Xiamen Botanical Garden

Revolutionary Martyr's Memorial Park (Chinese: 烈士陵园; pinyin: Lièshì Língyuán) beside Huyuan Road.

An open memorial park with bronze statues of soldiers advancing in proclamation of victory.

To reach here you need to get a bus to 一中(pinyin:yi zhong) bus stop just directly opposite Xiamen City Hotel or walk from nearby Zhongsan Park.









"Yi zhong " is actually Number One Middle School and the word is simplest to remember

.Most Southeast Asian Chinese secondary schools also used such name.

Take Buses No. 3, 18, 19, 21 or 809 to this stop (pinyin:zhan)
How to read this bus route: Bus move from left(near the bus number) to your current position(in red wordings) and the balance of subsequent stops.

If it's nearby just pay a 1Yuan bill and the maximum fares is 2 Yuan.

Huyuan Road connects via a tunnel to Siming South Road which is a shortcut to the coastal Island Ring Road.

At the end of this tunnel will be near the Nanputuo Temple but unfortunately there was no pedestrian walkway.

The cable cars operated by Straco Corporation Limited-Singapore (Stock ticker:S85) were plying from the Wanshi Botanical Garden in Xiamen National Park along Zhonggu Mountain.



  Xiamen´s most obvious attraction is of course its natural beauty,idyllic climate, deep natural harbor (one of the best in the world), and strategic coastal location between Hong Kong and Shanghai, and facing Taiwan.

 Xiamen had China´s first daily air quality forecasts, and was a pilot city for national environment protection and the first ISO-authenticated garden.

Former U.S. President Richard Nixon, who once toured Xiamen in September 1985 said that of all the cities he had visited in the past 38 years Xiamen was the most beautiful.






West gate entrance near the Revolutionary Martyr's Monument to Wanshi Botanical garden also known as Xiamen Botanical Garden.

 Actually the large blue lake is the Modanyan Reservoir on the northern slope of Shi Mountain in southeast urban area of Xiamen.

Modanyan reservoir was built in 1952 with extension of Wanshi Botanical Garden, which is divided into more than 20 botanical zones, cultivating grounds and display rooms for more than tens of thousands of cultivated tropical.

Wanshi Botanical Garden has scenic spots such as the Morning Bell of Heaven, the Reading and Music Playing Cave, the Cloud Locking Stones, the Jade Scepter Rock and the Peace Stone.
Entrance Fee: 40Yuan ,Opening Hours: 05:00-18:00 .

Xiamen Botanical Garden is situated in downtown Xiamen, to the southeast of Zhongshan Park.

 It was set up in 1960 and its architectural layout was designed according to the Chinese ancient garden-style residence.

This is a very educational park in understanding the various type of floras,the ecology and rocks formation.

Some of the rocks have ancient calligraphic inscriptions.
In the Pine and China Fir Garden, eye-catching trees like the metasequoia,cypress and gingko trees can be seen.

The Victoria amazonica, a giant water lily, whose massive leaves look like giant pans grows in some of the big ponds.

Tags along the trails writtten in Chinese and Latin the names and origins of the plants.

Wulao Peak (pinyin:Wulao feng, 五老峰) or "Five Old Men Peak" is the highest point overlooking the Nanputuo Temple.

The winding road uphill might prove too tough for some people to walk so there's also an internal minibus services to the Wulao Cable Car Station.




The South Gate that links to Xiamen University.

There were many kinds of tropical and sub-tropical plants surrounding the hills.

On the peak overlooking Xiamen University is a Military Museum, as well as the Buddhist nunnery that explains why centuries of Nanputuo monks have worn so many trails over the Five Old Men Mountains in search of enlightenment.

 Entrance via the backway from Xiamen University to the Botanical Garden might require a cheaper fee or possibly free if you just ignore when nobody ask.

Main Attractions:
Spring & Autumn Bridge (Chunqiu Qiao) between Bamboo Path and Palm Garden Tiger Stream Temple (Huxi Yan Si) ,Tiger Stream Night Moon (Huxi Yeyue), Wan Shilian Temple (Wan Shilian Si) ,Border of Heaven Temple (Tianjie Si).




Tianjie Temple(Tianjie Si) occupies a high level ground.
Its famous morning bell can be heard far and near and was listed among the eight must see sights of Xiamen---"Bell Tinkling at dawn from the Heaven Border."

Panoramic view of the city from Tianjie Temple.

  There were numerous stone inscriptions carved  cliffs behind the temple and one such section with engraved words near the Long Howling Cave was carved during the reign of Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty.











Xue Qifeng, a famous scholar of early Qing Dynasty,praised it in one of his poems like this---
"Hills and rocks combine all the views and the garden has been claiming unparalleled wonder through the ages."

There has been such a saying as "The things that can make one smile and happy can not be expressed."

Bronze josstick urn.

 Joss sticks are used for a variety of purposes associated with ritual and religious devotion in China.

Traditionally burned before the threshold of a home or business, before an image of a Chinese popular religion divinity or spirit of place, or in small and humble or large and elaborate shrine found at the main entrance to each and every villages.

Spiral joss sticks are also used on a regular basis, which are found hanging above temple ceilings, with burn times that are exceedingly long hours.

During the Ghost Festival, very large pillar-like dragon joss sticks are sometimes used and this festival is very popular anually in Singapore.

This bronze josstick urn was donated by two Overseas Chinese (華僑 -- Huáqiáo).

They were from the Philippines. The Chinese Filipinos belonging either the Fujianese or Cantonese dialect groups of the Han nationality have always been one of the largest Filipino ethnic groups in the Philippines.

 It can be said that a large population of Pinoys have Chinese ancestry.

Those who intermarriage during the Spanish colonial era are known as Chinese mestizos just like the national hero Dr. Jose Rizal.

 Famous Pinoys who are of Chinese descents include Corazon Aquino(former president),Henry Sy (owner of giant retailer SMGroup),Lucio Tan Eng Tsai (owns San Miguel Brewery,Philippines Airlines),Tony Tan Chak Tiong ('Jollibee' restauranteur) and many others.

There were Minnan (Southern Fujianese) dialect incorporated into the Tagalog,official language of the Philippines. Xiamen's first international school is the Manila Xiamen International School located at No:735 Long Hu Shan Lu, Zengcuo'an,Siming District.






Starting from the rain forest area,the road uphill became very winding and having steep gradient.

 The physical features of the terrain have close similarity to Maxwell Hill (Taiping Hill) near Taiping town in the state of Perak,West Malaysia.

 As you proceeded uphill via Taipingyan Temple,the distance to Wulao's Peak is still at least an hour walk.

Cactus and Succulent Zone is a very interesting site,visitors can see the various sizes and types of cacti.

Cactus has a lot of sharp spines or thorns which keeps the plant safe but is harmful to human beings so don't go near or touch it.

A voice from a loudspeaker here in this park will suddenly scream at you.

Beautiul landscaping with cactus succulent.
Cactus are well adapted to desert conditions, using their stems to store water during extended dry seasons and are credited as the world's largest family of succulent plants.





Extracting solar energy from the sun with solar panels and a wind energy turbine.













A CCTV lampost in the background scrutinised visitors attempting to go too near the cacti succulent plants.





  Flowering cactus potruding from the spores.Cactus flowers are pollinated by insects, birds and bats but not wind-pollinated and self-pollination.

Cactus are great ornamental plants for homes and offices.

They are very low maintenance plants.

Commercial extraction of cactus for herbal,cosmectics or jams is also a big consumer business.

Cacti are also flowering plants that serve an important role in their ecosystem by providing food and shelter to many animals, birds and reptiles. Opuntia basilaris, the Beavertail Cactus about to blossom.

The Beavertail cactus (Opuntia basilaris), a related species with flat pads, grows between one and two feet tall.

Ficus microcarpa-Boschotia javahica,the Chinese Bayan tree clinging to the walls.
Bonsai miniature plants are from the Ficus specie.






In case of emergency,the service centre call number is 110 being the police (gong'an).Xiamen Public Security Bureau.

A small community living near the Cactus and Succulent Zone.

At the far end turn right into a dirt road and then walk towards the left along the tar road will lead you downhill to the South Gate.

Having enquired from one of the residents here,he told me that this is a shortcut down to Xiamen University.

 If you still have the energy to walk uphill,then use the other normal path to the South Gate.

Chinese made old series missile in front of Military Museum office.

The YJ-6 anti-ship missile was designed to attack ships up to light cruiser class.







Type 88 is a series of second-generation main battle tanks entered service with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in the 1980s.

Anti-aircrafts gun.
It is a towed, road-mobile anti-aircraft weapon designed to engage low-speed airborne targets at short- to medium-range.














After seeing this jet-fighter plane,walk straight ahead you'll see some student dormitories .Just keep to your right and follow the path downhill to reach the South Gate and subsequently Xiamen University. There will be road directions sign along the way so it won't be of any problem

Nanputuo Buddhist Temple

Nanputuo Temple situated at the foothill of Wulaofeng (Five Old Men Peak) and next to Xiamen University.

 The Buddhist temple is over 1,000 years old and  Xiamen's oldest sight.

The temple was once called Puzhao Temple (Universal Grace Temple).

It was first built during the Tang Dynasty (618-907),but was later was destroyed in the warfare during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

 During the reign of Qing Emperor Kangxi (1662-1722), it was rebuilt and renamed Nanputuo Temple. There is a path behind the temple where visitors can climb up the hill to the very top and have a panoramic of the city and nearby islands.

A multi-storey pagoda with the Kah Kee Building Complex in nearby Xiamen University's vicinity.

 Buddhist stupas and temples first introduced in China did not appear in the same form they look in India.

Rather than keeping the structure of the stupa as it had appeared for centuries in India and Central Asia, the Chinese adapted them to fit their architectural styles.

 Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty (reigned 59-75BC) was the first to devote to Buddhism and he instructed the building of the White Horse Temple and Yongning Temple near Luoyang ,Henan Province Central China.

Luoyang was one of the four great ancient capitals of China. The temple covers 30,000 square meters with four main buildings on the north-south axis.

 The buildings include :
1) Devajara Hall (the Hall of Heavenly Kings),
2) Mahavira Hall (Daxiongbaodian),
3) Dabei Hall (the Hall of Great Compassion) and a Pavilion built in 1936 in which Buddhist scriptures, Buddha images from Burma, ivory sculptures and other works of art were stored.

The many rooms flanking the main buildings include dormitories, libraries and study rooms for monks.

  Devajara Hall: Also called the Hall of Heavenly Kings (Tian Wang Dian).
Devajara Hall is the location of the statues of four ferocious Heavenly Kings.
 In the center of the hall stands a fat Buddha, Maitreya or Milefo.
With a broad smile, bare chest and exposed paunch, Maitreya represents the Buddha of the future, also known as the Laughing Buddha.

  Mahavira Hall: Mahavira Hall is built in 1921 and features the statues of the Trinity of the Three Ages (Sakyamuni, the Buddha of the Present; Kasyapa, the Buddha of the Past; and Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future), Avalokitesvara (Guanyin Bodhisattva, the Goddess of Mercy) and Avalokitesvara's disciples.
Most of the attractive murals on the wall depict Buddhist stories and figures from India.





  Dabei Hall: The Dabei Hall is an octagonal tower which was rebuilt in 1928.
Inside, four Statues of Avalokitesvara were enshrined on a lotus-flower base.
The Bodhisattva with his arms crossed in front of his chest has 48 hands stretching out.
Each hand features a miniature scared eye.
Two banyans were planted on each side of the hall.

Sutra-Keeping Pavilion(pinyin:Ge): The Sutra-Keeping Pavilion was built in 1936 and houses thousands of Buddhist scriptures, Buddha images from Burma, ivory Sculptures, wood sculptures, bronze bells, incense burner and other works of art.
One particular porcelain Avalokitesvara in the Pavilion is said to be very precious.

This Chinese Phoenix or Fenghuang sculpture sits near the top of the temple.
 Images of an ancient bird have appeared in China for over 4,000 years.
 It was believed that the phoenix only appear in areas or places that are blessed with utmost peace and prosperity or happiness.
It is a symbol of high virtue and grace.
 In ancient and modern Chinese culture, they can often be found in the decorations for weddings or royalty, along with dragons.




 
The Celestial Chinese Dragon is comparable as the symbol of the Chinese race itself.

Chinese around the world, proudly proclaim themselves "Lung Tik Chuan Ren" (Descendents of the Dragon).

Dragons are referred to as the divine mythical creature that brings with it ultimate abundance, prosperity and good fortune.

As the emblem of the Emperor and the Imperial command, the legend of the Chinese Dragon permeates the ancient Chinese civilization and shaped their culture until today.
Its benevolence signifies greatness, goodness and blessings.

The Chinese Dragon, or Lung , symbolizes power and excellence, valiancy and boldness, heroism and perseverance, nobility and divinity.
A dragon overcomes obstacles until success is his.
He is energetic, decisive, optimistic, intelligent and ambitious.
Occupying the 5th position in the Chinese Zodiac, the Dragon is the mightiest of the signs.
Dragons symbolize such character traits as dominance and ambition. Dragons prefer to live by their own rules and if left on their own, are usually successful.

Monks ritual ceremony at the Dabei Hall.
Monks robes are usually orange in colour but most of the monks here have additional red robes overcoat which must be a symbol of their highest hierarchy equals to that of an Abbot.

Chinese Buddhist monks have been traditionally and stereotypically linked with the practice of the Chinese martial arts or Kung fu, and monks are frequently important characters in martial arts films.

 This association is focused around the Shaolin Monastery at Song Shan, near Zhengzhou City, Henan Province in Dengfeng, China.

The Buddhist monk Bodhidharma is traditionally credited as the founder of Zen Buddhism in China and most Chinese practise Mahayana Buddhism similar to those in Vietnam,Thailand and Cambodia except for Laos is Theravada Buddhism.

One feature about the Chinese Buddhist monks is that they practice the burning marks on their scalp, finger or part of the skin on their anterior side of the forearm with incense as a sign of ordination.

The elephant(pinyin:Xiang) in Chinese art is a symbol of strength and wisdom.
It also bears some reference to Buddhism as the elephant is a sacred animal in Buddhist traditions.
 In China the Buddha is sometimes depicted riding an elephant, which may reference the religion’s origin as transported from India.
A stone elephant emphasizes the concept of strength or power while an elephant with a vase can be interpreted as a sign of peaceful times.

  Bell (pinyin:Zhong),the symbol of peace and good luck.

The Big Bell Temple, or Da Zhong Temple located on Beisanhuan Road in Beijing, China built in 1733 during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) has the famous "Yongle" Big Bell weighing about 46 tons, with a height of 5.5 meters and a diameter of 3.3 meters.

The bell is famous not only because of its size, but probably more importantly because of the over 230,000 characters of Buddhist scriptures engraved on it.

The sound of the bell could be heard 50 kilometers away from the temple in the depth of night.

Ancient Chinese buildings were very unique as they don't require any nails in timber wood joinery.
 A fundamental achievement of Chinese wooden architecture is the load-bearing timber frame, a network of interlocking wooden supports forming the skeleton of the building.
Buildings in China have been supported by wooden frames for as long as many centuries.
The craftsmen cut the wooden pieces to fit so perfectly that no glue or fasteners were necessary.
 In traditional Chinese architecture, the layered pieces of the ceiling are held together by interlocking bracket sets (斗拱,pinyin: dǒugǒng).



Buddha in 3 different postures.
 Protection Buddha: Signifies courage, offers protection from fear, delusion and anger
Teaching Buddha : Signifies wisdom, understanding, and fulfilling destiny Enlightenment Buddha: Signifies insight, purity of character, self-mastery Decorative sculptures.

Of the 6 million overseas Chinese whose hometowns are in Fujian Province, most set off from Xiamen.
 It is said that before embarking on their journeys many of these emigrants came to Nanputuo Temple to ask the Buddha's blessing for their safety and prosperity.
In return, they promised to donate money to the temple.
Many of these people have kept their promises, and a number of the temple's construction projects have been financed by their donations.





  Looks like a Warrior God holding a sword.
He must be a tyrant during ancient kingdom where the peasants will most likely fear of.
Hence the result of worshiping till today.
Legend never dies.

A visit to Xiamen University

Main entrance to Xiamen University (大学pinyin: Dàxué) from Siming South Road.
Near the arch entrance is a small bus terminal and next to it is the Nanputuo Temple.
Most tourists have their itinerary visiting the temple nearby and did not include a visit to this large university.

 Visitors were allowed in day and night without the need of a visitor's pass.

This entrance is called the Danan Gate or Nanputuo Gate.

Xiamen University is Top Asian Universities ranking number 112,two spot below Thammasat University of Thailand and one to sixth spot above Bandung Insitute of Technology and Universitas Gajah Mada ,Republic Indonesia.



  Bronze Statue of Tan Kah Kee(October 21, 1874 – August 12, 1961) ( 陳嘉庚; pinyin: Chén Jiāgēng) in front of Xiamen University History Museum who is the founder of Xiamen University.

Direction:from the Danan Gate entrance turn right and walk straight ahead till the very end T-junction which is the fifth junction and keep to the right.
If you walk left will be a small traffic circle making a three o'clock turn is a road leading to Hulishan Fort.

 Tan Kah Kee's hometown is Jimei District in Tong'an County. He left for Singapore in 1890 at the age of 17 and started off as a 'coolie' in his father's wholesale rice business.

Unfortunately his father's rice business went bust so he had to venture into other areas to help settle the debts.
 Initially he ventured into pineapple production and soon diversify into the rice trade,saw-milling and sugar refinery.

By the year 1925,he has established himself as a rubber magnate where he owned over 15,000 acres of rubber land.
His empire was never spared by the world financial crisis of the early 20s and 30s and this time he has to declare bankrupt.
At that time in 1934 there is no such thing as bailout.Luckily for him he has already amassed a huge fortune and his love for his motherland made him return again to set up this university in 1921.

Prior to this he has already started Jimei University.

His motto: a sound education can bring properity to a nation.




  Statue of Lu Xun (鲁迅; pinyin: Lǔ Xùn) (September 25, 1881 – October 19, 1936)born in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, one of the major Chinese writers of the 20th century.

Considered by many to be the leading figure of modern Chinese literature, Mao Zedong himself was a lifelong admirer of Lu Xun's works.

 At Jiangnan Military Academy (江南陸師學堂),it was there Lu Xun had his first contacts with Western learning, especially the sciences; he studied some German and English, reading, amongst some translated books, Huxley's Evolution and Ethics, J. S. Mill's On Liberty, as well as novels like Ivanhoe and Uncle Tom's Cabin.

The "Kah Kee" building complex with a large lake in front.
To many in Singapore and around the region, the name Tan Kah Kee is synonymous with leadership, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, social reform and education.

Generations of Anglo-Chinese Schoolers (ACSians) are also familiar with the name as one of the school houses also bears his name for his enormous contributions to education and Anglo-Chinese School.

He has close to 102 descendants almost all of them were former ACSians,a school where he donated huge sum of money to promote English in Singapore.

 There were 7 main entry points into the Xiamen University main campus.
 1) Danan Gate (Nanputuo Gate)-Siming South Road.
2) National Park via Taiping Hill-my main entry point trekking through the woods.
3) Baicheng Gate-from Round-the Island Road
4) Haibin Gate-opposite is Hulishan Bus Stop
5) Haibindingqu Gate-opposite Mingzhi Bus Stop
6) Daxue Road Gate.
7) Qunxian Gate-Yanwu Road





Old traditional building used as student dormitories.

This building style is similar to the Jimei University,the hometown of Tan Kah Kee.

The upper roof edges have a style of the Nanputuo Temple.
 It was very relaxing to walk within the campus ground with many trees providing the canopy and the landscaping is superb.
It seemed that every hour there's a vehicle sanitizing and flushing the road to ensure a clean and healthy environment.






View of seating area beside the Furong Lake.
This is a very nice park within the campus where students also hang around here after lectures to relax and get some inspirations.

  Banner soliciting for tuition (pinyin:buxi).

 As part of a strategic way of earning some pocket money,students here must have launched this website happybuxi.com

Xia Da (Chinese Pinyin name of the university) Inside the Jianwan Building campus canteen,a short distance from Danan Gate.

 Haibin Student Canteen is near Haibin Gate .

Nanguang Student Canteen near Museum of Antropology.

Yifu Building canteen has a hotel for outsiders beside the Internationa Academic Exchange Center.







Guesthouse inside the campus near the Lingyun Student dormitories area.

The road beside the guesthouse is link to the Xiamen National Park.

Monthly rate per head 1000Yuan.
Three person dorm bed 55 Yuan.
Outsiders welcome
Popular Public Bus Routes: # 45, 812, 1, 15






Billboard showing Maple Hotel
Tel:0592-2368333
 Room rates from 98Yuan
Location at Siming south Road behind McDonald Restaurant.



 

Huge evergreen eucalyptus tree inside Xiamen University compound.
The bark of the tree seemed to flake.
A native plant of Australia where the tree's bark were used in the pulp and paper industry.




Daily night street bazaar along Siming South Road.
Bus stops around here have buses well connected to all parts of the city including buses to Tong'an county,Jimei or Haicang.

Buses were airconditioned and the fare is 2 yuan even to out of the city.
Go into the bus with small notes bill to put into the slot machine otherwise you won't get your change back.
This place is station stop zero so you can easily get a bus seat.






Busy town square at Siming South Road.
The Mc Donald and KFC Restaurants walking distance to Nanputuo temple and Xiamen University was less than 10 minutes.

 Hotels around siming south Road:

Hilford Hotel Xiamen No.495 Siming South Road
7 Days Inn No. 433-2 Siming South Road,

Bestel Hotel Siming West Road adjacent Zhongshan Lu Nanzhong Plaza, Siming West Road

MAP of my walking trail from Baijiacun Hostel via Martyr's Memorial Park via Botanical Garden via Defence Museum to Xiamen University northeast gate.


Hotels Near seaside around Zengcuoan Road next to Xiamen University.:

Xiamen Sunshine Holiday Inn 289,Zengcuoan Road.
Xiamen University Graduates Inn Xiada Branch No.47 Zengcuoan West Road
Xiamen Mode Inn ZengCuoAn Branch No.252 Zengcuoann Xiamen
Lan Sea Inn No.239 Zengcuoan Road
Xiamen Star Inn No.292,Zengcuoan Road 
Xiamen University Graduates Inn Zengcuoan Branch No.155 Zengcuoan North Road
Xiamen Star Moon Inn No.50 Zengcuoan Xiamen
Wanwan Home Apartment No.145 Zengcuoan Xili
Fujian Xiamen More Inn No.221 Zengcuoan Huandao Road
Xiamen HTC Inn No.370 Huangdao Road, Zengcuoan Xiamen
Meng Yi Inn No.96 Zengcuoan Xili Road
Xiamen Star's Wish Inn No.243,ZengCuoAn,Huandao Road
Xiamen Megaboom Business Hotel No.219-225 Zhongshan Road
Xiamen Tianyue Hostel No.38 Cengcuoan South Huandao Road
Xiamen Tian Quan Inn No.235 Zengcuoan Road