6、Xiamen

Xiamen (廈門), also known as Amoy, is a coastal city that, despite extensive modernization, has retained its colonial era shopping arcades and public buildings.

Chinese people tend to value Xiamen's clean air and modern buildings but overseas tourists will probably prefer to potter around the old arcades in the Zhongshan Road area.

The city is built on an island and there are a number of fine sandy beaches although the heavy shipping traffic means the water is not the best for swimming.

A must-do is to take the ten-minute ferry trip to the tiny island of Gulangyu, which has dozens of colonial mansions built in a variety of styles. The island is a car-free zone so you can enjoy a carefree stroll - a rare pleasure in China. Gulangyu is also called the musical island because almost every household owns, and plays, a piano

Xiamen University's large, stylish campus, one of the finest in China, is well worth a visit. Next door is Nanputuo Buddhist Temple, which was founded in the Tang dynasty. Today the temple is one of China's main Buddhist training centers, and if you pay a visit to the nearby Internet cafes you will be amused to see novice monks playing rather bloodthirsty video games.

Xiamen was the frontline during a military confrontation between the mainland and Taiwan 50 years ago. Chinese tourists like to take a boat trip to look at Jinmen Island which, although just a few kilometers away, remains under Taiwanese control.

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