5/10/03

It’s ten o’clock Sunday night, I got back from Xiamen at about half past six. I have been sitting here trying to figure out the best way to recount the weekend for all those who are interested. I figure I’ll use this as a bit of an intro to the town itself, and then give each day a separate link! The trip itself was a success, I did reconfirm that there are precious few people on this planet that I really like traveling with, however it was a good weekend.

Xiamen was founded in the 14th century, in the early years of the Ming dynasty. It was developed into a major seaport and commercial centre. The Portuguese arrived in the 16th century, followed by the British, French and Dutch in the 16th and 17th centuries, all of whom tried unsuccessfully to establish the city as a trade port. Xiamen was closed to foreigners in the mid-18th century, until the Opium War brought change. In 1841 the British sailed into Xiamen and forced the port reopened. The powers of the west, and Japan, soon followed and the island of Gulang Yu, just of the coast, was turned into a foreign enclave of consulates from a number of countries. Xiamen was actually Japanese territory between the years of 1938 and 1945.

In more recent times the significance of Xiamen has been related to it’s proximity to Taiwan, more specifically the island of Jinmen (Taiwanese), which is a stone’s throw from Xiamen. For personal reasons I am not going to go into depth discussing the dispute between Taiwan and China. If you are interested, search the web, or email me. In 2001 for the first time, people from Xiamen were allowed to visit Jinmen to visit relatives.

Gulang Yu, the island, has been very well kept, a lot of the architecture from the foreign occupation still remains, making it a very popular tourist destination. This time of year is one of the two busiest times of the year for travel in China, being a national holiday. As a result Xiamen, and Gulang Yu itself, were absolutely packed!