How do you evaluate the city of Xiamen?

I came to Xiamen in 2014 and stayed in Xiamen for 5 years. Let me talk about my feelings about Xiamen.

1. Inside and outside the island

I feel that the main difference between Xiamen is inside and outside the island. There are rich entertainment complexes in Siming District and Huli District on the island. (SM Plaza, Vientiane City, Robinson, etc.), sound medical institutions, good educational resources, etc. Generally speaking, you can have a good leisure, entertainment, medical care and education experience on the island. Relatively speaking, although Haicang District, Jimei District, Xiang'an District, and Tong'an District outside the island also have their own characteristics, compared with the inside of the island, there are still some gaps, and the transportation cost is very high. Currently, there are many connections between the inside and outside of the island. The traffic on the island includes Haicang Bridge, Jimei Bridge, Xinglin Bridge, and Xiang'an Tunnel, all of which are congested. The basic highway construction is not as good as on the island, but the outside of the island also has advantages that the island does not have, that is, the regional area. Each district outside the island is larger and has better diversity for future development.

2. Wages and housing prices

The wage level in Xiamen is not high, but housing prices are different from the wage level. Compared with first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, Xiamen’s salary level seems to be much lower. This has a lot to do with the urban attributes of Xiamen. Xiamen tends to be a tourist city, with no large industrial enterprises or high-tech companies. Xiamen's GDP ranks only around third in Fujian Province. However, because Xiamen has attracted many people from other places, a lot of foreign capital has flowed into the real estate market, causing Xiamen's housing prices to rise. Although policies have been issued to restrict this year, the overall level of housing prices is still very high.

3. Comfort

Whether it is Xiamen’s weather or Xiamen’s urban attributes, Xiamen has become a very comfortable city. Except for the occasional typhoon, the weather in Xiamen is in a comfortable range. When you wake up in the morning, you can see the eye-catching green and breathe fresh air. When you are bored, go for a walk on the beach, climb mountains, and taste the characteristics of Xiamen Food, or go to tourist attractions to feel the enthusiasm of the crowds. This is something that can be done in one day, because the island is really small, and there are BRT and subway. It would be faster if you take a taxi (except for the daily commuting time, Monday morning and Friday afternoon are the most congested) ).

Overall, Xiamen is considered a comfortable second-tier tourist city. Everyone is welcome to come and see for yourself and experience it for yourself.

Because my children are in Xiamen, I went to live in Xiamen for a few years after retiring from a famous university in Beijing. This is Xiamen in my eyes.

The state strategically planned to give Xiamen special zone policies to Haidong. After years of practice, the country was disappointed that Xiamen was unable to make good use of the special zone policies and assigned them to Xiamen. At the same time, why is there such a big gap between the Special Economic Zone and Shenzhen? Why does Xiamen fail to use the special zone policy well?

It is also a fact that people think that housing prices in second-tier cities and first-tier cities are ranked nationwide. Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Xiamen are higher than first-tier Guangzhou. The cost of survival is disproportionate to the city, forcing away many talents. The economy is lower than that of Linshi Quanzhou, and the tourist city is famous for its "window paper blowing"! There is nothing special about Gulangyu Island. A small island is crowded into the upper class citizens on the island, and the lower class citizens are on the outside. How can Xiamen do anything like this? In order to counter Haidong's special zone construction for many years, several leadership teams of jl sampan have done nothing and failed to build the Haixi Special Zone into an aircraft carrier. How can we not let the country down? A promising region does not have a big vision to scientifically plan and build well. The integration of Xiamen, Zhangzhou and Quanzhou has been called administrative divisions for many years. Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei have been integrated. Why is the integration of Xiamen, Zhangzhou and Quanzhou so difficult? Is it the root cause of being too narrow-minded? Xiamen may lose its advantage over Haidong Special Zone. My personal analysis is that in order to unify the Haidong development strategy, the country has formulated three plans for the Haidong Tunnel and Bridge: North Fuqing-Pingtan Island-Haidong Hsinchu. Zhong Putian - Huangsu. South Xiamen - Kinmen - Penghu - Chiayi. In the future, Xiamen will lose its development advantage if the center controls the north and the south. This will be the trend in the next few decades, and the unification trend will become a reality.

A tolerant, small and exquisite garden-like seaside city.

Xiamen is a city that does not pursue high GDP. Regardless of the overall strength at home or abroad, it ranks among the top 17, which is pretty good.

First of all, let’s talk about Xiamen’s economy. The total GDP is not high, but the fiscal revenue is the highest in the province. This reflects that Xiamen’s GDP is the most valuable and there is no water injection. Secondly, Xiamen’s operating environment, talent pool, and cultural quality all lay the foundation for the tertiary industry. Finally, Xiamen’s international reputation is very high, and its comprehensive strength ranking at home and abroad is the highest in the province. It often holds some famous negotiation meetings, which is completely It can provide some good platforms for enterprises.

Those who say that Xiamen relies on Quanzhou to suck blood are ignorant people. Xiamen has its own three Fortune 500 companies. Which one in Quanzhou is it? There is no one at all! Quanzhou relies on only 40 billion in fiscal and taxation. How can it support construction and improve the environment? It probably can't even come up with the money to build a subway. So what's the use of having a high GDP? It all has water content. India's total GDP is also high. , can he compare with small developed countries in Europe? Others say that Xiamen's GDP mainly depends on real estate, which is even more ignorant. The proportion of Xiamen's real estate to GDP does not rank among the top 20 in the country. Some people even say that most of the wealthy people in Xiamen are from Quanzhou, but they all abandoned their Quanzhou hukou. In fact, it is understandable that Xiamen’s urban construction facilities, educational resources, and cultural quality are far higher than those in Quanzhou, and people are heading for higher places. Of course I chose to go to Xiamen. Even if you don't go to Xiamen, you will choose to go to other places such as Beijing and Shanghai. They should be grateful to Fujian Province that at least there is Xiamen that can keep them.

Last but not least, Xiamen has indeed moved away too many enterprises in recent years to protect environmental pollution. PX, which has a GDP of more than 80 billion every year, has been driven away. Even Xianglu Petrochemical has been moved away. The petrochemical industry has basically been shut down. It is the only city in the coastal area that does not have the pillar industry of petrochemicals. The year before last, it also began to close stone factories and mines. Last year, even pig and bullfrog breeding were shut down. We will not sacrifice the environment in pursuit of high GDP. Sustainable development is the right path! !

Come on Xiamen! Create an ecological garden city Xiamen with good looks and high quality.

Note: (The chart below is evaluated by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a national agency. Facts speak louder than words)

I lived in Xiamen for a while, and once it comes to Xiamen, many people’s impression of Xiamen is definitely that it is a small, artistic and fresh city. Most of the tourists who come to Xiamen dress very artistically and freshly, just to match Xiamen’s artistic and fresh style and leave a beautiful photo.

Indeed, literary and artistic freshness is the best adjective for Xiamen. It does not follow the historical and cultural route like other tourist cities, but takes a different approach. There may be no other tourist city in China except Xiamen with this modern literary and fresh style.

Anyone who has been to Xiamen knows that Xiamen has a very good environment, with clean roads and lush trees. It is also a small island along the coast. You can see the sea, blue sea, blue sky and green trees while walking on the road around the island. It is simply nature in the city, and it is a very livable city. You can find many cute, small and fresh gadgets in Xiamen Zhongshan Road, Zengcuo'an, Gulangyu and other scenic spots. Every scene, even a small roadside shop, is full of literary and artistic atmosphere. What girl wouldn't like it? What about this city?

I have to admit that Xiamen is indeed a very romantic and beautiful city, but it is also a very serious tourism commercialization city. Although this may be an unavoidable problem in every tourist city, it is still annoying.

I have been in Xiamen for so long, and I really like the city of Xiamen, but almost half of the roads in Xiamen are tourists. Locals squeeze the buses with tourists every day, making Xiamen very boring. Breath of life, because there are too many tourists, what you see on the road are pairs of exploring and novel eyes. If you ask for directions, there is a high chance that the person will answer you "Sorry, I am here to travel." Because of the increase in tourists, many shops have become very expensive and are very good at making money from tourists. Sometimes you think this thing is very ordinary and not worth that much money at all, but it is sold very expensively, so sometimes it is really I feel that under the beautiful appearance of Xiamen, there is always an irrepressible smell of money.

I am very grateful for the invitation "How do you evaluate the city of Xiamen?" First of all, it is human nature for people to love their hometown, "...there are thousands of good things that are not as good as your own hometown!..." Hereby, there is a difference It is normal to evaluate Xiamen from this perspective. Because, as the country gradually becomes prosperous and powerful, the motherland is developing rapidly everywhere, and the old appearance is replaced by a new one. Every place has its own unique charm.

For example: Xiamen (on the island) has its unique geographical location: a small land, surrounded by the sea, pleasant climate, beautiful scenery, warm and hospitable locals, more and more frequent international trade exchanges, unlimited business opportunities, Frequent exchanges of materials, prosperous market, local government attaches great importance to people's livelihood, invested a lot in infrastructure, convenient transportation, and steady development in all aspects... More and more people from home and abroad are attracted to Xiamen to travel, work, buy houses, and settle down...

Since the simple example above caused the rise in property prices, many people are optimistic about Xiamen...

A bird's-eye view of Siming Huang Youxin/photo

I have heard a particularly interesting comment about the city of Xiamen - the little daughter that mainland China loves so much?

Why is there such an evaluation? Follow me and take a look at what this reviewer has to say.

China has many coastal cities and peninsula cities, but not many island cities. The two most famous ones are Hong Kong and Xiamen.

There are not many island cities because many islands are not suitable for building cities. For example, the four major islands in Fujian - Haitan, Dongshan, Kinmen and Xiamen, all cover an area of ??more than 100 square kilometers, but the first three are islands outside the bay, hanging alone in the Outside the coastline, it faces typhoons and huge waves in the open sea alone. The natural conditions are relatively harsh, and it has only developed into a county-level city. Only the smallest Xiamen Island is an island in the bay, retreating within the coastline and gently surrounded by the mainland on three sides - it can withstand the wind and waves, and can enjoy the benefits of the ocean without being harmed by it.

Xiamen Island is anchored peacefully in the embrace of Xiamen Bay. When the weather is fine, looking at the entire arc-shaped bay from the top of the mountain, you will feel that the mountains rushing from the mainland just took a breath, temporarily dived into the seabed, and then poked their heads out of the water not far away - not heroic, but quite similar. Naughty children playing in the water.

Charming Wuyuanwan Li Chuquan/photo

Xiamen Island is like a particularly beloved little daughter in the mainland who cannot bear to marry far away. Stay close and take good care of. The bay between her and her parents' home is narrow and shallow, and wooden sailing boats come in one tide; with the opening of Xiamen Bridge, Haicang Bridge, Xinglin Bridge, Jimei Bridge and Xiang'an Undersea Tunnel, more umbilical cords pull her away from her mother's body. As a result, Xiamen is becoming more and more peninsula-oriented. The cultural mentality brought about by this geographical feature is that Xiamen has never had an island consciousness.

She was originally just Jiaheli in Suide Township, Tong'an County, Quanzhou Prefecture (equivalent to today's township). After the development of modern times, it backfired on her mother - turning Tong'an into a district of hers. The current administrative territory of Xiamen City is more than ten times larger than Xiamen Island, and also includes the mainland part of Xiamen Bay.

Photographed by old Xiamen You Xiaoyun

Because we are so far apart from our mother, you can’t expect Xiamen to be very open, "Tutoring" Very strict; certainly not too conservative, after all, they live separately and alone. In the late Qing Dynasty, five ports were engaged in trade. Xiamen was not as hostile to foreigners as Guangzhou and Fuzhou, and launched a vigorous "anti-invasion" movement. It was also not completely open like Shanghai, and was good at taking advantage of the situation. The result was that it did not slip away.

After the reform and opening up, Xiamen, as a pioneer special economic zone, lags far behind Shenzhen in its development, and its ranking is not among the best. Looking at the fashion on the streets of Xiamen, it is always half a step behind Shanghai; the cultural atmosphere is not even as good as Fuzhou; none of the media in Xiamen has an influence beyond the local area, and it is completely different compared to the media industry in Guangzhou.

Xiamen was developed very late. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, it was still a sparsely populated and desolate island; during the Ming Dynasty, it was an anti-smuggling coastal defense outpost of the Ming Dynasty; in the early Qing Dynasty, Zheng Chenggong operated Xiamen and it became an important port; after the Opium War, it was one of the five earliest treaty ports opened in China.

Light makeup and heavy makeup are always suitable. Photo by Wang Huoyan

Xiamen is a springboard for Chinese civilization to reach the ocean: Zheng Chenggong’s The army crossed the sea to conquer Taiwan from here, and the overseas Chinese who went to Southeast Asia looked back at their homeland for the last time. The people of Fujian regard the sea as their farmland, while the people of Xiamen regard the sea as their thoroughfare. Wherever the sea water flows, her sense of touch extends. She is used to stormy seas, separations between life and death, and uprooting from home. She is also familiar with all kinds of stories about fleeing the world and returning home in glory.

Her vision and mind are as deep and broad as the ocean. In mainland China, Southern Fujian is just a small area. Through Xiamen Port, the footprints of Southern Fujian people have traveled all over the world, and the South China Sea has become the inland sea of ??the Southern Fujian cultural circle. The relationship between Xiamen and its two elder brothers, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou, is very interesting.

Panoramic view of Xiamen by Lin Shuangyou/Photographed by

Quanzhou is the eldest son of southern Fujian culture. He is precocious, strong-willed and good at doing business. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, it enjoyed prosperity as the largest port in the Far East. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it fell into decline due to siltation of the port. However, relying on its good foundation, it set up factories after the reform and opening up and became rich again. The second son, Zhangzhou, has fertile land and is traditionally based on farming. His family is relatively poor and the people are simple and tough. In the Ming Dynasty, he relied on Yuegang at the mouth of the Jiulong River to engage in smuggling and piracy, pushing the folk maritime power of southern Fujian to its peak. In the early Qing Dynasty, Yue Harbor was silted up, and it was Xiamen Port's turn to come forward and become the main seaport in southern Fujian. Therefore, the sea ports in southern Fujian changed in three ways: first it was Quanzhou, then Zhugang, then Zhangzhou Yuegang, and finally it was Xiamen Port.

Xiamen was brought up by Quanzhou. It turned out that a thin and frail girl with yellow hair had established her own business because of an excellent seaport. Hundreds of years of trade had nourished her into a graceful and generous mature young woman. She was famous far and wide, and she often spoke on behalf of southern Fujian. As a result, Quanzhou was a little unconvinced. He always remembered the girl's appearance when her nose was runny, and he didn't like her proud and arrogant attitude. He always thought that he was the boss. As for Zhangzhou, he was poor and short-minded and had no intention of becoming a leader, but Quanzhou's bossy people had long dissatisfied him, and he was more willing to support the promising young girl next to him. The relationship between the three cities of Xiamen, Zhangzhou and Quanzhou in the Golden Triangle of Southern Fujian is quite subtle.

Photo by Wu Weize of Jimei New Town

We have said that Xiamen does not have an island consciousness, and that Xiamen is connected to the mainland and the ocean, but in the end we have to look back , recognize a basic fact: Xiamen is indeed an island.

Xiamen in history refers to the Xiamen city area on the Lujiang River opposite Gulangyu Island, extending to the seaside, like a piece of fingernail. Xiamen City was originally a military castle in the Ming Dynasty. It was expanded in the Qing Dynasty and has a circumference of about 1,450 meters. Taking the Fujian Navy Admiral's Mansion in Xiamen City (changed to the Navy Headquarters during the Republic of China, and now the Municipal Public Security Bureau) as the center of the circle, draw an arc with a radius of 1,500 meters, which is what the old Xiamen people call Xiamen.

Sitting on the blockhouse and overlooking Kinmen, as the front line of coastal defense, Xiamen still retains many exposed blockhouses and bunkers

< /p>

In this way, more than 95% of the land on Xiamen Island is not Xiamen. Meiren Palace in the north, Wenzao in the east and Shapowei in the south all belong to rural or fishing villages outside Xiamen. Nowadays, the concept of Xiamen has been greatly expanded, but in the hearts of Xiamen people, Xiamen is still an island city. Outside the island are the countryside named Haicang, Jimei, Tong'an and Xiang'an. When you leave the island, you leave Xiamen. The difference between Xiamen and the countryside is reflected in housing prices: housing prices on the island are 40,000 yuan per square meter, while outside the island it is only half.

The only remaining section of the city wall of the ancient city of Xiamen

The beach of Dali Pu Island, In the distance, on the horizon is Xiamen Gaoqi

Xiamen is indeed beautiful when mountains and sea meet, and it feels like spring all year round. Outsiders often make fun of Xiamen people, saying that they travel all over the world and come back to talk about their experiences, but in the end they all come to the same conclusion: Hey, Xiamen is better! They don't admit that there is a more wonderful place in the world than this island, and naively believe that everyone envies their city. As a result, Xiamen people’s travel did not increase their knowledge, but instead strengthened their love for their hometown.

When a visitor came from Fuzhou, my friend from Xiamen drove him around without saying anything, including Huandao Road, Zhongshan Road, Lujiang Road, Seaside Park, and Gulangyu Island. He also said that he would take him to see the egrets. The night view of the island is so poetic. The guest couldn't resist and said, "Please spare me. I've seen this done so many times."

This article is selected from "Chinese Border Town" from Xiao Chunlei's "China's Palm Prints" series

< p> When I was taking the college entrance examination, I knew that Xiamen University was super beautiful, and many students chose Xiamen University when filling out their application forms. Later, I traveled to Xiamen after work and made a special trip to Xiamen University for sightseeing. It was indeed beautiful. The real Xiamen's geographical location and environment are all wrong, not to mention the scenery. It is a famous tourist city. However, I feel that Xiamen has been too "low-key" in the past two years, with a relatively slow pace of development, high housing prices and relatively low incomes. I hope Xiamen will be bolder and faster, improve the city's strength, and let beauty and strength coexist.

Xiamen Twin Towers

The extremely beautiful Xiamen University

Those who say something bad about Xiamen are basically people who have not bought a house.

Xiamen City (English: Amoy), also known as Ludao, or Ludao for short, is located at the southeastern end of Fujian Province, bordering the Zhangzhou Taiwanese Investment Zone to the west, Nan'an to the north, and across the sea from Kinmen and Dadan Island to the southeast. Looking at each other. It is one of the major cities in southern Fujian. Together with Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, it is also known as "Xiazhangquan" and is the Golden Triangle Economic Zone of southern Fujian.

Xiamen is a coastal city in China. It is one of the first four special economic zones in China to implement the policy of opening up to the outside world, and one of the five national comprehensive supporting reform pilot zones for development and opening up (i.e., the "new special zone"). One of the three areas of China (Fujian) Pilot Free Trade Zone, it is also a cross-strait emerging industry and modern service industry cooperation demonstration zone, a southeast international shipping center, a cross-strait regional financial service center and a cross-strait trade center.

Xiamen consists of Xiamen Island, the outlying island Gulangyu Island, the Haicang Peninsula on the west coast, the Jimei Peninsula on the north coast, the Xiang'an Peninsula on the east coast, Big and Small Deng Islands, inland Tong'an, Jiulong River, etc., with a land area of ??1,699.39 square kilometers. The sea area is more than 390 square kilometers. The main body of Xiamen, Xiamen Island, is 13.7 kilometers long from north to south, 12.5 kilometers wide from east to west, and covers an area of ??about 132.5 square kilometers. It is the birthplace of the Xiamen Special Economic Zone. The island has Xiamen's earliest commercial and political center.

Xiamen is also a modern international port scenery tourist city, with the first batch of national 5A tourist attractions - Gulangyu Island. Former US President Richard Nixon once praised Xiamen as "Hawaii of the East". As of 2014, Xiamen City has a built-up area of ??301 square kilometers and a population of 3.81 million in the main urban area. Hokkien is spoken.