Scenic Spots and Historic Sites in Xiamen City
Gulangyu Island Scenic Area
Gulangyu Island covers an area of 1.78 square kilometers and stands opposite to Xiamen City across the sea. As one of the country's key scenic areas, the Island is dubbed "Seaside Garden". it is well known at home and abroad for its graceful and changeable landscape. The meandering coastal lines, the natural bathing beach of mildly-slanting slope and fine sand all around the Island and the cliffs and rocks of fascinating strange shapes form a picture of superb beauty beyond your imagination. The Island is dotted with undulating hills in an orderly way. The Crag of Sunlight, which serves as the tourist logo of Xiamen, is the highest peak of the Island. No wonder there is a common saying that "you can't claim that you have been to Xiamen without climbing up to the Crag of Sunlight". It is as warm and agreeable as in spring all year round on the Island. The subtropical trees verdant with leaves, the singing birds, fragrant flowers, fresh air and sea breeze give you a joyous sense of carefree comfort. The hills in the middle of the sea, the natural landscape and artificial scenery set each other off and form a delightful scene. The Crag of Sunlight, Garden of Beans (Shuzhuang Huayuan), Bright Moon Garden (Haoyueyuan) and Yuyuan Garden form the most beautiful scenery in this tourist area. With a view to protecting the country's first-class tourist area on Gulangyu Island, which is full of natural scenic spots, the relevant department of government in charge has taken effective protective measures, including banning the construction of new factories or buildings harmful to the environment unless they are helpful to the development of this tourist area. Above all, there are nether any motor vehicle going in the streets nor any noise of heavy traffic heard on the Island because it is a rule that no motor vehicles are allowed to enter the Island. As a result, you will have a feeling that Gulangyu Island is a real place of natural beauty when you are strolling on the Island's clean and quiet asphalt roads.
Crag of Sunlight Xiamen
Crag of Sunlight is commonly called "Dazzling Crag". It sits on top of the Dragon's Head Hill (Longtoushan) in the mid-south of Gulangyu Island. Standing as high as 92.68 meters above the sea level, the summit of Dragon's Head Hill is the highest peak on the Island. On top of the Crag a round platform is built for the convenience of sightseers to lean on the railing and look far into the distance |
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so as to have a bird's-eye view of the whole landscape of Xiamen and Gulangyu Islands. In the middle of the hill, rocks and stones of strange shapes are scattered. In the sparse woods, there are the Lotus Convent, Ancient Cave of Summer Resort (Gubishu Dong), Dragon's Head Hill Relics, Platform for Training Sailors (Shuicao Tai) and Memorial Hall of Zheng Chenggong (a famous general in the Ming Dynasty). Stone caves, ancient walls and rubbing cliffs are scattered here and there. Amid these ruins and relics you will not be able to help recalling the past and compare it with the present with all sorts of feelings welling up in your mind.
Bright Moon Garden Xiamen
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Bright Moon Garden sits on the southeastern tip of Gulangyu Island and is close to the River of Heron. The garden was completed in 1985 and occupies an area of approximately 20,000 square meters. The huge statue of Zheng Chenggong stands lofty as high as 15.7 meters on the seaside. As the largest one of the statues of historic figures in China, |
the Statue of Zheng Chenggong reflects the theme of this garden. in the middle of the square stands a set of large-sized bronze relieves vividly reproducing the historic scene of Zheng Chenggong commanding an army to sail east in order to drive the Dutch out of Taiwan and resume Sovereignty of Taiwan. Bright Moon Garden is an attractive view with buildings unique to the Ming Dynasty. The sand gulls on the beach, the verdant subtropical trees, the scene of the sea and the hills form a picturesque scene of nature reflecting each other brilliantly.
Xiamen Botanical Garden of Gardening Plants Xiamen
Xiamen Botanical Garden of Gardening Plants is a botanical garden deliberately designed and built around Ten Thousand Stone Reservoir. In the light of the needs of scientific research, more than 20 gardens of special varieties of plants and cultivation areas including a garden of pines and cedars, a garden of roses, a garden of palms, a shady shed, a plot for cultivating introduced varieties of plants, a garden of medicinal plants, a garden of large cactuses, a hall of flowers and an orchid nursery are arranged within the Botanical Garden in order. It is the home of over 4000 species of tropical and subtropical plants, including the so-called living fossil-metasequoias, ginkgoes and the three ornamental trees famous all over the world-golden larch grown in China, parasol pines from Japan and araucarias, as well as the rare cactuses. It is a garden worth visiting because it boasts numerous varieties of wonderful flowers and exotic trees giving forth fragrance all year round.
Jimei Village of Scholars Xiamen
Jimei Village of Scholars was built by Mr Chen Jaigeng independently. The Village is both a place to bring up elites and a tourist area consisting of many places of scenic beauty. The Dragon Boat Pool is the most famous among the numerous scenic spots in it.
Dragon Boat Pool is surrounded by dragon-decorated ridges and phoenix-decorated eaves, carved beams and painted rafters with red-lacquered doors in the middle of green-lacquered frames. Two waterside pavilions standing in the middle of the lake looks like two seagulls about to fly to great heights. On the Duanwu Festival (the 5th day of the 5th lunar month), large scale dragon boat race will be held in the pool every year. Once the race starts, all the gongs and drums keep beating amid a hubbub of voices while the boats move for ward along with the inverted reflections in the water. It is a thrilling scene.
Hulishan Fortress Xiamen
Hulishan Fortress was built in 1891, occupying an area of 13,000 square meters. It fully reserves the ancient military facilities such as the emplacement, the barracks, the castle, the secret tunnel, the trench, the ammunition depot and the drill ground etc. all its buildings distinctively reserve the military style of the Ming Dynasty and that of the Qing Dynasty besides the construction structure referring to the Europe King Fortresses. It also possesses local characteristics. They East Fortress is still holding a huge cannon made by Krupp Company of Germany. The caliber of the cannon is 280 mm, the whole length of the cannon is 13.96 meters, the weight of the cannon is 59,888 kilograms and the maximum range of fire of the cannon is 10,460 meters. Though it has endured one hundred years of erosion by wind and rain, it is still in good condition. It is the only cannon of the same type being left in the world. It really can be called "King of the Cannon in the World" and is really a precious historical relic. In recent years, the Hulishan Fortress collected several batches of ancient cannons of the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty in order top develop the tourism resources. More than fifty ancient mighty cannons of various types are formed into several ancient cannon square arrays. They surround the "King of the Cannon in the World" just like a myriad of stars surrounding the moon making a vivid representation of the stately appearance of its "Deterrent in the Southeast China". Now the barracks have been changed into exhibition halls of ancient cannons, double-edged swords, rare stones and firelocks
Tongan Big Wheel Mountain (Dalunshan) Tourist and Sightseeing Area
Tongan is an ancient town with long history. The establishment of Tongan County dates from 1700 years ago. Many historic figures and contemporary celebrities were born and grown up here. This tourist area is divided into three parts. The first one is Big Wheel Mountain Cultural Tourist and Sightseeing Area located between Datong town and Wuxian town. Temple of Great Buddha (Fantian Si), Tower of Brahman (Poluomen Ta), Confucian Temple, Stone Carved with Zhu Xi's inscription (Zhuxi Beiwen Shike), Birthplace of Su Song, Science and Technology Hall, North Hill Twelve Dragon Kake (Beishan Shierlong Tan) and Wuxian Playground are the main sights in this area among others. The second one is Tingxi Hot Spring recreational area for holiday makers, which mainly consists of Tingxi Reservoir, Hot Spring Swimming Pool and China ware Kiln of the Song Dynasty. The third one is Dadeng Three Islets sightseeing and tourist area. The main sights include Landscape of Fishing Village, Looking into the Strait and the Seaside Entertainments among others.
Temple of Great Buddha Xiamen
Temple of Great Buddha is at the foot of the main peak of Tongan Big Wheel Mountain. It is an ancient temple dating from the Sui Dynasty (581). It used to be called Temple of Publicizing Buddhism (Xingjiao Si). During the over one thousand years of existence, this Temple has brought up many famous eminent monks. As an ancient temple of high repute it has never been abandoned although it was destroyed several times. Many followers of Buddhism both at home and abroad have donated money to this temple for its revamption. After several years of construction, the mountain gate, Hall of Charity and Piety (Gongde Tang), the Hall of Praying to Buddha (Nianfo Tang), the Durm Tower and the Pavilion of One Thousand Buddha's (Qianfo Ge) have been recovered and the court of the Temple has largely regained the original appearance. The 4.68 meter high Tower of Brahman in the Temple built in the Song Dynasty is a rare material object for the study of ancient religions and the art of stone carving. It is a three-storied square-shaped solid tower made of stones. Zhu Xi's inscription was also carved on this tower of stone.
Tongan Confucian Temple Xiamen
Tongan Confucian Temple is seated on the western bank of East Steam in the Town of Tongan. Confucian Temple was first constructed during the Five Dynasties. The present so-called Hall of Great Achievements (Dacheng Dian) was rebuilt during the reign of Qianlong Period in the Qing Dynasty. The previous Confucian Temple now serves as Museum of Tongan County to display the unearthed historic and cultural relics of Tongan County since the Western Han Dynasty. On the ground north to the Temple stand over 200 pieces of stone sculptures and tablet carvings collected from all over the county. The figures are varied, and lifelike in appearance and expressions. People call them Tongan Figures of Warriors and Horses.
The Xiamen Film and Television City
The Xiamen Film and Television City is located at the western bank of Dongxi River of Wuxian Town in Tongan District in the north of Xiamen Island. It totally occupies an area of 1000mu. The first phase of construction of the City occupies an area of 120mu, which is an excellent garden region for tour and recreation, film and photograph, rest and holiday. It is 35 kilometers away from the downtown of Xiamen and 27 kilometers away from the Xiamen International Airport. It is bordered with the famous ancient temple of Fantian Temple.
The "Xiamen Film and Television City" is an entertainment city having resplendent and magnificent artificial landscape in the style of ancient times. It chooses the Gate of Heavenly Peace, Hall of Supreme Harmony and Hall of Heart Nourishing of the Forbidden City (Imperial Palace), the Long Corridor of the Summer Palace in Beijing and a street full of the atmosphere of Ming and Qing dynasties as its main buildings. The buildings have carved beams and painted rafters, the yellow tile and red wall, and the feelings of old Beijing.
Except the ancient color and the old-aged beauty of the Forbidden City, there are also Dinosaur World reappearing the times of Jurassic Period, the most van guarding and stimulating Paradise, the wonderful Children Playground in the Film and Television City. It can bring dream tour to every one.
There is also a good food city "All Delicacies in One Place" managing the famous dishes and famous pastries of every place. It can hold three to four hundred consumers at the same time. There are also romantic and classic Coffee Houses and Snack Counters etc. they are excellent places for tourists to enjoy the food and to have a rest. |
