5-7 April: Xiamen City, Fujian Province, China

Not to be outdone by time constraints, I had tried to cover as much as I could of Xiamen within 3 days. I first visited a beautiful islet called Gu Lang Yu, famous for its high piano population and rich European architectural style.

The red house shown below is a legacy of the islet's past as the prominent site of European embassies during the Qing Dynasty. Like the hundreds of its kind on the islet, it has now become a residence of the common folk after 1949.

The islet is a pleasant place to be in, and indeed it had attracted many influential Chinese of the past to house their residences here. There is a pavilion atop the highest point of the islet, where a skyline view of opposite Xiamen can be obtained. An image of Zheng Chenggong looms near, symbolic of a successful takeover of Taiwan during the Ming-Qing period. It is up to the visitor to decide if it continues to bear any significance as a contemporary.

I hopped onboard a cab to Xiamen University, known as the most beautiful tertiary campus in mainland China. For me, it has to be the most beautiful campus that I have ever visited in the country, followed by Peking University by my own standards.

At the risk of stating the obvious, Xiamen University was founded by Tan Kah Kee. Mini-museums, monuments, statues and buildings bearing his name are scattered all over the campus, adding a nostalgic touch to the picturesque campus.

I stumbled upon a calm and peaceful pond where couples populate by its circumference. By the way, the air is fresher and less polluted in Xiamen than in most other Chinese cities, so it had been a pleasant experience strolling the pathways and roads.

After a while, I decided to get in touch with my material side by going to Zhongshan road, the equivalent of our Orchard Road. The variety of goods and services offered there is decent, not to mention the abundance of discs and more discs.

I realized that I had to fulfil my spiritual needs as well. Off I went to a hilltop temple the next morning. The history of this temple can be traced to as early as the Jin Dynasty.

And then at noon, I prayed at the most famous temple in Xiamen known as Nan Pu Tuo (南普陀). It was established in the Tang Dynasty and had enjoyed imperial patronage for many generations. The vegetarian biscuits and dishes served were superb, so it does not seem too bad an idea to seek monkhood at the temple.