XIAMEN TIAN ZHU MOUNTAIN FOREST PARK [天竺山森林公园]

This is one of the many scenic spots my China relative brought us to for an easy and relaxing evening walk.  I love the serenity, tranquility and cool feeling of this forest with lakes and natural floral and fauna.  You can breathe in all the fresh air to your heart's content.  I am glad he brought us to this place.  A place where tour groups will not visit but very popular with local nature lovers. 

Known as the "Back Garden of Xiamen", the Tianzhu Mountain Forest Park is located in Haicang’s Dongfu Town, only 36 kilometers from the downtown of Xiamen, with a total planned area of 30.8 square kilometers. It is an offshore forest park integrating functions of tourism and sightseeing, leisure, sports, agricultural science and religious culture.

The park, which is a national 4A-class scenic spot, is famous for its numerous trees, strange rocks and pleasant flowers. The park boasts a forest coverage rate of 96.8%. There are more than 1,500 kinds of trees and plants and more than 10 square kilometers of virgin forest in the park. 

You can walk around the lake along the wooden platforms, bridges and steps which is about 3.5 km in distance. Here you get to enjoy fresh, cool breeze while you talk a stroll and slow walk.
I was told that in March, you can get to view the Valley of Magnolia Flowers in the Tianzhu Mountain Forest Park.  Nestled at the foot of the Xiangbi Mountain in the tree-filled forest park, the Valley of Magnolia Flowers, which covers an area of 19,000 square meters, is the largest magnolia flower garden in Xiamen. Flowers will start to bloom as the weather improves. In March, when all the magnolia flowers are in full bloom, the valley will become a sea of flowers. 
There are now multiple varieties of magnolia flowers in the valley. The sea of magnolia flowers, together with other scenic spots in the forest park, will form a spectacular land of idyllic beauty. 
Here there are duck farms and a place for people to come for natural spring waters too.

Highlights:
Tianzhu Lake
Haoyue Lake
Hundred-bamboo Garden
Longmen Temple
Zhenji Temple

How To Get There:
Tianzhu Mountain Forest Park 
Address: No. 1 Tianzhu Mountain Road, Hongtang Village, Dongfu Town, Haicang District, Xiamen 
By Bus - Take bus No.805, get off at Tianzhu Mountain East Gate stop [天竺山东门站]
People coming from Xiamen Island can take a bus to Haicang Fangchan (海沧房产站), Jianhang (海沧建行站) or Haiyulu stop (海裕路站), and then transfer to bus No.805

By Private Car 

Admission: Free [RMB30/per person for touring car]

XIAMEN HORTICULTURE EXPO GARDEN [厦门园林博览园]

Xiamen Horticulture Expo Garden was built especially for the 6th China International Garden & Flowers Exposition, with a planned area of 6.67 square kilometers and the main garden composed of 5 islands, being the world’s largest aquatic horticulture expo garden [world’s largest park on the sea] with the most complete garden genres.

It is situated on Zhongzhou Island, Jimei, Xiamen and the Expo was opened from 23 September 2007 to March 2008. It was said to have 24 cities from abroad and 44 Chinese cities participated to show their gardens and flowers in this Expo.

Currently, the park/garden is open to public with an admission fee of RMB60. However, there are some concession fees for different age groups.

My  visit to the park/garden in September 2015 was quite disappointing as the area was not well  kept  or maintained and in deplorable condition even though you need to pay a fee to visit this place.

However, it is now a popular place for the locals to enjoy their morning and evening walks and exercises.  Be prepared to spend several hours to walk through this park.

How To get There:

Take bus No.791, 892, 906, 941 and Xia 94 and then get off at the Yuanboyuan station or by private car

JIMEI UNIVERSITY AND LIBERATION MONUMENT, XIAMEN

I have heard of this place since I was young from my late grandma and father and has seen many photographs of it.  It seems to be a must visit place whenever they  visit their ancestral village at Houwei, Xinglin District, Xiamen.  Jimei district is next to Xinglin district.  So here I came too when I visit my ancestral village in September 2015.

Jimei is located in the north of Xiamen Special Economic Zone, 17 kilometers from the city center. It is opposite to Xiamen Island and is at the foot of Tianma Mountain facing the sea on three sides. 
This is the place where the annual Dragon Boat Festival is held.

Jimei is the hometown of Tan Kah Kee [Chen Jiageng 1874-1961], a renowned educator and leader of overseas Chinese.

It is one of the four most popular tourist sites of Xiamen City, especially for its academic atmosphere as well as pretty natural and social sights.

The most remarkable feature is the Jimei Study Village founded by Tan Kah Kee in 1913, the only one in China. It occupies an area of over 25 acres on a variety of various levels and schools ranging from primary to higher education and from traditional to vocational schools.

Jimei University was formed by the amalgamation of five former colleges. It is now Xiamen City's major center of education and culture and has been given the general designation of Jimei Study Village. 

The buildings of Jimei Study Village are a combination of eastern and western styles, facing the beautiful seashore and they are attractive places for visitors. Recently, Jimei Study Village has been selected as a protected cultural relic of the nation together with another spot in Jimei, Ao Yuan. Ao Yuan, lying on the southeastern seashore of Jimei, was built in four years from 1950. 

The Jimei Liberation Monument of 18 meters height and the tomb of Tan are sited in Ao Yuan. There is a corridor extending from the entrance to the garden. The side walls of the corridor are inscribed with groups of carvings. In addition, various kinds of stone inscriptions can be found all over the garden.  I saw one photograph of Malaysia's first prime minister Tuanku Abdul Rahman with Mr Tan Kah Kee [1955].  Compared to the gorgeous structures in Jimei, a two-storey building appears simple and plain, this is the former residence of Tan Kah Kee. 

Tan Kah Kee had made many contributions to the educational undertakings.  He had set up more than 100 schools, his lifestyle was always frugal and simple. To the west of Mr Tan's residence is a display charting his life story. Guilai Tang is to the south of the former residence of Tan Kah Kee. It was built with the wish of Tan Kah Kee, that is to provide a place for the overseas Chinese to get together when they returned to their homeland.

Guilai Tang was finished one year after Tan Kah Kee’s passing. It occupies an area of more than 4,000 square meters and the main body is in a traditional palace style. In front of Guilai Tang, there is Guilai Yuan constructed in 1983, and a bronze statue of Tan Kah Kee stands in the garden.

In addition to the spots mentioned above, there are Jiageng Park, Dragon Boat Pond, Yanping Gulei, Crocodile Garden, etc worth paying a visit.

Admission Fee - RMB30