Explore Xiamen 探索厦门
Xiamen-A coastal city in Fujian Province in China.
It has been an important port for centuries
and became one of China's earliest Special Economic
Zones in 1980. The name Xiamen means "door to the
house", referring to the city's centuries-old role
as a gateway to China.
Xiamen is a very vibrant, affluent and modern place,
though by Chinese standards it is a small city —
only 5.1 million counting suburbs (2020). It has
many non-Chinese residents and a range of
restaurants, bars and stores that cater to them. It
also has several universities and some areas popular
for tourism.
The most important tourist area is Gulangyu, a small
island close to downtown which contains some
beautiful colonial buildings and is car free. It is
now listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Top things to do in Xiamen
1、Gulangyu Island: Every street is beautiful
SGulangyu is considered to be the most anticipated destination in
Xiamen. The architecture of all nations on the
island has a history of more than 100 years, and you
can feel the joy of appreciation when traveling
through these exquisitely designed buildings and
gardens.
Sunlight Rock is still the most popular attraction
on Gulangyu Island for more than ten years, where
you can take a perfect photo of the red roofs of the
island and the coastal scenery of Xiamen. Some of
the gardens, buildings, and museums on the island
have their own merits and unique characteristics.
You can visit them one by one on this small island
on foot.
The delicacy, unique shops, and homestays have also
attracted many tourists to Gulangyu Island. The food
street on Longtou Road has been popular for a long
time. Several shops have been popular for many
years, and they are still crowded today. The newly
opened stores are also not weak, from the taste of
the food, the characteristics of the products to the
decoration of the store, guests can experience the
vitality of this island.
2、Huandao Road: Xiamen experience by the Seaside
Rather than saying that Huandao Road is a scenic
spot in Xiamen, it is better to say that this is a
way to experience Xiamen. This coastal island city
has a long coastline. From ancient times to the
present, the lives of locals have always been
closely related to the sea. To Xiamen, the seafront
is not so much a landscape, it is more like a
lifestyle that is infinitely close to Xiamen.
The Huandao Road is 31 kilometers long, you can walk
one section or rent a bicycle for cycling. The elite
section of Huandao Road includes the coast from
Xiamen University to the Convention and Exhibition
Center, which is called the “golden coastline”
because of its beautiful scenery. If you think the
roundabout road is too long, you can just punch in
this part.
Along the way, you will pass some scenic spots and
sculptures on the seafront. If you want to relax or
step on the sea, you can rest for a while on the
pebbled beach, but you must pay attention to safety
near the sea.
3、Zhongshan Road: Experience the prosperity of Xiamen
If only choosing a well-known commercial street in a
city, in Xiamen, Zhongshan Road should be the best
option in your must-do list. This old arcade street
with a sense of time is not only the old
predecessors of the commercial street that can be
compared with Wangfujing and Nanjing Road but also a
witness to the development of Xiamen. Nowadays, with
the presence of more trendy and fashionable shops,
this place has developed into a unique business card
of Xiamen’s prosperity.
Zhongshan Road is an ideal place in Xiamen to stroll
around, eat, and go shopping. In terms of delicacy,
there are quite a lot of time-honored gourmet
restaurants here, gathered in the “food circle”
between the three parallel streets of Shengping
Road, Datong Road, and Zhongshan Road. Visitors can
use this as a route to taste the good local flavors.
In addition, it is also the “best shopping”
commercial center in Xiamen with large commercial
centers and various trendy fashion brands, as well
as souvenirs and gift shops that are worth buying.
Many of the long-established “net celebrity shops”
in Xiamen have branches on Zhongshan Road, so you
can visit them all at once.
Up – Huandao road, Down – Zhongshan road
4、Minnan Old Streets: Recalling the Past of Xiamen
The southern Fujian culture is long and
profound, with ancient buildings and characteristic
arcade streets as the representative of it. These
vicissitudes of old buildings have been perfectly
preserved, showing the past of Xiamen.
With Zhongshan Road as the core, the well-preserved
modern arcade is a symbol of the “old city’s
historical district”. The mottled walls, messy
window edges, and various neon signs shorten the
distance between tourists and the old Xiamen and
also give tourists a unique experience of breaking
into the old days.
The old streets in this area are distributed in
“four verticals and one horizontal”, including
Zhongshan Road and West Xiahe, Datong Road, Siming
West Road, Siming South Road, and Siming North Road.
5、Xiamen University: a refreshing student era
Known as one of
the “most beautiful university campuses in China”,
although it is a university, Xiamen University is a
must-see for travelers to Xiamen. Xiamen University
has a history of more than a hundred years, and
there are still many historical buildings. The
vitality of the students on the campus is
intertwined with the deep heritage here so that
visitors will not miss their student days and have a
beautiful illusion of returning to the campus and
waiting for class.
Up- Xiamen University, Down – Minnan old street