Visit one of China’s most attractive cities – Xiamen! This beautiful coastal city is known for its scenery and tree-lined beaches. Especially nature lovers will enjoy Xiamen’s Botanical Garden and the vehicle free atmosphere on the neighboring island Gulangyu. Lot of Chinese travel to Xiamen and spend some days in the city. There are direct flights to Xiamen from all the main airports in China.
Xiamen is located in Fujian Province at the southeast coast of China not far away from Taiwan. The city is also called “Egrets Island” as there can be found many Egrets, which have beautiful snow-white feathers, in Xiamen. Xiamen is one of the forerunners of the special economic zones in China especially due the fresh air, the beautiful natural scenery and the clean environment of the city.
As the city is the hometown of many overseas Chinese, it has benefited from their contribution and Xiamen’s economy has undertaken great advancement. There is a good infrastructure and a great variety of entertainment centers also in order to promote the tourism industry. Here you can find islands, mountains temples and parks as well as varied local festivals and special local dishes.
Must-see attractions
Gulangyu Island
Gulangyu is the top attraction of Xiamen and can be reached by ferry. On this Island you will feel like being in a fairyland especially as it is free from vehicles. At the same time it is a huge exhibition of different style buildings, including the pinnacle of gothic, the cylinder of Rome and the relief of Baroque. Here you find historical sites as well as famous scenic spots of seashore. Wandering through the streets and sitting in one of the many coffee shops will be very relaxing.
Hulishan Fortress
Xiamen was an ancient battlefield where its people resisted imperial aggressors, and it played an important role in resisting foreign aggressors. The Hulishan Fortress was built in the Qing Dynasty and remains to be the eldest and largest seashore barbette in 19 century. The structure is a combination of a European style and a style from the Ming and Qing Dynasty. The Fortress displays more than 50 iron cannons from the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, unearthed from the Xiamen waters and the building site of capital construction. Here you can also find a museum which was built in 1997. The exhibition includes, with a length of 11 cm and a diameter of 2.4 cm, the smallest cannon in the world
Nanputuo Temple
The Nanputuo Temple was build in Tang Dynasty. It is the Buddhist sacred land of South Fujian. The temple faces the sea while the mountain is at its back. In the first hall you can find the smiling Maitreya Buddha, with the four heavenly kings standing on both sides. However, the most precious articles of the temple are the Saddharma-pundarika-sutra written with someone’s own blood in Ming Dynasty and the Avalokitesvara statue made of ceramic white ware. Additionally the vegetable dishes of the temple are very famous around the world because of their pure and elegant taste.
