Huānyíng huílái

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“Welcome back” to Xiamen! Ranked as the most attractive city in the Fujian province of southern China, many of Xiamen’s old colonial buildings have been carefully restored and its lively waterfront area give it an alluring old-world charm — together with many new modern buildings rising throughout the city. PS : I had a difficult time accessing my blog while in China. Seems like blogging is restricted. The Nanputuo Buddhist Temple is famous in the province and is a pilgrimage site for many in Southeast Asia. The temple has been repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt, with the latest reincarnation from the early…

Zi Ying

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Zi Ying is a small sea-side village located 150 kms east of Xiamen in the Province of Fujian. This is my grandfather’s hometown where his house still stands. During my first trip here in the late 1980’s, it was surrounded by dirt road and very few homes, which all needed major repairs. Today, all roads in the village are paved and the direct view of the sea from the house is a little obstructed with both new and renovated houses. The house was originally built in 1934 and an annex was added in the following years. During the Cultural Revolution…

Gulang Yu

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The tiny islet of Gulang Yu across Xiamen Island was one of the first five treaty ports opened to foreign trade and residents after the Opium War in 1843. As one of the “concessions” in 1852, the island was set aside for foreign residence and then parcelled out to the British. This vehicle-free 1.7 sq-km island is full of European-style mansions overgrown with brilliant bougainvillea that were owned by consulates, foreigners and wealthy Chinese returning from overseas. Many are still owned by the families of overseas Chinese. The Catholic Church at Gulang Yu was built in 1917 and is still…

Xiamen

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Located in Fujian province in the southeastern coast of China, the island of Xiamen (otherwise known by its Fujian name of Amoy) made it to Trip Advisor’s Traveller’s Choice Destination for 2012. In 1387, the Ming Dynasty built a fort in Xiamen to guard against pirates. In the 1540’s, European traders first visited Xiamen as it was China’s main port for exporting tea. Xiamen became a foreign concession in 1903 as part of the “Treaty of Nanking”. Much of the island has prospered together with the other major cities of China when it was designated a Special Economic Zone in…