Nanputuao Temple and Gulangyu

Saturday was a sight seeing day around Xiamen, guided by Chen, a student in the group I am visiting. We first visited a Buddhist temple right near the university. The luxuriant vegetation growing in the semi-tropical climate gave the temple a different feel from others we had seen.


Nanputuao Temple


Temple Hall


Temple Roof and Flowers


Dragon and Bougainvillea
We spent most of the day on Gulangyu, an even smaller island a 10 minute ferry ride from Xiamen harbor. Gulangyu was where the Europeans set up consulates and lived when Xiamen became a treaty port after the first opium war. The buildings are mainly European style from that time. Many of the ones on the back streets have a "Secret Garden" feel of neglect and decay. The island also has a musical tradition, with a music school and, it is said, many pianists, some of them internationally famous. There is also a piano museum set up from a private collection which we visited.


Catholic Church


Banyan Tree



Old Mansions


Monument to a Poet and Doctor