Beautiful Xiamen, Ryan's Home Town
Geography Xiamen
Xiamen is a scenic coastal city in Southeast China. It is located at the southeastern part of Fujian Province. It is from there that Jiulongjiang (Nine Dragon River) empties into the sea. Xiamen City sits in front of Zhangzhou and Quanzhou plains and borders on Taiwan Strait. It stands opposite to Taiwan and the Penghu Islands at a distance.
Xiamen City consists of Xiamen Island, Gulangyu Island and part of the coastal area in the northern bank of Nine Dragon River. It covers an area of 1,565 square kilometers. There are seven districts, namely, Kaiyuan, Siming, Gulangyu Island, Huli, Jimei, Xinglin and Tong'an under the jurisdiction of Xiamen, with a registered population of 1.2659 million people. By the end of 1998, the constructed area of Xiamen City had reached 70.18 square kilometers.
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Climate
Xiamen has a monsoonal Humid subtropical climate, a zone characterized by hot, humid summers and chilly to mild winters. The maximum temperature is 38.4°C and the minimum is 2°C. The annual rainfall averages 1 100 mm, and strong north-eastern winds prevail.
Culture in Xiamen
The local vernacular is Amoy, a dialect of Southern Min (閩南), also called Hokkien. Amoy is widely used and understood across the southern region of Fujian province as well as overseas. While it is widely spoken in and around Xiamen, the Amoy dialect has no official status, and the official language of all government business is Mandarin.
Since the adoption of reform and opening-up policy, Xiamen's cultural, broadcast and television undertakings have been forging ahead and bringing about changes day after day. Wireless and cable TV stations, AM and FM radio stations are trying their best to attract audience.Daily and evening newspapers, commercial journals and TV weekly are acclaimed by readers of different levels.
More than 300 cinemas and theaters, cultural centers, libraries, museums, singing and dancing troupes, singing and dancing halls distributed in different parts of the city provide the citizens with rich cultural life. International cultural training and exchanges in different forms at different levels are conducted frequently.
Transportation in Xiamen
Xiamen is served by the Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport, the base of Xiamen Airlines.
Currently, there are nine Asian cities that have direct flights to Xiamen. They are Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Jakarta, Osaka, Nagoya, Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore and Bangkok. Cities outside China's mainland that have direct flights to Xiamen are Hong Kong and Macau which are situated on Guangdong province's southern border.
Taxi rides are available from the airport to the city. The taxi fare is around 30-40 RMB.
A ferry service links Xiamen Island and Gulangyu Island.
There are two major bridges linking Xiamen Island to the mainland.
There is also a bus service for 1 or 2 RMB. This is the main form of mass transit. Taxis are also common and can be easily hailed in most areas of the city.
Tourism in Xiamen
Xiamen was recently voted China's cleanest city, and has many attractions for the tourist. Xiamen and its surrounding countryside provides spectacular scenery and pleasant tree-lined beaches. Gulangyu, also known as Piano Island, is a popular, peaceful weekend getaway with amazing views of the city. Xiamen's Botanical Garden is a nature lover's paradise. The Buddhist Nanputuo Temple, dating back to the Tang Dynasty, is a national treasure. Xiamen is also famous for its history as a frontline during the war with Kinmen (Quemoy) 50 years ago. One attraction for tourist is to view Jingmen island, a few kilometres away and under Taiwanese control, from Xiamen island.
Colourful Nightlife in Xiamen
After the scheduled sightseeing during daytime, you can also appreciate the lovely night scenery and participate in the colorful nightlife activities in Xiamen. The colored and sparkling lights decorated on the tall buildings especially along the Zhongshan Road and Siming Road make Xiamen more vigorous and lively at night.
Virtually there are many places to go at night. Various squares in the city provide popular nightlife venues for local people to stroll, chat, and do exercise. At the Egret Alluvion City Park, there will be musical fountain show at 8:00pm every day and singing and dancing performances during weekends. In the Huoshaoyu Islet (or Flaming Islet) Scenic Area, barbecues will be held at night and water-screen films will be on show sometimes.
Bars & Pubs
Binlang Bar Street is a nightlife venue of great popularity especially among young people and foreign visitors. Plenty of bars and pubs with their distinct styles and features can be found here to provide you a wide range of choices. For instance, the Night-Shanghai Pub appears in an old fitment style of Shanghai in the 1920s; the Jurassic Bar creates a vivid scene of the Jurassic Period with dinosaurs; the Cleopatra Bar features performance of Egyptian style, etc. Various bars and pubs in this street or other parts of Xiamen will be good places for entertainment and relaxation
