It all started as so many other journeys, at the HK International Airport. Christmas is not yet gone.
Christmas trees are no longer firs or pine. They have been replaced by plastic and now crystal.
As in Hong Kong, so it is Amoy now. Although Christmas is not a holiday in the PRC, young people still celebrate it there, as just another day for having a bit of fun but having absolutely nothing to do with the birth of Jesus or the Christian religion at all. And perhaps because Amoy has become the most important commercial port in Fujian relying upon the sale of of electronic products, processing of fruit and marine products as well as the traditional tea and is the world largest production centre for sunglasses exporting 120 million pairs a year!.
General
Xiamen, formerly Amoy is a major city in SE China with a population of some 3.67 million, 98 % of whom are Han with some 380,000 belonging to a minority race known as 畬, the descendants of the ancient 越 . Amoy is now administered as a sub-provincial city of Fujian province, one of 15 such cities in the PRC. It has an area of about 657 square miles and is built on some connected islands divided into 6 districts viz.Huli (湖里區), Siming (思明區), Jimei (集美區), Tong'an (同安區), Haicang (海滄區 ) and recently Xiang'an (翔安區). Two such districts, Siming and Huli. have been Special Economic Zone since the 1980 with bonded warehouse and enjoys special tax exemptions. But a part of Xiamen less than 6 miles off its coasts is administered by the Republic of China (Taiwan) viz. the Jinmen (Kinmen) Islands or Quemoy (金門) . Xiamen and the surrounding southern Fujian countryside are the ancestral home to large communities of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia and is named the most habitable city of China. In the last two centuries, many natives of Xiamen and southern Fujian emigrated to Southeast Asia and Taiwan spreading Hokkien language and culture overseas. Some of the diaspora later returned to fund universities and cultural institutions in Xiamen. An estimated 220,000 Xiamen residents now are returning overseas Chinese and their kin. and some 350,000 overseas Chinese trace their ancestry to Xiamen.
In 1986, the municipal government decided that the city tree would be the Delonix regia (鳳凰木/影樹), its city flower would be the paper flower (三角梅/蕀杜鵑) and the white stork (白鷺) would be its city bird.
Geography
Xiamen comprises Xiamen Island and the Gulangyu Island, and part of the rugged mainland coastal region from the left bank of the Jiulong River (九龍江) in the west to the islands of Xiang'an (靖安) in the northeast. The city centers on Xiamen Island, which is divided between Huli District (湖里)and Siming (思明)District (which also encompasses Gulangyu). The city's four other districts, Haicang (海滄), Jimei (集美) , Tong'an (同安) and Xiang'an (翔安), are all located on the mainland.The Gaoji (Gaoqi-Jimei) Causeway built in 1955–1957 transformed Xiamen Island into a peninsula.Just east of Xiamen Island are the Jinmen Islands, also spelled "Kinmen" and known as "Quemoy". At their nearest points, Greater Jinmen (大金門) is about 6.2 miles from Xiamen Island and Lesser Jinmen (小金門), also known as Lieyu, is about 3.7 miles away.
The old city is in the south-western part of the city. Gao-Ji seawall, Four main road bridges, the Jimei, Xiamen, Xinglin and Haicang Bridges, and one undersea tunnel, Xiangan Tunnel, link Xiamen Island with the mainland.
It part of the 243 miles of coastline of Fujian Province and has a deep ice-free harbour.. It's part of Fujian Province which has 8 other cities like 莆田, 泉州, 漳州, 龍岩, 三明, 南平, 寧德 and one consolidated Experimental area 平潭. 90% of the province are hills and more than 60% covered by forests, the highest in the country.
Xiamen is in the western part of Fujian (福建) and the name Fujian is in fact the abbreviation of first character of two important counties in the province Fuzhou (福州) and Jianzhou (建州) and the province first got its name in 733 in the Tang Dynasty when the emperor appointed a 福之經略使. The short name of Fujian is Min (閩). In olden days, people call the snake (蛇) "long beast" (長虫). Since the natives of what was now Fujian had the custom of worshipping snakes, the province was called Min (閩) to indicate that it had lots of snakes within its doors.
For the protection of the precious white stork 白鷺, white Chinese dolphin (中華白海豚) and the man cheong fish (文昌魚), a 33,000-acre National Oceanic Nature Reserve was set up along its coast.
History
Xiamen is a city full of history. It's history is intimately linked with the history of the rest of China and reads like a miniature version of Chinese history itself.
1. Early history
Until 110 BC, it was occupied by the original inhabitants Min Viets (閩越) but in that year, it was taken over by the Hans and the locals moved into the mountain areas and in 85 BC, the Han Dynasty established Min (閩) it as an administrative county (縣). In some Han records, Xiamen was called Tong'an (同安) , though the area was not significantly settled by Han Chinese until several centuries later.Its jurisdiction has been steadily expanded in the following centuries.
2. Immigration
There were 3 main waves of immigration of the Hans into Min before the Ming Dynasty:
(1) at the end of Western Jin Dynasty 西晉永嘉 (308 CE) 8 big families moved into Min viz. 林, 陳, 黃, 鄭, 詹, 邱, 何, 胡 because of the invasion of China by 5 different groups of non-Han people 五胡亂華 and during the South Dynasty (南朝) the end of 蕭梁, there was 侯景之亂 (548 CE) and many families from Shanxi (山西), Hopei (河北) and Honan (河南) and the adjacent Chejiang (浙江) moved in from the Yellow River Area and then crossed the Yangtzejiang through Anhui (安徽) into northern Kiangsi (江西) into Fujian
(2) early Tang Dynasty (唐高宗), there was a rebellion of the so-called 蠻獠嘯亂. So 3,600 soldiers led by Chan Jing (陳政) and his son 陳元光 as generals were sent to quell the rebellion but they were not successful. Then the emperor sent his brothers Chan Min (陳敏) and Chan Fu (陳敷) to lead another 3000 soldiers from 58 families as reinforcement. It took them some 30 years to finally stop the resistance and many of the soldiers and their families settled down in 漳州. During the late Tang Dynasty, China was occupied by warlords, because of 王巢之亂, many families in north-western Jiangsi (江西) moved further west from there to the south and west of Fujian and some into northern Guangdong and 王潮, 王審知 from 河南光州 organized a peasant army during the confusion caused by 黃巢之亂 and in 885 CE moved into western and southern Fujian and occupied 泉州 the following summer and then in 893 CE, they occupied Fuzhou (福州) and 王審知 to pacify him, 王審知
was appointed King of Min (閩王).
(3) During the wars in the Period of 5 Dynasties and 10 nations (五代十國) at the end of the Sung Dynasty (宋) and also at the end of the Yuan (元), many people from central China from Honan,(河南) Hupei and Hunan( 兩湖,) Jiangsu( 江蘇,) Chejiang (浙江) and Jiangsi (江西) moved in
3. Jin , Ming Dynasties
During the Jin Dynasty (晉), the place was made Tong'an County (同安縣) in 282 and form part of 晉安郡 Region and was later merged with 南安縣.
Until 1387 during Ming Dynasty, Xiamen Island itself was known as Jiahe-Yu ( 嘉禾嶼) when General Zhou Dexing started to build the "Xiamen Castle" on the island to defend against Japanese pirates.
4. Qing Dynasty
In 1644, the Manchus took over China but Ming (明) loyalists continued to resist and Koxinga (鄭成功) occupied Xiamen as the last bastion for overthrowing the Manchus
In 1655, Koxinga named the city 思明州 ( ie. thinking about Ming)
In 1661, he led 30,000 people from 泉州 and 漳州 to settle in Taiwan.
In 1680, when Kang Hsi(康熙) drove him off Xiamen, the Siming was abolished and was replaced
In 1683, during the reign of Kang Hsi (康熙) 施瑯 successfully took over Taiwan and this led to another wave of immigration into Taiwan.
In 1686, the 廈兵備道 was established 道尹駐台灣府治 and established it as sub-district of 泉州府同知分防設廳
In 1727, it was renamed 興泉道（後為興泉永道）and its capital moved from 州移 to Xiamen (廈門)
In 1728, 雍正 renamed 台灣府 as 台灣道
In 1784 during the reign of Chien Ling (乾龍) , 鹿港 in Taiwan was opened for ferries to the 蚶江港 of 泉州 and in 1792, opened up 淡水八里岔 for ferries from 五虎門 of Fuzhou, leading to another wave of immigration because there was simply not enough land for farming in Fujian owing to population growth in this hilly province and finally, in 1875 during the reign of 光緒, the ban on sea transport to Taiwan was finally fully lifted and this ended 2 centuries of the ban.
5. First Sino-Japanese War 1894
By 1895, when the Japanese took over the island after Qing Dynasty lost the the Sino-Japanese war of 1894 and signed the Treaty of Shiminoseki (馬關條約) some 3.7 million people were already living in Taiwan. According to a census done by the Japanese in 1926, of the 3.75 million inhabitants, some 3.12 million came from Fujian., moe than 80%.: 1.68 million from 泉州, 1.32 million from 漳州. The rest were from 汀州, 福州, 永春, 龍岩, 興化.
6. National Chinese Revolution 1911
In 1914, after the fall of Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China was established, they changed 同安縣嘉禾里（廈門島）into 思明縣.
Name of Xiamen
Originally, the "Xiamen" was written "下門" ( literally "lower gate") because it was at the mouth of the Nine Dragon River (九龍江). The Zhangzhou (漳州) dialect of Min Nan (閩南) reads these characters as "ε̄-mûi", the source of the name "Amoy". The dialect is still spoken in the west and southwest of the city. Later, Chinese officials found "下門" too unrefined and changed its name to the modern toponym "廈門", (same pronunciation in Mandarin—not in Min Nan) meaning literally "The Gate of the Grand Mansion" but the locals continue to call it Ē-mn̂g in Min Nin.
Trade with the West
During the early the Song Dynasty (宋) (960–1279 AD), it served as a seaport open to foreign trade to India, Middle East and East Africa. But during the Ming Dynasty (明), it was closed. In 1541, European traders (mainly Portuguese) first visited Xiamen. As a result, the Hokkien (福建) dialect ( the Amoy dialect) influenced how various Chinese words were translated into European languages eg. the name of the town as "Amoy", the word "茶 " as "tea" in English, "thé" in French, the expression 感謝 ( pronounced as "kám-siā") as "cumshaw" , the expression "白毫" (prounounced "pe̍h-hô" ) as "Pekoe", the expression 磕頭 (prounounced "khàu-thâu") as kowtow, and possibly 日本 (prounounced as "Ji̍t-pún") as Japan and 茄汁 (pronounced as ; "kiô-chap" as "ketchup" were all based on the Hokkien dialect.
In 1689, the British East India Company sent its first ship to Amoy to buy tea from China.
For better control of foreign trade, the Qing court decided to restrict all foreign trade to Guangzhou (廣州) in 1757 and Xiamen was closed as a port .But to pay for silk and tea from China, the British began to grow poppy in Northern India and sold them to China
When the Qing court decided in 1938 that it was ruining the morale of its population and tried to stop the smuggling of opium into China ( banned by Imperial Edict in 1729) by the 13 Hongs permitted to trade with China in Guangzhou, Britain attacked China with battleships but met with firm and successful resistance by Lin Zexu (林則徐), who won all the sea battles but when he informed the governors of central and north China that British battleships would be moving north, they ignored his advice and the British won an easy victory after which they imposed the shameful Treaty of Nanjing on China, demanding huge monetary compensation for the expenses of war and for 4 ports to be open for trade. Xiamen was, along with Fuzhou one of the 2 ports in Fujian and one of the 5 ports in all China open to British trade by The Qing Dynasty under the terms of the Treaty of Nanking 1842 after China lost the 2nd Opium War.
In 1901 after the Qing Dynasty (清) lost its wars with 8 Nation-Alliance (八國聯軍) in 1900 which ransacked Beijing which the West called the Boxer Rebellion and ransacked Beijing, 鼓浪嶼 and part of Xiamen, along with the other cities like Shanghai, Tientsin, Tsing Tao became subject to extraterritoriality of a total of 13 nations including Britain, America, France, Germany,Italy, Austria, Japan and Russia under the terms of the Xinchou Treaty (辛丑條約) in 1901. The Western nations lost their rights over the islands shortly after the establishment of the PRC in 1949, when such Unequal Treaties were declared of no further effect.
The Imperial Maritime Customs Service (大清皇家海關總稅務司)
In 1854, the Imperial Maritime Customs Service ( which changed its name to Chinese Maritime Customs Service in 1912 after Qing Dynasty was overthrown by the Chinese revolution led by Dr. Sun Yat Sen and the Republic of China was established) was set up with the help of mainly Britons and later included some Americans, Germans, French and even Japanese to collect maritime customs on behalf of the Qing government and continued operation until 1949 when the PRC was established. Customs houses were set up in 40 port cities, including Canton, Amoy, Shanghai, Fuzhou, Tsingtao, Hankou. But it soon expanded its services to include domestic customs administration, postal administration, harbour and waterway management, weather reporting, and anti- smuggling operations. It mapped, lit, and policed the China coast and the Yangtze and conducted loan negotiations, currency reform, and financial and economic management. The Service published monthly Returns of Trade, a regular series of Aids to Navigation and reports on weather and medical matters. It also represented China at over twenty world fairs and exhibition, ran some educational establishments, and conducted some diplomatic activities on behalf of the Qing government. After two decades of operation, the system collected about one third of the revenue available to the government in Beijing. In addition, foreign trade expanded rapidly because international trade was regulated and predictable. Foreign governments benefited because there was a mechanism to collect revenues to repay the loans that they had imposed on or granted to China. By 1900, there were 20,000 people working in forty main Customs Houses across China and many more subsidiary stations.
Among the contributions of the Service under its Inspector-General Robert Hart (赫德) from 1863 to 1911 were the establishment of the Tongwenguan (同文館), which produced many translations of works of international law, science, world history, and current events; the postal service; and the Northern Navy. Hart established China’s central statistical office in the Maritime Service in Shanghai and the Statistical Secretariat 1873-1950) and following the Boxer Uprising, set up Customs College to provide educated Chinese staff for the Service. His predecessor was Horatio Nelson Lay (李泰国) and was by Sir Francis Aglen (1869–1932) ( 安格聯) and then by his own nephew, Sir Frederick Maze (1871–1959) ( 梅樂和), who served from 1929-1943. In January 1950 the last foreign Inspector-General, American Lester Knox Little (Chinese name 李度), resigned and the responsibilities of the Service were divided between what eventually became the Customs General Administration of the PRC and the Republic of China Directorate General of Customs on Taiwan. It was the only bureaucratic agency of the Chinese government to operate continuously as an integrated entity from 1854 to 1950. Medical Officers attached to the Customs included John Dudgeon, in Peking, James Watson at Newchwang and Patrick Manson at Takow and Amoy. The Hong Kong Chinese businessman and political leader Robert Hotung served as a Customs clerk for two years (1878–1880).A number of early Sinologists emerged from the Service, including linguist Thomas Francis Wade, Edward Charles Bowra, and Charles Henry Brewitt-Taylor.
Japanese Occupation 1937-1945
Xiamen was occupied by Japan from May 1938 to September 1945 during WWII after the Japanese started the 2nd Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). In 1943, they handed control of the islands to Wang Jingwei (汪精衛')s government, officially the Republic of China (中華民國, and its government the Reorganized National Government of China, a puppet government set up by him under the protection of the Japanese formed by integrating various provisional puppet regimes also set up by the Japanese in northern China (晉北自治政府) and central China (察南自治政府) including the Reformed Government of the Republic of China of eastern China「中華民國維新政府」, the Provisional Government of the Republic of China of northern China「中華民國臨時政府」and the Mengjiang government in Inner Mongolia 「蒙疆聯合自治政府, though in reality northern China and Inner Mongolia stayed relatively independent of its influence. It was unofficially known as Wang Jingwei regime (汪精衛政權), the Nanjing Nationalist Government (南京國民政府), the Republic of China-Nanjing, the Nanjing regime, or New China with its capital in Nanjing when the formal Nationalist government led by had switched its capital to Chongqing (重慶), meant to rival the legitimacy of the government led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.
Wang was originally the leftist leader of a Kuomintang (KMT) (國民黨) faction called the Reorganizationists, who had broken away from Chiang Kai-Shek's government in March 1940 and defected to the Japanese invaders. On the day the new government was formed, and just before the session of the "Central Political Conference" began, Wang visited Sun's tomb in Nanjing's Purple Mountain to establish the legitimacy of his power as Sun's successor. Wang had been a high-level official of the Nationalist government and, as a confidant to Sun, had transcribed Sun's last will, the Zongli's Testament. To discredit the legitimacy of the Chongqing government, Wang adopted Sun's flag in the hope that it would establish him as the rightful successor to Sun and bring the government back to Nanjing Claiming to be the rightful government of the Republic of China, it flew the same flag and displayed the same emblem as Chiang Kai-shek's National Government, with an extra triangular pennant in yellow with the words in black "和平反共建國" ) (peace, anti-Comitern) as demanded by the Japanese. However, it enjoyed no diplomatic recognition, except from the states of the Anti-Comintern Pact. It declared war on the Allies on 9 January 1943.
In theory, the Reorganized Government controlled all of China with the exception of Manchukuo, which it recognized as an independent state. In actuality, the Reorganized Government controlled only Jiangsu, Anhui, and the north sector of Zhejiang, all being Japanese-controlled territories after 1937.Therefore, the Reorganized Government's actual borders changed with territories conquered by the Japanese during war.Although the Japanese-controlled provinces of Shandong and Hebei were theoretically part of this political entity, they were actually administered by the Commander of the Japanese North Front, under a separate Japanese-controlled government based in Beijing. Like the Northern Front, the southern sectors had their own Japanese military commander and government based in Guangzhou. Each front acted as its own military unit with its own political and economic administration as well as its own Japanese military commander. Theoretically, the Reorganized Government included a Legislative Yuan and an Executive Yuan, both nominally under the president and head of state Wang Jingwei but real political power remained with the Commander of the Japanese Army Central Chinese Front and Japanese political entities formed by the Japanese Counsellors.
The Beijing administration (East Yi Anti-Communist Autonomous Administration) was under the commander-in-chief of the Japanese North China Front until the Yellow River area fell inside the sphere of influence of the Central Chinese Front. During this same period the area from middle Zhejiang to Canton was administered by the South Chinese Front. These small, largely independent fiefdoms had local money and local leaders, and frequently squabbled.The territories controlled by the Japanese and its puppet governments include the greater part of China including, the 3 northern-eastern provinces (東三省) , Jiangsu (江蘇) Huai Hai (淮海) , Anhui (安徽), Chejiang(浙江) Kiangsi (江西), Hubei (湖北) Hunan (湖南)Guangdong (廣東), Central China (中原) 、part of Fujian (福建) and Nanjing (南京), Shanghai (上海) Hankou (漢口) and Amoy (廈門)
In 1941, Wang and his vice-President and Finance Minister Chou Fo-hai (周佛海) went to Tokyo and petitioned for total control of China's central provinces by the National Government. In response, Japanese Imperial Government ordered Army Officer Teiichi Suzuki to provide military guidance to Wang Jingwei's new regime at Nanking, and so became part of the real power that lay behind Wang's throne.
The local economy was administered primarily for the Japanese Army of the Central Front. Military planners installed an "occupation economy" with wartime money (Japanese Military Yen and native Chinese Yuan), and a Chinese Central Bank with supposedly Chinese entities, but all were administered by Japanese counsellors and the Japanese Army in the area. Those connected to Wang's regime had greater access to coveted war-time luxuries, and the Japanese enjoyed things like matches, rice, tea, coffee, cigars, foods and alcoholic drinks, all of which were scarce in Japan proper. Additional entertainment, such as brothels, casinos and bars, were managed by the Japanese and local functionaries for the military. The purpose of this control was allegedly to impede the monetary depreciation of the yen, so as to maintain the strength of the Japanese currency on the continent.But in the Japanese-occupied territories, the prices of basic necessities rose sharply. In 1941 Shanghai, they increased elevenfold. Similar inflation occurred in Manchukuo, despite heavily-centralized economic control by the Japanese.
The Chinese population under Japanese control was probably close to the 1937–38 figures of the Interior Affairs Ministry, with no account taken of the outer regions or areas occupied by later advances: as follows Jiangsu (江蘇): 15,804,623; Anhui: 23,354,188 and Zhejiang(浙江): 21,230,749. Others sources during 1940 reported that the total number of inhabitants rose to 182,000,000.
The Japanese instituted the same kind of education throughout all the Japanese occupied territories, the intention being to provide labour for the factories and mines. Shinto temples and cultural centre were built everywhere to introduce and instil Japanese mode of dress and culture to the Chinese but there were numerous complaints and agitation in Manchukuo for more meaningful Chinese education. These activities came to a halt at the end of the war.
The Nanjing Government organized a "Bureau of Newspapers Management" under the "Department of Propaganda'" in October 1940. Four press agencies were created in 1941, though all were formally controlled by and censored by the Department of Propaganda.
Daily life was often difficult in the Nanjing Nationalist Government-controlled Republic of China, and grew increasingly so as the war turned against Japan (c.1943). Local residents resorted to the black market in order to obtain needed items or to influence the ruling establishment. The Japanese Kempeitai (憲兵隊), Japanese Tokko ( 特殊公安部), collaborationist Chinese police, and Chinese citizens in the service of the Japanese, all worked to censor information, monitored any opposition, and tortured enemies and dissenters. A "native" secret agency, the Tewu, was created with Japanese Army "advisors". The Japanese Army organized a local army, supposedly to defend the Nanjing Regime-controlled China. In reality, it served as a second line of offense and internal security as part of the Second Sino-Japanese war. A Collaborationist air force (the "Reformed Government of China Air Force" (1938) renamed the "National Government of China Air Force" in 1940) was created, and provided gliders for training purposes and some airplane for transport.
The regime also had a regular police force under Japanese control. The local politicians and media consistently provided pro-Japanese propaganda, praising the "heroic efforts of the Imperial troops", and argued for a "national defence against Communism and Western interests".
During the conflicts in central China, the Japanese utilized a number of ways to recruit Chinese volunteers. Japanese sympathisers like Nanjing's pro-Japanese governor, or major local landowners like Tao-liang, were used to recruit local peasants in return for money or food. The Japanese recruited 5,000 volunteers in the Anhui area for the local Nanjing Army. Japanese forces and the Reformed Nanjing Government used slogans like "Drop Your Weapons, and Take the Plow", "Oppose the Communist Bandits" or "Oppose Corrupt Government and Support the Reformed Nanjing Government" to dissuade guerrilla attacks and buttress its support. Other methods included soliciting the cooperation of local bandits, using money, drugs, weapons, or captured goods as enticements. Using this system, they organized anti-guerrilla units, who sometimes collaborated with criminal elements. They also used various methods for subjugating the local populace: initially, fear was used to maintain order, but this approach was changed to a softer approach eg. in 1939, the Japanese army attempted some populist policies, including: dividing the property of major landowners into small holdings, and allocating them to local peasants; providing the Chinese with medical services, including vaccination against cholera, typhus, and varicella, and treatments for other diseases; ordering Japanese soldiers not to violate women or laws; dropping leaflets from aeroplanes, offering rewards for information (with parlays set up by use of a white surrender flag), the handing over weapons, or other actions beneficial to the Japanese cause. Money and food were often incentives used; and dispersal of candy, food and toys to children.
Buddhist leaders inside the occupied Chinese territories ("Shao-Kung") were also forced to give public speeches and persuade people of the virtues of a Chinese alliance with Japan, including advocating the breaking-off of all relations with Western powers and ideas.
In 1938, a manifesto was launched in Shanghai, reminding the populace the Japanese alliance's track-record in maintaining "moral supremacy" as compared to the often fractious nature of the previous Republican control, and also accusing Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek (蔣介石) of treason for maintaining the Western alliance.In support of such efforts, in 1941 Wang Jing-wei proposed the Qingxiang Plan to be applied along the lower course of the Yangtze River. A Qingxiang Plan Committee (Qingxiang Weiyuan-hui) was formed with himself as Chairman, and Zhou Fohai (周佛海) and Chen Gongbo (陳公博)(as first and second vice-chairmen respectively). Li Shiqun (李士群) was made the Committee's secretary. Beginning in July 1941, Wang maintained that any areas to which the plan was applied would convert into "model areas of peace, anti-communism,and rebuilders of the country" (和平反共建國). But he achieved little success.
The Japanese also established prisoner-of-war detention centres, concentration camps, and Kamikaze training centres to indoctrinate pilots as members of the Navy's Shanghai Kokutai (equipped with some Seaplanes) and Tsingtao Base Squadron,detached in Tsingtao as part of Shina Homen Kantai (China Area Fleet) among Army s I/II Chutai of 85th Hiko Sentai 疾風85 戰鬥機 (equipped with Ki-44 Shoki鍾馗/Ki-84 Hayate 旋風) both units based in Shanghai and Nanjing area.
In the December 1941 Japanese offensive, the Reorganized Government extended control over Hunan (湖南), Hubei (湖北), and parts of Jiangxi(江西) province. The port of Shanghai and the towns of Hankou and Wuchang were also under control of the Reformed Government after 1940.
During the war, the Imperial Japanese Army committed numerous atrocities in areas controlled by the Reorganized Government, including so-called "mopping up" operations to frighten the populace. Later, General Toshizō Nishio (西尾 壽造), the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army's expeditionary forces in mainland China, was subsequently replaced by General Yasuji Okamura (岡村 寧次). On 9 September 1945, following Japan's defeat in World War II, the Japanese forces in the area surrendered to General He Yingqin (何應欽) of Chiang Kai-shek's National Revolutionary army.When Wang died in 1944, this government was nominally led by Chen Gongbo (陳公博) , the President of the Legislative Yuan (立法院) and Mayor of the Shanghai occupied sector. When Japan surrendered on 16th August, 1945, this government was disbanded.
Chinese Civil War
In the Chinese Civil War that followed, the islands of Xiamen and Gulangyu were captured by Communist forces in October 1949 but an assault on the island of Jinmen was repelled by Nationalist defenders. The battle line of the war remained in the narrow channel between Xiamen and Jinmen.
Tensions in the Taiwan Straits
In 1955 and 1958, mainland China escalated Cold War political tensions by shelling offshore islands held by Taiwan including Jinmen in what became known as the First and Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. The Nationalists reinforced defences in Jinmen and started shelling Xiamen. Because of such political tensions, the eastern half of Xiamen Island and much of the Fujian Coast facing the offshore islands remained undeveloped in the 1960s and1970s.
An Open China
In 1978, Teng Xiaoping (鄧小平)decided that part of China must get rich first and started experimenting with the idea of Special Economic Zone in Shenzhen. When it proved a success, he extended the idea to Xiamen to attract foreign investment, particularly from overseas Chinese.The city grew and prospered from foreign investment, manufacture and trade and financing.
Relaxing Links with Taiwan
In 2001, the PRC and Taiwanese governments agreed to initiate the "Three Mini-Links" (小三通) and restored ferry, commercial and mail links between the mainland and offshore islands. Trade and travel between Xiamen and Jinmen was restored and later expanded to include direct air travel to Taiwan. By 2010, travelers between Xiamen and Jinmen made 1.31 million trips.
The Present
Now Xiamen is a centre of regional finance between Taiwan and the PRC, a hub for air travel in South East China, a centre for cross-Straits trade and an important base for food processing and electronics. Its main economic activities include fishing, shipbuilding for medium size container vessel and yachts, food processing, tanning, textiles, machine tool manufacturing, chemical industries, telecommunications and financial services. It's voted the best administered city and a city with the highest civic virtues in the whole of China for the second successive year and the most livable city in China. It is now the 18th biggest container port in the world. Its population has been growing at the rate of 5.57% a year in the 2000's.
GDP & other figures
For the first half of 2013, the GDP of Xiamen amounted to 127.319, Billion USD, an increase of 11.3% over the corresponding period last year. Industrial production amounted to 22 53 Billion USD , an increase of nearly 20% over the corresponding period last year, and production of 382 high tech production facilities accounted for 42. 7 % of all industrial production by 470 industrial enterprises. Half yearly imports and export amounted to 40.85 Billion USD, an increase of nearly 20 %, export increasing by 20% (including 10.54 Billion USD in electronics whilst high-tech export rose by 36.1%) whilst import rose by 17.5%. There are 163 foreign enterprises with an actual utilized investment of 1.26 Billion USD for the first half of the year, topping the rate for the whole of China and amounting 30.7% of such investment for the whole province.
For the first half of the year, the per capita disposable income was RMB 20,620, an increase of 8.3 % whilst per capita expenses was RMB 13,342, an increase of 4.5% whilst 120,000 new jobs were created and unemployment stayed at 3.7%
Banking. .
Its biggest bank is the state-owned commercial bank, Sino-foreign joint venture Xiamen International Bank and the solely owned Xiamen Bank and there are now more than 600 financial institutions in the city.
Xiamen Xiangyu Free Trade Zone
Approved by the State Council in 1992, this 0.63 sq-km free trade zone has 100 enterprises there in 2008 focusing on electronics assembly & manufacturing, garment and textile production, trading and distribution, research and development, shipping/warehousing and logistics.
Xiamen Export Processing Zone
There is also a Xiamen Export Processing Zone south of the Haicang Development Zone only 1.5 KM from the Haicang Port Area, 10 KM from Gaoqi International Airport and 3 KM from the Haicang Railway Station with a total planned area of 2.4 sq. km and 1.46 sq. km for Phase 1. Industries encouraged in the zone include biotechnology/pharmaceuticals, chemicals production and processing, heavy Industry, instruments & industrial equipment production, medical equipment and supplies, research and development, shipping, warehousing, logistics, telecommunications equipment, trading and distribution.
Xiamen Haicang Taiwanese Investment Zone
Authorized by the State Council in 1989, this special 100-sq. km Taiwanese investment zone southeast of Xiamen Island, at the tip of the Xiamen-Zhangzhou-Quanzhou Delta bordering Zhangzhou City to the west, Jimei District to the north, and overlooking Xiamen Island across the sea close to the port area is the largest national Taiwanese investment zone authorized ever.
Xinglin Taiwan Merchants Development Zone in Jimei
Approved on 20 May 1989 by the State Council, its current area is 12.5 sq. km but is expected to expand to 19.36 sq. km for development of chemistry, machinery, textile and electronics. It's 8 km from the Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport and 3 km from the 319 National Highway.
Torch Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone was approved by the State Council as one of China's national level high-tech industrial development zones in March 1999. In 2001, the zone became the first to achieve 10 billion yuan per square kilometer target output level. It is located close to Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport.
Harbour
Its harbour handled 91.23 Million tons of goods for the first half of the year, an increase of 14.2% whilst containers cargo rose by 16.4%, second highest in China.
China International Fair for Investment and Trade
Xiamen hosts the China International Fair for Investment and Trade in early September every year to attract foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland and has invested more than RMB30 billion in infrastructure construction in the last few years. A new airport is being built.
Transport
Xiamen is served by many forms of public transport like the bus and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) which features a dedicated bus-only lane with stations and ticketing system similar to light rail. Most of the 115 kilometres BRT network consist of bus lanes along expressways and elevated BRT viaducts on Xiamen Island. BRT routes do not have to stop at traffic lights and travel speed is limited by design to 60 kilometres per hour. There are now 5 BRT routes with fare set at 0.6 RMB per km for the air-conditioned buses. In addition, the BRT is supplemented by 20 shuttle bus services that connect nearby places to the BRT stations. The shuttle bus service has a flat rate of 0.5 RMB. There's a discount if commuters use a pre-paid e-card.
Taxis can be easily hailed in most areas of the city. Bicycles are commonly used by residents, especially on Xiamen Island. Unlike most Chinese cities, motorcycles and mopeds are not permitted in Xiamen On the small island of Gulangyu off Xiamen Island, no motorised vehicles are permitted.
But not very many people use the public transport except the workers from other provinces because in Xiamen, there is one private car for 2.5 persons.
The Fuzhou-Xiamen and Zhangzhou-Xiamen Express Highways link Xiamen with the highway network of Fujian and the neighboring provinces of Guangdong, Jiangxi and Zhejiang. There are also container freight services available between Xiamen and Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
Xiamen is served by the Yingtan-Xiamen Railway, Longyan-Xiamen Railway and the Fuzhou-Xiamen High-Speed Railway, which are connected to China's national railway network. There are also passenger trains from Xiamen to Shanghai, Nanjing, Hefei, Fuzhou, Nanchang and Yingtan. The Xiamen-Shenzhen High-Speed Railway (高鐵) has just come into, linking it to all the important cities all the way to Beiing and Tientsin.
The Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport on the island of Xiamen links the city to domestic and international destinations. Among airports in China, Gaoqi ranked among the top 11 for passenger traffic, top 8 for cargo traffic and top 10 for air traffic. It can handle 27 million passengers and 666,666 tons of cargo annually. The airport is the headquarter hub of Xiamen AirlinesXiamen has direct flights to most major cities in China and the Chinese special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao. Flights to Amsterdam, Bangkok, Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Jakarta, and Singapore, connect Xiamen with large communities of southern Fujian's overseas diaspora. The city also direct flights to international commercial hubs Osaka, Nagoya, Tokyo, Seoul and Amsterdam, which commenced on 29 March 2011. Xiamen also has direct flights to Taipei, Kaohsiung and Taichung on Taiwan across the Taiwan Strait. Some Taiwanese travelers will fly to nearby Jinmen and take the ferry to Xiamen. A cab ride from downtown to the airport can take as little as ten minutes.
Xiamen harbour has 41 miles of coastline with water as deep as 12 meters and has 81 berths for vessels of large, medium or small tonnage, including 16 deep-water berths, of which 6 operate containers of over 10,000 tonnes and has passenger ferry service to cities along the coast of China as well as the neighboring island of Jinmen (Kinmen) to the east, which is administered by the Republic of China on Taiwan. From the main International Ferry Terminal, also called the Dongdu Terminal, on the southwest side of Xiamen Island, ferries to Jinmen take 90 minutes. From the Wutong Ferry Terminal on the northeast side of the Xiamen Island, ferries to Jinmen take 60 minutes. Both terminals offer numerous ferries per day. The Heping Wharf Ferry Terminal on the southwest side of Xiamen Island offers short boat rides to the island of Gulangyu.
Education
There is free education for children from kindergarten to university for all registered local residents and all teachers are provided with quarters and there are two famous universities in Xiamen, the Xiamen University (厦门大学), colloquially known as Xia Da ( 厦大) and is the first university in China founded by overseas Chinese. Established by Mr. Tan Kah Kee in 1921, the university was originally known as the University of Amoy. The school motto is "Pursue Excellence, Strive for Perfection (自强不息, 止於至善)". The university is one of many comprehensive universities directly administered by the Chinese Ministry of Education. In 1995 it was included in the list of the 211 Project for the state key construction; in 2000 it became one of China’s higher-level universities designated for the state key construction of the 985 Project. According to University Undergraduates Teaching Assessment and Chinese Universities Evaluation Standings, the university is ranked 11th in China and has maintained the top 20 ranking in China, among which 6 subjects reach A++ level, including economics and management,fine art, law, chemistry, journalism, communication and mathematics.Amoy University. Another famous university is the Jimei University (JMU 集美大学),colloquially known as "JíDà" (集大),is a public university located is a multi-disciplined university with students from all over the country. Founded by the famous patriotic overseas Chinese leader Mr. Chen Jiageng (Tan Kah Kee) (陳家庚) in 1918 originating as Jimei Normal School.In 1994,Jimei University was established by combining five institutes and colleges in the Jimei Schools Village: Fujian Physical Education College, Jimei Finance and Economics Institute, Jimei Navigation Institute, Jimei Teachers College, and Xiamen Fisheries College. It's made up of 20 colleges and offers 56 postgraduate programs, 2 course master’s programs in 10 fields and 63 undergraduate programs in eight disciplines: Engineering, Agronomy, Economics, Pedagogy, Science, Literature and Administration,and Law and has a total enrolment of more than 26,000 full-time students and over 1500 full-time teachers, among whom, over 180 professors and 550 associate professors. Another university also founded by Tan is the Huaqiao University (华侨大学)
Painting Base
Xiamen is very strong on the export of hand painted oil painting with two main manufacturing bases : Wushipu Oil Painting Village (烏石浦油畫村) with 5000 artists working there and Haicang Oil Painting Village (海滄油畫村) with 3000 working artists. Together they take up 80% of the Chinese export market in oil paintings for European and American markets. Xiamen has been named the No. 2 "world oil painting industry base” and the second batch of national cultural (art) industry base” by the China artist association and the culture property department of Culture Ministry Xiame. Originally, there were only 28 companies working there. Now there are more than 250 such.
Famous People in Xiamen
(1) Walter Houser Brattain (February 10, 1902 – October 13, 1987) was an American physicist at Bell Labs who, along with John Bardeen and William Shockley, invented the transistor. He was born in Xiamen. They shared the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics for their invention. He devoted much of his life to research on surface states.
(2) Henry Sy, Sr. ( 施至成) born October 15, 1924) is a Chinese Filipino businessman with interests in retailing, real estate, hospitality, banking, mining, education including health care services. He started SM Malls, anchored by Shoemart Department Store and Supermarket earning him the title, the Philippines' Retail King. He is the chairman of SM Prime Holdings, Inc., the holding corporation for all his business interests. In 2011, Forbes Magazine listed him as the no. 1 billionaire in the Philippines. Born to a poor family in Xiamen, China on December 25, 1923, he emigrated to the Philippines and got his start by selling rejected and overrun shoes from Tondo, completed his secondary education in a school now known as Chiang Kai Shek College and earned his Associate of Arts degree in Commercial Studies at Far Eastern University in 1950. In 1958, he opened a small shoe store in Quiapo, Manila that started SM Prime Holdings going. In November 1972, the small shoe store became SM Quiapo, SM's first standalone department store.On December 25, 1985, he established his first SM Supermall, SM City North EDSA. He is now Philippines' richest man, earning $5 billion USD in 2010 in the midst of the global financial crisis. The huge gain was due to his holding company, SM Investments Corporation, which has interests in Banco de Oro, inter alia. Forbes magazine's 2008 list of 40 wealthiest Filipinos, revealed the Sy family's net worth was $6.2 billion USD. Earlier, he was the second wealthiest individual in the Philippines, next to Lucio Tan, and (as of 2010) 201st in the world.The Sy group is the operator of Banco de Oro and owner of Chinabank. In 2006, he bought the remaining 66% of Equitable PCI Bank, the Philippines third largest lender, in which he already had a 34% stake, and merged it with Banco de Oro in 2007. The merger created the Philippines' second largest financial institution with resources of close to $17 billion. It's rumored that the Sy family has a personal stake of $4 billion in these three banks. In August of 2005, Sy's stake in the San Miguel Corporation, Southeast Asia's largest food and beverage conglomerate, reached 11%. He sold that stake in October of 2007 for $680 million. He was named "Management Man of the Year" by the Makati Business Club in 1999 and was made an Honorary Doctorate in Business Management by De La Salle University in January of that year. He organized the SM Foundation Inc., which helps underprivileged and promising young Filipinos. Several of his children hold senior management positions in his companies, although he has groomed daughter Teresita Sy-Coson and his grandchildren Hailey Sy-Coson, Darcie Sy, Patrick Carlo Sy, Cheska Sy, Sarita Sy, Samantha Ong-Sy and Josiah Sy as his successors. Sy's holding company, SM Investments Corporation, has consistently been cited as one of the Philippines best-managed companies. On May 20, 2006, the SM Mall of Asia, built in the reclamation area of Pasay City, was opened to the public. It is the third-largest mall in the world as of 2012.
(3) Yin Chengzong (殷承宗 )born 1941 in "Piano Island" Gulangyu Island, is a Chinese pianist and composer. It was he who arranged the Yellow River Piano Concerto, based on the Yellow River Cantata and performed in many Western theaters since the 1980s. He started learning the piano in 1948 when he was 7, gave his first recital at 9 and joined the preparatory school of Shanghai Conservatory of Music at 12. In 1959, Yin won an award at the World Youth Peace and Friendship Festival in Vienna, Austria, and in 1960, he was sent to the Leningrad Conservatory to study and won the second-prize winners of the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1962 (Vladimir Ashkenazy shared the first-prize with British pianist John Odgen). In 1965, Yin joined the Central Symphony Orchestra of China as a soloist. During the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), Yin's name changed by “殷诚忠”.When all Western arts and forms were forbidden, Yin ingeniously created the piano-accompanied version of The Legend of the Red Lantern, one of the Eight model plays, the only plays, operas and ballets which were permitted during the period.In 1983, following difficulties with the new regime due to his alleged closeness to the Gang of Four, Yin immigrated to the US, and in the same year, he made his debut in Carnegie Hall in New York City. Yin has since performed under the baton of Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Claudio Abbado and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin and the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, and Sir Malcolm Sargent and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Yin has also appeared in Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto, and at Lincoln Center. His solo performances were featured on China Central Television and CBS Sunday Morning. Formerly a professor and artist-in-residence at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Mr. Yin now lives in New York City.Yin has released more than 20 albums, including an all-Chopin CD, a recording of Debussy's Preludes, and the Yellow River Concerto.
Upon arrival at Xiamen, I was greeted by a number of bronze sculptures on one of the walls of the Xiamen International Airport showing the history of flying
A more elaborate kite!
Man have thought of all kinds of way of staying up in the air without falling down
They thought of supporting themselves with kite-like boards and cloths
They probably got this idea from observing the floating of will of the wisps
They thought of putting a motor on a tricycle
They thought of simplifying the structure
They modified their designs over and over again until they got one which could actually fly
Once they mastered the intricacies of flying, they started thinking of landing their plane on water ....
The longest suspension bridge in Xiamen. The dome-shaped building on the right is its International Convention Center (photo from the internet)
This is the famous Five Link Bridge (五緣橋) at the east of Xiamen (photo from the internet). Originally called 鐘宅灣大橋, is the first bridge in the city using steel suspension and is made in 5 sections respectively called The link bridge (日緣橋), the moon link bridge月緣橋, the sky link bridge (天緣橋), the earth link bridge (地緣橋) and the human link bridge (人緣橋) to symbolize man's link to Nature。 810 meter long 32 meter wide and the 3rd similar bridge in China, it was completed in the record time of 16 months!
After taking us over the two bridges, we were taken to our first tour of the city and went to Jimei Academic Village (集美学村). It's the site of two universities viz. Jimei (集美) and Hua Chiao (華僑), one kindergarten, one middle school, a teacher's training college and an administrative building, a garden, a lake, the residence of its founder and his tomb. Here we see the administrative building and the library of the Jimei Universityi (JMU 集美大学),colloquially known as "JíDà" (集大),is a multi-disciplined public university with 26,000 students from all over the country, founded by the famous patriotic overseas Chinese leader Mr. Chen Jiageng (Tan Kah Kee)(陳家庚) in 1918. Tan was a true son of Xiamen. He was born there in 1874 and at 16, went to join his father's business as a rice merchant Singapore and after his father's business failed in 1903, when he was 29, he started his own business in rubber plantation and then branched into processing pineapple, manufacturing, sawmills, canneries, real estate, import and export brokerage, ocean
transport and rice trading and reached the peak just before WWI broke out, when the need for rubber dropped drastically. He was then known as the "Rubber King". He became a prominent community leader and philanthropist active in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and various Chinese cities such as Shanghai, Xiamen, and Guangzhou. He was a prominent figure in the overseas Chinese community of Southeast Asia in the 20th century, and was responsible for gathering much support from the community to aid China in major events such as the Xinhai Revolution (1911), the Kuomintang's Northern Expedition (1926–1928), and the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). It is estimated that he gave and/or raised a total 1500 Million dollars to help the war efforts of China during this period. Apart from donating most of his assets and earnings to aid China in those major events, Tan also helped to set up funds in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong, and contributed heavily to the establishment of several schools in Southeast Asia and Fujian, including Xiamen University.In recognition of Tan's contributions to education and society throughout his lifetime, there are places and establishments in China and Southeast Asia named after Tan or built to commemorate him, including: the Tan Kah Kee Memorial Museum in Tan's hometown of Jimei, Xiamen, Fujian; the Tan Kah Kee Foundation, which offers postgraduate scholarships; the Tan Kah Kee MRT Station along the Downtown MRT Line in Singapore because had been chairman of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce there for a number of years and helped to organize the Hokkien Clan Association there and was one of the 110 founding members of Tao Nan School in Singapore and In 1919, set up The Chinese High School (now the High School Section of Hwa Chong Institution) in Singapore.
When the 2nd Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937, he helped to raise 19 Million Straits dollars to relieve refugees in China and became a member of the Legislative Yuan of the Nationalist Government in
Chongqing. After the Japanese invaded and occupied Malaya and Singapore
in 1942, he was classfied as one of the "undesirables" and were
subjected to systematic extermination in the Sook Ching Massacre but because he had many friends, he went into hiding in Java, Indonesia. Tan
strongly rejected proposals to attempt to negotiate with the Japanese,
regarding any such attempts as characteristic of a hanjian (漢奸) and attempted to dissuade Wang Jingwei (汪精衛) from any
such activities. He also exercised considerable effort against the
governor of Fujian, Chen Yi (陳毅) for perceived maladministration. Whilst in Java he started writing his memoirs "The Memoirs of an Overseas Chinese of the Southern Ocean" (南僑回憶錄) , an important document of the history of the overseas
Chinese in Southeast Asia. Tan started to support the CCP because he was disillusioned with the
corruption within the KMT. After the Communist
victory in China in
1949, Tan tried to return to Singapore in 1950, but was denied entry by
the British colonial authorities, who were concerned about communist
influence in Singapore and Malaya. So he stayed permanently in China
and served in numerous positions in the Chinese Communist Party and died in Beijing in 1961.
Realizing the importance of education, he first established two primary schools in 1913, the in 1917 a girls primary school, a teachers training college in 1918, a kindergarten in 1919, a seafood college and a commercial school, a school hospital and a library in 1920 and in 1921, he built the common Clock Tower for all the schools and also established the Chiyu Bank (集友銀行) in 1921. He was helped in all this by his brother 陈敬贤 . He also drafted the common school motto, emphasizing two qualities: honesty, sincerity and faithfulness (誠) and determination and perseverance (毅) and school song for all the schoolss. In October 1923, Dr Sun Yat Sen ordered that his groups of school were to enjoy in perpetuity the status of a Chinese academic village and ordered the provincial governor and the military leaders to give them "special protection" and that's how it got it present its name "Jimei Academic Village”In 1922, he established a science museum and in 1924, converted the seafood section into a sea food faculty and in 1925, opened a sea school for the faculty and turned the commercial faculty into a commercial school and the educational assistance section into a education promotion office, set up a forestry faculty. He established the student office in 1926, a kindergarten teacher training college in 1927, an art museum in 1931 and took over a experimental village teacher training college in 1932. Between 1923-1926, he earned a great deal of profit and poured his profits into building most of the buildings we see now and by 1927, there were already a total of 11 schools. But in 1929, there was a world recession and his business plummeted and went bankrupt in 1933. But he continued to raise funds for the schools.
Realizing the importance of education, he first established two primary schools in 1913, the in 1917 a girls primary school, a teachers training college in 1918, a kindergarten in 1919, a seafood college and a commercial school, a school hospital and a library in 1920 and in 1921, he built the common Clock Tower for all the schools and also established the Chiyu Bank (集友銀行) in 1921. He was helped in all this by his brother 陈敬贤 . He also drafted the common school motto, emphasizing two qualities: honesty, sincerity and faithfulness (誠) and determination and perseverance (毅) and school song for all the schoolss. In October 1923, Dr Sun Yat Sen ordered that his groups of school were to enjoy in perpetuity the status of a Chinese academic village and ordered the provincial governor and the military leaders to give them "special protection" and that's how it got it present its name "Jimei Academic Village”In 1922, he established a science museum and in 1924, converted the seafood section into a sea food faculty and in 1925, opened a sea school for the faculty and turned the commercial faculty into a commercial school and the educational assistance section into a education promotion office, set up a forestry faculty. He established the student office in 1926, a kindergarten teacher training college in 1927, an art museum in 1931 and took over a experimental village teacher training college in 1932. Between 1923-1926, he earned a great deal of profit and poured his profits into building most of the buildings we see now and by 1927, there were already a total of 11 schools. But in 1929, there was a world recession and his business plummeted and went bankrupt in 1933. But he continued to raise funds for the schools.
After the tMarco Polo Bridge Incident on 7th July 1937 (盧溝橋事變), Xiamen fell into the hands of Japanese soldiers, the Normal School, the Middle School, the Business School, the Forestry School, the Seafood and Maritime School all had to be evacuated to An Kai (安溪 and the Primary School moved to Tung An Village (同安村) and then to Tai Tien (大田) and Nam On (南安) and operated under very difficult conditions and were able to return only after the war ended in 1945 and all the buildings were damaged by gunfire and even in 1949 they were the target bombings by the Nationalist bombers and by autumn 1948, only 8 schools were left: the kindergarten and pirmary school, the middle and high school, the business school and the seafood and marine school.,
In 1950, Tan returned and raised funds for rebuilding and expanding his group of schools and set up the new seafood mercantile marine school, navigation school and by 1955, the number of student rose to 5,217, double what it was before the war. The following year, the group of schools were taken over the State.
From 1966 to 1978, on account of the Cultural Revolution, all the schools except the primary and secondary schools were suspended or disbanded and their buildings taken over by other organizations and things only reverted to "normal" after the Gang of Four went out of power but irreparable damage had been done to the schools.
In on 20th October, 1994, the 120th anniversary of the birth of Tan, the 5 Jimei colleges were merged into the present Jimei University: Fujian Physical
Education College, Jimei Finance and Economics Institute, Jimei
Navigation Institute, Jimei Teachers College, and Xiamen Fisheries
College. Premier Li Pang (李鵬) sent his personal calligraphy to the Jimei schools : " Build on the Spirit of Tan Kah Kee, Make a Good Jimei University “弘扬嘉庚精神，办好集美大学” and Chairman Jiang Zemin (江澤民) personally wrote the words on the name plate of the university "Jimei University" (集美大学) and Jia Qinglin (賈慶林) , the the Party Secretary of Fujian Province and Li Lanqing (李嵐清), the lst Vice-Premier officiated at the opening of the university. Tan's dream was fulfilled.
At present, Jimei University has 20 colleges and offers 56 postgraduate programs, 2 course master’s programs in 10 fields and 63 undergraduate programs in eight disciplines: Engineering, Agronomy, Economics, Business and Finance, Pedagogy, Computer Science, Information, Mechanical and Bio-Tech and Marine Engineering, Fisheries and Navigation, Foreign & Chinese Languages and Literature Political Science, Administration and Law with a total enrolment of 26,000 full time students and more than 1500 full-time teachers of which 180 are professors and 550 associate professors. It also has 4 major national construction projects, one state-level teaching team, one state-level modal center for experimental teaching, 11 major provincial construction projects and offers 37 provincial quality courses and has 7 provincial teaching teams, 4 provincial or ministerial key laboratories and research centers and 11 provincial key disciplines
At present, Jimei University has 20 colleges and offers 56 postgraduate programs, 2 course master’s programs in 10 fields and 63 undergraduate programs in eight disciplines: Engineering, Agronomy, Economics, Business and Finance, Pedagogy, Computer Science, Information, Mechanical and Bio-Tech and Marine Engineering, Fisheries and Navigation, Foreign & Chinese Languages and Literature Political Science, Administration and Law with a total enrolment of 26,000 full time students and more than 1500 full-time teachers of which 180 are professors and 550 associate professors. It also has 4 major national construction projects, one state-level teaching team, one state-level modal center for experimental teaching, 11 major provincial construction projects and offers 37 provincial quality courses and has 7 provincial teaching teams, 4 provincial or ministerial key laboratories and research centers and 11 provincial key disciplines
In addition, Tan also set up the Xiamen University in 1921 and supported it financially until the the Nationalist Government took it over in 1937.
It's a really a very moving experience to see the work of this remarkable patriot and his indefatiguable efforts in promoting education in China. He saw a century ago that Chinese girls amongst Fujian families never allowed their daughters to go to school, something he considered wrong and set about opening schools for them. Soon he found he did not have the kind of teachers he needed and then started a teacher training college to train teachers the way he wanted. When the primary students graduated, he found he needed to continue their education in the same manner and started building middle and then high schools and then branched off into colleges in fishery, forestry, engineering, Chinese and foreign languages and then business, finance and management. Will there be another such amongst the overseas Chinese today?
It's a really a very moving experience to see the work of this remarkable patriot and his indefatiguable efforts in promoting education in China. He saw a century ago that Chinese girls amongst Fujian families never allowed their daughters to go to school, something he considered wrong and set about opening schools for them. Soon he found he did not have the kind of teachers he needed and then started a teacher training college to train teachers the way he wanted. When the primary students graduated, he found he needed to continue their education in the same manner and started building middle and then high schools and then branched off into colleges in fishery, forestry, engineering, Chinese and foreign languages and then business, finance and management. Will there be another such amongst the overseas Chinese today?
This is the main building of the Jimei University: topping a Chinese style roof over a European style building, symbolizing his ideal that western culture and education must be overseen by Chinese culture and values. Some people say his architectural style is "a peasant's hat over a Western suit" (穿西装，戴斗笠).
The library and the administrative building 南熏樓 is topped with a mixed European-Chinese style dome to symbolize that European style management must be adopted but it is flanked by two Chinese style pavilion on both sides. Its archictecture characterized by stability, symmetry, full of vigor and combines both the past and the present values, both Chinese and Western architectural styles eg. simplicity, practicality and symmetry and balance are common to both East and West and although the main structures are European, the use of vibrant green and orange tiles and the roofs and decorative features of the beams, pillars and brackets in the external corridors are very Chinese.
A closer view of its mixed European-Chinese style pavilion of the main administrative building: the square and round windows below it are entirely western in style
This shows the primary school and the middle school.
To emphasize that students must train up their bodies, he built a dragon boat lake in front of the school for the students to practice boat rowing and as a training ground for the fishery and sea navigation school. These are the viewing pavilions.
Another viewing pavilion
This is the referee's pavilion. There are a total of 7 pavilions in the "Dragon Boat Pool": "Enlightenment" (啟明) "Southern Light" (南輝) " Longevity", (長庚) and "Left (左) , "Right" ( 右) , "Meeting" (逢) and "Resources" (源)
This is the campus of the Arts Faculty Building of the Hua Chiao University right next to the Jimei University
This is the School of Navigation : its windows look very western but the roof is very Chinese but its tile color is not entirely old Chinese: so are the tiles on the pillars.
This is the a close up of one side of the building built in the early 1960s'.
Another view of the Jimei group of buildings: behind the trees are the assembly hall (福南大會堂, the Gymnasium, the Concert Hall, Swimming Pool, Hospital, Marine Club Facilities
Another view of the administrative building
A boat in the lake
Another boat in the lake the sunset
Another boat in the lake
A white stork, the city bird of Xiamen
This is the residence of Tan built in 1918 but damaged by Japanese bombs in 1938 during WWII and repaired in 1980 according to the original plans. In front of it is the "Returning Garden" (歸來園) built in 1983 by the Government in commemoration of Tan on the 70th anniversary of the first school built by Tan in the Jimei Academic Village.
The back of the residence
This is a bronze statue of Tan done by famous sculptor Prof. Pan He (潘鶴): underneath it are 8 words in gold by Chairman Mao Zedong about Tan: "Banner of overseas Chinese, Glory of our Nation " ( 華僑旗幟, 民族光榮) calligraphed by calligraphy Lo Tan (羅丹) against a granite back wall quarried in Fujian, famous for the quality of its granite, also used for building the Commemorative Hall of Mao in Beijing.
A close up of the patriot who decided to save China by educating her.
This is the Memorial Museum about Tan's Life( 陳嘉庚先生生平事跡陳列館) at one side of the Return Garden. He wrote in one of his letters to his friends: " If education is not good, it's difficult to have industries and people's livelihood will deteriorate...whenever I think of it, I feel so miserable. Now our country is living under the severe pressures from various Western Powers, success and failure, survival and demise hang upon a thread. Unless we press forward rapidly, it's difficult to escape being ousted. That's why I rushed about overseas, enduring all kinds of hardships for several tens of years.The gains and losses regarding my own life and my own property do not weigh upon my heart at all. There is but one thing about which I will not hesitate to offer my wealth as a sacrifice: education. I shall use my utmost to promote it. That's why all day long, I dare not relax." (「教育不振則實業不興，國民之生計日絀，……言念及此，良可悲也。吾國今處列強肘腋之下，成敗存亡，千鈞一髮，自非急起力追，難逃天演之淘汰。鄙人所以奔走海外，茹苦含辛數十年，身家性命之利害得失，舉不足攖吾念，獨於興學一事，不惜犧牲金錢，竭殫心力而為之，終日孜孜無敢逸豫者，正為此耳。」)
This is the school Song of the Jimei group of schools written by Tan :
On the banks of Min, there's my Jimei Village
How bright the mountains, how clear its waters,the best in the southern lands
Its natural place just preface to the schools
Happy to educate elites blooming into the nation's light
All the scholars of the nation united here, promote our normal, middle, experimental, primary
Spring breezes blowing in peace and harmony, students all marching in rows.
All the scholars of the nation united here, promote our normal, middle, experimental, primary
Spring breezes blowing in peace and harmony, students all marching in rows.
Raising a man takes a century, how beautifully the pool of teachers grows
"Fidelity" must ever rest within our hearts. Let's forget Not. Let's forget Not"
(tr. El Zorro)
閩海之濱，有我集美鄉；
山明兮水秀，勝地冠南疆。
天然位置，惟序與黌；英才樂育，蔚為国光。
全國士聚一堂，師中實小共提倡。
春風吹和煦，桃李盡成行。
樹人需百年，美哉教澤長。
“忠贞”二字中心藏，大家勿忘，大家勿忘!
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