Homethink Hotel Xiamen

Xiamen University

by jackiesg

Xiamen University, founded by overseas chinese Mr Tan Kah Kee, is another famous university in Xiamen. We visited it after our Nan Pu Tuo temple visit since they are just next to each other. We walked around the campuses and enjoy the greenery and beautiful view of the school.

The students' hostels are those old historical buildings, looked worn but enchanting.

The university has this big pond area where we saw many people lazing on the grass around the pond. As it's winter time when we went, the sky was blue, the breeze was cool. What a pleasant experience.

xiamen and gulangyu island

by asiaminor

"General Info"

Xiamen is a clean and very relaxed city at the east coast of China with its 3m population .It attracts large number of domestic tourists as well as the foreigners.The city doesn't offer a colorful nightlife and it is definitely not the best place for shopping.I would recommend the other travelers to stay on the Gulangyu Island rather than Xiamen.However Xiamen is a beautiful city with many seafood restaurants ' mix of 19th century and modern architecture and nice open air cafes around the city.It is connected to many other Asian cities by cheap flights so it is a good starting point for a China trip where you can chill out for a few days and plan your trip.Please keep on mind that most of the travelers who did not arrive in Xiamen from an other country but visit the city on purpose , visit Xiamen not for itself but for Gulangyu Island which is a 5 min ferry ride from the city.

There are banks all around the city and a HSBC branch close to the jetty.China postal provides Western Union service on Zhongshan Lu which is the popular walking street of the city

"Developing City"

Xiamen is a rapidly developing city so it might not be as beautiful and relaxed as today in the future.Xiamen University is quite popular all over the country so there are many students in the city studying at the university.Increasing number of tourists and residents might make this beautiful coastal city busier and more spoilt as much discovered as it gets although there is no real attraction apart from visiting Gulangyu Island.The picture shows a night view of the city from Gulangyu island

"Gulangyu Island"

Gulangyu is a small island (less than 2km square) lies on the north-south direction at the China sea.You can arrive there by a 5 min ferry ride from Xiamen.
No vehicles are allowed on the island so if you ignore all the crowded tourist groups around the island it the most restful place in China.There are plenty of early 1900 s european style buildings and a church on the island.The main attractions are The Underwater world and the island tours by mini golf cars.It is possible to arrange trips around the island.There are many seafood restaurants and a Mc Donalds , soven\iour shops , tea shops , Banks (you change foreign currencies at the Bank of China) China Postal and bakeries on the island.
There are a few clean and sandy beaches around the island and in my opinion the 2 beaches on the southeast of the island are best ones.
There is a cable car on the island which takes you to the peak of the island where you can view the beautiful scenery of the island and the sea.
Among these there a few museums including a Piano Museum.Classical music is played on the island all day and the evening and for this speakers were designed as fake rocks which really helps to keep the islands environment.
The Faculty of arts is on Gulangyu Island and there is a park full of statutes which each of them represents culture of the country in different themes

If you have time to visit the Island and stay there for a week or some I think the best way to discover all of these are taking daily trips on foot around the island which might be the most enjoyable thing to do

The photo shows the appearance of the Island and taken on a ferry just 1 min after the departure

the ferries are available from early in the morning till midnight
each trip from the isalnd to Xiamen costs 8 Yuan and free on the way back