China - Fujian - Tong An

This is the film studio built in accordance with the actual Tiananmen and the Forbidden City in Beijing. However, it is only 1/4 of the actual size. Well, if people who do not have a chance to go Beijing to look at the real one, this is in fact already quite realistic.

Unfortunately, its construction is not completed as its boss was involved in a smuggling case, and was jailed or had fled.. In fact the largest ever in China. (US$500M I think)

China - Fujian - Da4 Deng4

This is Da4 Deng4 Dao3 where China bombed Jin1 Men2. This place is really a military field preserved.

Picture 2 shows an air raid tunnel. The walls are painted after it is open to tourists. Do not be mistakened that it is very bright inside. The brightness is caused by my camera flash. Inside is actually very dark, cannot even see your hand at certain point. The ceiling is also quite low. I think people taller than 1.80m may need to bend down as you walk.

China - Fujian - Quanzhou

This is "Qing Yuan Shan" where "Kai Yuan Si" is located. This is a very old temple of 1300 years, 100 years older than "Nan Pu Tuo Si" located in Xiamen.

It has a very long story. There was a rich landlord, who has a "sang1 shu4" plantation on this plot of land. He had a dream which Buddha told him that he has to donate this piece of land to build a temple when all the sang1 shu4 bloom with white lotus. One day, a monk approached him and requested this landlord to donate the land for the building site of a temple. He was reluctant as it was really a big piece of land and cost a fortune. But he remembered the dream. Then he asked the monk, how big the land must be? The monk replied, just the size of his jia1 sha1. (robe) The landlord thought the robe is so small, not a big problem after all. The monk threw the robe into the air. To the landlords astonishment, it expanded till the size of the plantation and descended, covering the whole plot of land. Concurrently, all the sang1 shu4 bloomed with white lotus. The landlord obliged, as he was a devout buddhist too.

There is a very unique sang1 shu4 in the temple, which has 3 trunks. It is believed to be left behind since the landlords time. It was said that the robe has a hole for the head, thus the land of this tree is not covered, thus it was not chopped down. If this is true, the tree would be 1300+ years old. Wow!

Hopefully I did not distort the story as it was based on my memory only on what the tour guide said. :)

There are 2 pagodas in the temple made purely from rocks and stones. It is so special as normally pagodas are made from wood, or with a mixture of materials. Unfortunately, they are too old and may not have sufficient structural strength to take human load. Hence, their entrances are locked up. The architecture is impressive.

China - Fujian - Shi2 Shi1 (Stone Lion)

It was stated in the local tour brochures that if youu have not visited Shi2 Shi1, you have not visited Fujian. Sorry la, I beg to differ.

After we went there, we realise that it was merely a commercial place in fujian, where most of the merchandize are sold. From the tour guide, this place is not very safe as compared to Xiamen. Shoplifting is not uncommon. But if you are alert, this shouldn't happen so easily la. (Think this applies to many places too hor)

This is a motorcycle taxi. It can ferry you to you destination at a extremely low cost. By right, it can take only one passenger. But many flout the rules by carrying 2-3 passengers. You may wonder how they do it, majiam like acrobats right......:)

China - Fujian - Xiamen - Gulangyu

Gulangyu is considered one of the best attraction in Xiamen. It consists of eastern and western architecture as it was colonialized by different western nations.

It is named as a Musical Island. From the tour guide, this is because many western musicians used to live on the island, and had composed a lot of great music.

It is also called "wu che" island, meaning no cars island literally. Only 3 kinds of cars can be found. They are rubbish vehicle, fire fighting vehicle and carts. Even bicycles are disallowed. Everyone on the island travels by foot. It takes about 2hours to travel from one end to the other end of the island.

Though an island by itself, it has all types of facilities, ranging from hospitals, hotels, universities, etc. Really no joke k, I was amazed too.

But I think the only drawback is when one is too sick to walk or in terms of emergency, really "jiao tian bu ying, jiao di bu ling".......just a personal opinion. Well, but I think the island is still great on the whole. :)

Picture 1 - This is the statue of Zheng Cheng Gong. He is from the transition period from Ming and Qing dynasty. He was a patriot and capture reapture Taiwan from the Dutch. It was a famous victory as we all know how powerful western navy was. For those who like history, you can watch the movie " Zheng Cheng Gong" acted by Zhao Wen Zhuo. I feel it's not bad.

Picture 4 to 6 - This place is the "Underwater World", similar to the one on our Sentosa. However, I feel it is not as nice. The only winning part is its wider variety of marine life which are not found in the tropics.

This is a real skeleton of a sperm whale found dead along the coast of Xiamen. It measures 60m long sia, impressive.

This is the real skin of the dead sperm whale. The skeleton is removed and stuffed up. It gives us a feel of how large is the whale. Wow!

Picture 7 - Gulang Shi (DrumWave Rock) - This rock got its name as it produces a drum beating and waves sound when waves gushes through the hole in the centre of the rock.