Kulangsu 鼓浪屿
Kulangsu, a small island in Siming District,
Xiamen City, Fujian Province, is a famous
scenic spot. The original Gulangyu District
was revoked and merged into Siming’s
jurisdiction. It is located in the southwest
corner of Xiamen Island, across the sea from
Xiamen Island. Formerly known as Yuanshazhou
and Yuanzhouzi, there were sea caves in the
southwest of the sea, which were impacted by
waves and sounded like drums. The Ming
Dynasty elegantly became its present name.
Due to historical reasons, buildings of
different Chinese and foreign styles have
been collected and preserved here, and it is
known as the “World Architecture Expo”. Many
hot shops in Longtou Road Commercial Street
sell a variety of Xiamen specialty snacks.
This island is also a fertile ground for
music, and there are many talents. The
density of pianos is the highest in the
country, and it has the reputation of “Piano
Island” and “Music Town”. It is a very
romantic tourist attraction. Lin Chengqiang,
a native of the township, said in a joint
compliment: Drum waves hang sails today and
win the past, and pile gold and jade are
generous and generous.
Main attractions: Sunlight Rock, Shuzhuang
Garden, Haoyue Garden, Yu Garden, Gulang
Stone, Zheng Chenggong Memorial Hall,
Ancient Summer Cave, Longtou Mountain
Village, Hundred Bird Park, Piano Museum,
Sunlight Rock Temple, Haitiantang Temple,
etc.
Nanputuo Temple 南普陀寺
Nanputuo Temple is located under Wulao Peak
in the southeast of Xiamen City, Fujian
Province, facing Bicheng Sea Port. The
temple covers an area of 258,000 square
meters with a construction area of 212.7
million square meters. It was built in the
last years of the Tang Dynasty and was
called Sizhou Temple. It was renamed Puzhao
Temple during the Song Zhiping period. In
the early Ming Dynasty, the temple was
barren and was not rebuilt until the Kangxi
period of the Qing Dynasty. Because it
enshrines the Guanyin Bodhisattva, it is
similar to the Guanyin Taoist Temple in
Mount Putuo, Zhejiang, and named “South
Putuo Temple” south of Mount Putuo. It is
one of the Buddhist attractions in southern
Fujian. The blood book “Miaofa Lianhua
Sutra” and He Chaozong’s famous white
porcelain Guanyin were the most precious in
the temple during the Wanli period of Ming
Dynasty.
The main buildings on the central axis of
Nanpusui Temple are Tianwang Hall, Daxiong
Hall, Dabei Hall, and Tibetan Scripture
Pavilion. There are bell and drum towers,
meditation halls, guest rooms, and
warehouses on both sides, as well as the
Minnan Buddhist College, Buddhist
Yangzhengyuan, and a free life pond in front
of the temple. The “Taixu Master Memorial
Tower” has been newly built after the
temple. The whole temple is magnificent and
orderly.
Nanputuo Temple is a national key Buddhist
temple in the Han area, the sixth batch of
provincial cultural relics protection units
in Fujian Province, and one of the eight
scenic spots in Xiamen.
Zhongshan Road Pedestrian
Street 中山路步行街
Zhongshan Road (English: AmoyYatSenRoad) is
located in the southwest of Xiamen Island.
It is an east-west road in Zhonghua Street,
Siming District, Xiamen City. During the
period of Japanese occupation, it was called
Dahan Road (1933-1945), and during the
Cultural Revolution, it was called
Dongfanghong Road (1966-1979).
Zhongshan Road is about 1.2 kilometers long,
starting from the ferry Lujiang Road in the
west, at the boundary between Siming South
Road and Siming North Road on the mid-span,
and east of Xinhua Road (now the Xiamen
Public Security Bureau, the former seat of
Xiamen Workers’ Cultural Palace) and
Gongyuan South Road.
Zhongshan Road was built in 1925, connecting
two important scenic spots, Zhongshan Park
and Gulangyu. The arcade buildings along the
street are all Minnan style arcade
buildings. Since 2006, they have been
protected by the “Special Plan for the
Control of the Purple Line in Xiamen” in the
name of “Old City Zhongshan Road Historic
District”. Large-scale demolition and
development activities are strictly
prohibited. Along Zhongshan Road is the
birthplace of Xiamen’s commerce, and it is
still one of the most prosperous business
districts in Xiamen. It won the first place
in the “Top 30 Landmarks of Xiamen” selected
by the Xiamen Evening News in 2008.