Xiamen, China

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Xiamen and Quanzhou were Imperial China's great windows on the world - seaports where merchants from faraway lands came to trade for the fabulous wealth of the East. Xiamen is perhaps better known to Westerners as Amoy - and it was here that Portuguese traders first made contact with Ming Dynasty China in 1541. In the centuries that followed, Xiamen became the chief export port for tea. Today the city remains an important economic powerhouse to the People's Republic, which declared Xiamen one of the first of the country's Special Economic Zones in the 1980s. More importantly to the traveler, the city was also recently selected as the People's Republic second most suitable city for living.

The West's insatiable demand for tea, silk and porcelain - and the drain in gold and silver on Europe's balance of payments - led to the Opium Wars of the 19th century. Xiamen was ceded to the West as one of the "Five Treaty Ports" wrested from China after the First Opium War.

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Points of Interest

  • Quanzhou
  • Shuzhuang Garden
  • Piano Museum
  • Jimei Park
  • Turtle Garden
  • Wuyuanwan Wetland Park
  • Hakka Village
  • Chinese Foot Massage

More about Xiamen, China Points of Interest

  • Quanzhou

    Dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.), when it was one of the largest ports in the world and has been called the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road

  • Shuzhuang Garden

    Built in 1913 by a wealthy Taiwanese merchant family. The garden is constructed in a masterful way, allowing the illusion of infinite space.

  • Piano Museum

    The collection is entrancing, with more than 100 pianos from all over the world on display.

  • Jimei Park

    Constructed in 1994 to honor Chen Jiageng, a patron of education and the founder of many great academic institutions in Jimei.

  • Turtle Garden

    Built in 1950, the garden serves as a museum of stone sculpture that chronicles life in China from the past to the present.

  • Wuyuanwan Wetland Park

    Dedicated as a haven for birds, the Wetland Park was developed from the original spillway and fresh water supply located there.

  • Hakka Village

    A communal housing setting that was built to protect multiple families from intrusion by hostile neighbors.

  • Chinese Foot Massage

    Chinese foot massage has been practiced for centuries, and Eastern medicine considers foot massage an important and effective way to prevent illness and promote overall health.

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