What to do in Xiamen

[Virginia9742]

I just arrived in Xiamen, and wondering if any of you have been here and what is there to do?

[bao luo]

Xiamen is best known for Gu lang yu (a small island with colonial buildings and a famous piano museum). Xiamen daxue is famous around China and there's a nice beach nearby (one of the best in China in my opinion). You can take a short boat ride down to see Taiwan shore. All in all, I found Xiamen to be a little unexciting.

[Virginia9742]

Thanks for the tips!  Yeah, I have to agree with you Bao Luo.  Xiamen seems a bit boring, though all in all a fairly nice, clean city by Chinese standards.  I'm mostly looking for photographic opportunities here, which is my usual thing. 

I will add one item to your list worth seeing.  At Xiamen University there is a 1000 meter tunnel, full of murals and pretty cool.

[cameron326]

You can go up the 'sunshine rock' on gulangyu. Have to pay to go up but the panoamic view is worth it. You just on holiday? I used to live in Xiamen and loved it there. In Hefei now most the time . . . .

[Virginia9742]

In Xinxiang now, soon back to Hefei.  I now feel so sad that I live in Hefei instead of Xiamen...  It's my favorite Chinese city now, just after Dalian.

[Aussie Mike]

The advantage of not living in the best places is that you can enjoy holidays more.
If you lived in the best place, you wouldn't travel anywhere. 

[bao luo]

I would recommend Ri Zhao. It's a seaside town a few hours south of Qingdao. The seafood is good and the beach is better than in Qingdao. There's a traditional fishing village, and if you ask around you can usually find a local family who will put you up for around 50 RMB/night.

[cameron326]

Xiamen is probably my favourite city in China. Being on the coast is a big plus for me. Being  a small  city though, it's getting notceably more crowded and traffic is deteriorating.  Haven't been to Dalian but have heard good things about it - seems nice from pictures online. Still, Hefei is not bad and is getting better all the time :-)

[Aussie Mike]

Hefei is not a tourist city as such but it is a gateway to many places such as Huang Shan and San He.

Hefei will become a transient population for the next couple of generations before families resettle.
Hefei needs to attract foreign migration as well national migration to support the growth predictions.

As far as cities go, Hefei is metamorphosing into an outstanding livable city. It's wings will spread once they reach Chao Hu, the lake not the city.

FuZhou Fujian is a destination I have yet to savour. Let me know what you found.