Volume 16 Issue 1 » 75
Ice cream and a beverage at Le Ciel café,
and our stop is well worth the view and the
refreshment.
The Dalian Friendship Memorial Building
is a contrast in style, located by the base of
the ultra-modern Observation Building.
The beautiful historical architecture is
deceiving. The structure is a recent 1994
replica of a building originally installed
by the Russian Empire in Dalian City in
China in 1902. The Moji port city is linked
by sea lane to Dalian, and the two have
been friendship cities since 1979.
We hustle back towards the makeshift
cruise ship terminal after an all-too-short
day in Mojiko and Kitakyushu. There is
yet another surprise at the end of our day.
We’re greeted by a dockside festival to
celebrate the occasion of our ship’s world
tour. It feels like all of Kyushu is here
celebrating the Kitakyushu Band Quayside
Festival, with food trucks and artisans from
across southern Japan.
Back aboard the Queen Mary 2, we pull
away from the port while dozens of taiko
drummers perform along the shoreline,
sending us off with a booming farewell.
As we sail further away fireworks light up
the night sky as the taiko drummers create
a syncopated beat with the explosions
overhead. Hundreds of Kitakyushans join
in to wave goodbye with kitschy glow sticks
in hand. What a frenzied sight. Centuries-
old taiko tradition and pyrotechnics aren’t
normally compatible with nightclub
glow sticks, but this modest city has been
anything but normal. As we wave back, a
heart-shaped firework suddenly explodes
above. It’s only appropriate that I blow a
kiss back to Kitakyushu.
W H E N YO U G O
Queen Mary 2 - Cunard Line
cunard.com
Kitakyushu City Tourism
gururich-kitaq.com/en/information
The Mojiko Retro Observation Building stands in
contrast to the Dalian Friendship Memorial Building.