to several hundred, and almost all of them were full.

It was really depressing to encounter such a situation. Go ahead, two or three days will definitely exceed your budget. Don't go, lose the ticket money I bought for the family leader. The key child has been waiting for two months. At the critical moment, I wanted to communicate with the platform for booking hotels. After contacting multiple customer service and responsible persons many times, the platform agreed to replace me with the same room type of the same hotel and pay the difference. There is no need to elaborate on the process. There is my careful analysis of the agreement and the platform's seriousness and responsibility. In short, everything was unexpected but not dangerous, and we finally had a happy May Day holiday in Xiamen.

Since the matter has been successfully resolved and advertising suspects are avoided, all names related to the hotel and platform will not be mentioned, and screenshots of orders and transaction records will not be issued. The purpose of sharing this matter has nothing to do with any market behavior of anyone anywhere, but only to share advice for everyone to travel. Everyone must book a hotel in advance when traveling to Xiamen, especially Gulangyu.

Recommendation 2: When traveling to Xiamen, you must purchase ferry tickets in advance, and remember that foreign tourists go to Gulangyu from Xiamen Cruise Center Xiagu Wharf.

The first time I went to Gulangyu, I took the wrong path. After coming out of Gaoqi Airport, I happily took the airport bus line and got off the bus at Xiamen Ferry Terminal. At that time, I was lucky that there were not many people on the dock. After two people lined up, it was my turn to buy tickets.

Then the young lady who sold the tickets said very politely that foreigners were not sitting here. I was so intoxicated when I heard the young lady's voice. I liked Xiamen people talking so much. Three seconds later I came back, huh? Isn't this the ferry terminal? The little sister said that she was going to Xiagu Wharf, a few kilometers away, for a boat. I opened the map and saw, oh my God, it was four kilometers away. I also specially booked my accommodation next to the ferry terminal in advance. Originally, I planned to spend a day in Gulangyu and come back to stay in the evening. The itinerary has to be changed now.

I quickly refunded the order and booked accommodation on Gulangyu Island. Fortunately, in the off-season, I could have a place to sleep for tens of yuan. Then I bought the ticket for Xiagu Wharf on my mobile phone, and finally I didn't have to worry. If you lose something, you will gain something. I took the time to check in at the site of the first-class post office in Xiamen in Daqing opposite the ferry terminal, and rode a shared bicycle to pass by Bailuzhou Park to play around. It seemed to be a film festival event at that time, so I took a few photos and posted them to my circle of friends to show off.

Then I rushed to Xiagu Wharf. On a normal weekday, there was a sea of tourists waiting in line to take the ferry to Gulangyu. Often we feel that it takes a long time to plan to travel once or twice a year. Unexpectedly, when we arrived at our destination, we discovered that there were so many people traveling every day across the country. Especially Xiamen is so beautiful and popular!

Suggestion 3: When traveling to Xiamen, if you want to eat authentic snacks, you must go to authentic snacks. Haha, I'm just kidding. In fact, the meaning is the same. If you want to eat authentic snacks, you have to look for them in small places. There is no denying Internet celebrity snack bars here. After all, many people go out to take photos and check in to satisfy their little vanity when they travel. I am no exception.

The good places I recommend for snacks are actually very common, including at the entrance of the school, near the vegetable market, and around the old community. Compared with Internet celebrity check-in spots, these places have first guaranteed food safety, second, they meet the tastes of local people, and third, they have a long inheritance time. This is not just because of the wallet, but more importantly, the most practical local food can be eaten in these places.

These are the suggestions I share for traveling to Xiamen.