A Journey in Xiamen
By admin on 2015-01-07

After a day at sea, we arrived at Xiamen about 11:00am. It will be one of our shorter port stops as we depart for Hong Kong at 7:00pm tonight. Xiamen is an island city with a rich and dramatic history, replete with pirates, rebel leaders and European merchants. Now linked to the mainland Fujian by a causeway, Xiamen retains a strong international flavor. Xiamen has a long history as a port city, and later became a center of British trade in the 19th century. Their foreign settlements, later taken over by the Japanese invaders at the start of World War II, were established on the nearby small Gulangyu Island.

Many of the old treaty - port and colonial buildings in the Western styles survive. Xiamen was declared one of China’s first Special Economic Zones in the early 1980’s, taking advantage of the city’s heritage as a trading center and proximity to Taiwan. Today, Xiamen is one of China’s most attractive and best-maintained resort cities.

Right after the ship was cleared, we boarded our coach for our Highlights of Xiamen tour. Our first stop was the South Putuo Temple on the outskirts of Xiamen. It was built during the Tang Dynasty (AD618-907). It is so named because it lies to the south of the Putuoshan, one of the most respected Buddhist venues in China. Since 1924, it has been the home and training center for men and women seeking the enlightened path to becoming a monk.

Once through the gate, we went to the Heavenly King Hall, which houses a huge laughing Buddha accompanied by four heavenly kings on either side. We had the opportunity to walk around the grounds, which were like an oriental park. From here, we made a stop at an authentic Chinese tea ceremony where we couldn’t leave without buying some great tea, which Annette now enjoys every morning. We learned about the different classifications of teas. Our guide had to do the translations for us. The Chinese have developed the drinking of tea into a refined art form.

From here we made a photo stop at one of the beautiful sand beaches that interestingly enough overlooked Taiwan in the distance. Our last stop before returning to the ship was a museum.