Standing among blue waves of the East sea, Xiamen deserves its title of "Garden on the Sea". The perpetual spring with its luxuriant flowers and trees gives it another name "Green Island". The legend that it was once a habitat of egrets brings about another beautiful name "Egret Island".

From the Tang Dynasty, people began to be settled down here and to exploit it. In the Song Dynasty, it was called "Jiaheyu". In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, a city wall was built here and it was called Xiamen, meaning that it was a gate to the grand mansion of the motherland. Later, it was changed into "Siming Perfecture" and Siming Country. In 1933, Xiamen City was established. Today's Xiamen has six districts and Tongan and Jinmen Counties under its administration, with a total area(not including Jinmen) of 1516 km2 and a population of 1,060,000.

Xiamen enjoys exceptional advantages in geographical conditions and proves potential for further development. It is a famous scenic and historic spot. It has been a wellknown commercial center; there were countless ships and boats sailing in and out of the port here and today's transportation is even more developed, and communication modernized, which have attracted a host of foreign businessmen to invest here. Since 1980 when Xiamen was opened as a special economic zone, skyscrapers and new factories have been springing up. A special exonomic zone with an emphasis on modern industry economies is now rising.

Jimei

Jimei was the hometown of the distinguished overseas Chinese leader Chen Jiagan and is one of the four major science attractions in Xiamen.

Viewed from above, this place is extremely beautiful. The sonw white chain is the ten mile dyke built in 1953, and red walls and green tiles peeping out form the trees in the middle of the vast blue sea are campuses of the Academic Village Jimei.

Jimei not only collects the beauty of nature, of architecture but also reveals the love of overseas Chinese for their motherland. From 1912 on, Chen Jiagen lived here for about fifty years and financed a large scale construction of the teachers' school, navigation school, commerce school, farming machine school, kindergatens, primary schools and middle schools,thus bringing about a title of academic village to the place. Before his death, Chen built Ao Park, which is decorated with several hundred granite reliefs of animals, people and landscape. On the forty odd stone columns are carved figures of national leaders and inscriptions by celebrities, thus making it a modern collection of inscriptions. After Chen's death, Ao Park serves as his mausoleum.

In Homecoming Park stands Mr. Chen Jiagen's bronze statue, behind which is the inscription "A banner of overseas Chinese and elitist of the nation" written by Mao Zedong, expressing his high opinion of Chen.

Zhongshan Park

Zhongshan Park looks magnificent. Inside the park a bronze statue of Dr.Sun Yet sen stands among flowers, on the base of which is the inscription by her daughter Sun Huifang, "The great democratic revolutionary pioneer Dr.Sun Yet sen". In the park, bridges and pavilions peep out from dancing trees and flowers. The inscriptions by celibrites are found here and there, adding elegance to the place. The Park attracts many tourists every day.

Ten-Thousnad-Rock

Ten-thousand-Rock in Lion Mountain in the east suburb of Xiamen is well-known for its countless grotesque rocks, some lying on cliffs, some standing on slopes, some looking like jade screens, some resembling an old man. Viewed from different angles, they present different features,like a man or an animal, but all vivid and alive. Hidden among the stone wall, are quite, attractive caves running through the hills, gurgling streams and precipitate waterfall giving off pearly sprays. Standing on the Kuangyi Platform by the Changxiao Cave, one can have a bird's-eye-view of his "Island of Egret" and experience its kaleidoscopic views.

Half way on the mountain is the Shichan Temple, built in the Tang Dynasty. The building of the Temple are exquisitely designed and well arranged, bearing an extinctive feature. Around the Temple are numerous inscriptions, most of which were written by celebrities.

The Ten-Thousand-rock Botanical Garden, known as "Green Museum", boasts more than four thousand species tropical and sugtropical plants, flourishing all the year round with their dazzling brillianc. The gigantic Golden Tigerfish Ferocactus is not only the king of the hundreds of cactus here but also one of the biggest in the country.

Tiger-Stream Rock

Tiger Stream Rock is located in the north of Yupin Mountain northeast of Xiamen. It is said that there once lived a tiger in the stone cave, where a spring gurgled its way to the stream. Hence it was named Tiger Stream, and the rock Tiger Stream Rock.

Here cliffs are towering high,with clouds floating around, and old banyan trees stretch their knobbed roots along the quite paths. The most attractive sight is the so called "Moon over Tiger Stream", one of the eight best scenic spots. The Rock Temple, or called Jade Screen Temple or Donglin Temple, on the top of the mountain, is said to be built in the Tand Dynasty and renovated in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was quite large in scale, with all its pavilions halls well decorated with carving and paintings, and was quite eminent in the past.

The South Putuo Temple

The South Putuo Temple at the foot of the Five-Old-Gentleman Peaks, built in the Tang Dynasty, is one of the most reputed Buddhist temples in Suth Fujian. From the Life-Saving Pool in front of Temple, past the stone steps and into the Temple, one sees the Heaven King's Hall, Drum and Bell Towers, Daxiong Hall, Great Compassion Hall and Scripture Hall. The carved beams and painted columns are beautiful and dignified as well. Enthrined in the halls are the statues of Maitreya. Recerend Three-life-Cycle Buddha, Four Heavenly Kings, Eighteen Arhats, etc, all beautiful carved and serious and solemn in appearance. The Thousand-Handed Guanyin(Bodhisattva) is so consummately carved that one will wonder whether there is anything superior. The Scripture Hall keeps tens of thousands of Buddhist scriptures in Chinese and other languages, most of which are rare copies. There are in the Temple the bronze Sevenbuddha Pagoda made in the Six Dynasty, Bronze Bell made in the Song Dynasty, Porcelain Guanying made in the Ming Dynasty, and stone inscriptions from the Qing Dynasty. Since the establishment of the Temple, it has experienceed several ups and downs. Today, pilgrims pour in from home and abroad.

Huli Shan Fort

As Huli Shan, on the southest shore of Xiamen, was a place of strategic importance, the Fort was built there in 1896, the 22nd year of Guangxu in the Qing dynasty. Today, still kept in the Fort is a 60-ton gun with a fire range of 16460 metres, the only well-kept heavy coastal gun in china, and a historic relic for the study of China's coastal defence. After repairs, the Fort has become a scenic resort for tourists from home and abroad.

"Garden on The Sea" Gulangyu

Gulangyu Islet of xiamen is a major scenic spot in the country and enjoys a laudatory title of the "Garden on the Sea" with an area of 1.78 m2.

Gulangu is an islet in the south of Xiamen, separated form the downtown by a 500-m-wide strait. Its name, meaning "drumming wave" came from the rocks in the southwest that give a drumming sound when high tide hits them. On the undulate hills, villas of western styles are embedded in the green trees, red flowers, blue waves and white clouds, thus, the islet is praised to be a "Museum of International Architecture." The countryards and small lanes among flowers and trailers are completely free from noise of vehicles and filled with fragrance and melodious music, giving one sense of fairyland.

The best scenic spot of the Islet is the Riguang Rock (Sun-lit Rock), which is surrounded by ragged rocks and ancient trees, and dotted with pavilions and platforms. Following the steps leading up Dragon-Head Hill, one can see beautiful sights such as "Heavenly Wind and sea Billows" , "Gulang Cavern" and the "Supreme of the Egret River". Behind the Riguang Temple and inside the Stone Gate is the camp and Zheng Chenggong's Navy Commanding Platform. Around the camp are many inscriptions by celebrities in the past generations. Passing the "Ancient Summer Resort Cave", climbing up the Sky Ladder and arriving at the top of the Riguang Rock, one immediately feels the cool breeze from the sea and experiences a sudden elevating of spirits, with a panoramic view of the whole Xiamen before him.

Other major scenic spots of the islet include Shuzhuang Park and Zheng Chenggong Memorial Hall.

Jinmen

Jinmen Island lies alone outside Xiamen in the east, with the shortest distance of only 2310 metres from Xia men, being a place of strategic importance in South fujian. It is a country under Xiamen, but under the control of Taiwan goverment, with an area of 148 km2 and about 50,000 population.

Jinmen has a long history of civilization. It was called "fairy Island" or Wuzhou. It was said that people began to live here as early as the Eastern and Western Dynasty. Before the Jin Dynasty about eight centuries ago it was still a part of the mainland. In 803, the 19th year of Yuanzhen in the Tang dynasty, an goverment offical Chen Yuan led 12 families to reclaim the land. After 935, the first year of Yonglong, it belonged to Tongan country of Fujian Province, and since the Song Dynasty there have been civil goverments and military headquaters. Since the Ming Dynasty, it has been called Jinmen, meaning a "strong gate as if made of gold", for the place was like a gate controlling the sea area. In 1914, Jinmen became affiliated to Xiamen and since 1915 it has been a country.

Since ancient times, jinmen has been known as the "Fairyland in the Sea" and "Beautiful Haven of Peace". In the 1,600 years' civilization, a great number of historic relics have been left. There were 8 scenic spots in the ancient island, including the Moon Over the Pearl River, Fenglian Green, Lying-on-Cloud Hall and Xianying Waterfall. 24 scenic spots in todays island's island include Taiwu Peak, Holy Pen Piercing the Cloud, Jade Column Holding the Sky, Hanying Cloud Root, Sea Sight at Jintang, Yanping Sword, Green Rongyuan and Mist in Dragon Mountain. From the tops of Taiwu Mountain and Horsr Mountain, one can have a distant view of the mainland. It is indeed attractive.

The custom in Jinmen is characteristic of South Fujian and yet charming with its own features. People there share the same traditional festivals with the mainlanders, especially Zhangzhou and Quanzhou people. The annual Welcoming Town God is the grandest of all memorial ceremonies. The folk of the island regard the lion as theuir guardian angel, so one can see stone lions in armour or with a gown standing at the entrance of a village. It is a unique view of Jinmen that incenses are burnt before these lions. The 18 South-Fujian-Styled ancient buildings with beautiful decoration and upturned eaves both represent the custom of Jinmen and demonstrate the richness of Chinese culture. Now, the village has been opened as a "Folk Culture Village".