Xiamen Moon Cake Gambling (Bobing) in Mid-Autumn Festival Fun

Magic Haijing, Xiamen Hotels First Blog Talks

Have you ever been to Xiamen ?  Have you ever known about Xiamen ?  Do you in Xiamen Chinese New Year is never as hot as Mid-Autumn Festival?  A recent China Daily article gave you a link to the above questions .

The moon is becoming rounder and brighter - so the Mid-Autumn Festival must be just around the corner.
And people are surrounded by pile of mooncakes which would cost them months to consume.

Yet in Xiamen, a coastal city of East China's Fujian Province, you find a pack of six dice inside after opening every gaudily-decorated box of mooncakes.

Gambling? Right, but it is definitely legal. Because the stakes among the locals are mooncakes - and that is how this unique celebrating activity has got its
Chinese name "Bo Bing." It is played only around the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The Mid-Autumn Festival and The Moon Cake

Magic Haijing, Xiamen Hotels First Blog Talks

Moon Cake Festival: A Mid-Autumn Festival (Chung Chiu), the third major festival of the Chinese calendar, is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month. This festival corresponds to harvest festival s observed by Western cultures (in Hong Kong, it is held in conjunction with the annual Lantern Festival).

 
Contrary to what most people believe, this festival probably has less to do with harvest festivities than with the philosophically minded chinese of old. The union of man's spirit with nature in order to achieve perfect harmony was the fundamental canon of Taoism, so much so that contemplation of nature was a way of life.

The Charming Dance of Penang in Xiamen Trade Fair (CIFIT) - Travel Forum

Magic Haijing, Xiamen Hotels First Blog Present:

2010's Xiamen Trade Fair has more to tell you , the Travel Forum was mixed with culture .

After I finished the Yoga Show , I was attracted by the main Stage , the Fujian Local Dance was just about to be over.    It is a dance that shows the tea celebration , the Hui'an ladies are very unique for their clothing, Just a pity I come up with the end.

And then A group of Malaysian Dancers jumped up to hook the eyes of all the audience .

The Beautiful Yoga Duo Show at the Xiamen Trade Fair - Travel Forum

Magic Haijing, Xiamen Hotels First Blog Present:

As I walked into the Hall of CIFIT ( Xiamen Trade Fair ) , I had been an explorer  of all kinds of interests , business , shopping, interior design, traveling, dancing show ....... , as many as one can find.

Today ,What  I want to show you is not you will imagine in this Fair.

Goya Show , by two girls

I just saw them through a tree by chance , all the people watch them at the front side , but I catch few pretty good shots at the back side .

7 things to do in Xiamen Gulangyu Island, Surfing Detailed Gulangyu Map

Magic Haijing, Xiamen Hotels First Blog Present:


Here we have a detailed and comprehensive tourist map of Gulangyu Island, clearly showing the layout of the scenic area with mapping all roads, and marking the location of tourist attractions in this area vividly with beautiful pictures. This map can be a great guide for your tour of Gulangyu Island, which is located opposite to the urban Xiamen City, has won the reputation of "Garden on the Sea". Besides, there is a list of seven necessary things to do on the Island.

And here is the 7 things must do in Gulangyu Island :

1. Learning some Hokkie ( Minnan Dilect , same as Taiwan Dilect)

2.Making the Kungfu Tea with Local People

3. Finding a favorable Alley for a stroll

4.Visiting one of the Former Residences of Famous People

5. Eating the local food 'mazi'

6.Going for a concert

7.Reserve a room facing the sea , though not many left; or choose a coffee house near the sea

Qixi Festival --- Chinese Valentines' Day

The meet of two lovers who can only happen once a year , a sad and beautiful story from ancient China , still influences China and Overseas Chinese nowadays .

Magic Haijing, Xiamen Hotels First Blog Present:

Qixi Festival (literally "The Night of Sevens"), also known as Magpie Festival, falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month on the Chinese calendar; thus its name.  It is sometimes called Chinese Valentine's Day in recent decades. This year the day falls in 16th Aug,2010

In London, the World's New 'Most Expensive' Home?

Never instrested in such things but it really looks big , Wall Street Journal gives out  the most expensive house in the world , so we watch , Magic Haijing, Xiamen Hotels First Blog Present:


It looks like Candy Spelling has been one-upped. A six-bedroom penthouse at London's tony One Hyde Park commanded £140 million, or about $220 million, Luxist reports. And this deal comes before the four-building project is even complete: It is due to be finished by the end of the year.

According to Luxist, that makes it world's priciest piece of residential real estate-when measuring current listings and sales-pushing Ms. Spelling's $150 million asking price for her bigger-than-big Los Angeles mansion down a slot. The deal also makes the U.S. look, well, like a bargain: In what is believed to be the biggest residential sale, a Texas executive paid $46.5 million for a 3,500-acre Colorado ranch earlier this year.

The Marina Bay Sands, New Giant of Hotel World 2010

People talk about the hotels,   from here , Xiamen to  the world , the most luxury ones , Burj Al Arab , the Emirates Palace Hotel and etc.     What happened in 2010 , the new giant of the hotel world , the Marina Bay Sands ? From mouth to mouth , it is the hottest one of our time , now.

Marina Bay Sands is an integrated resort fronting Marina Bay in Singapore. Developed by Las Vegas Sands, it is billed as the world's most expensive standalone casino property at S$8 billion (US$5.7 billion), including cost of the prime land.

It  features a 2,560-room hotel, a 120,000 sq.m. convention-exhibition center, The Shoppes mall, an Art & Science museum, two Sands Theatres, six "celebrity chef" restaurants, two floating pavilions, a casino with 500 tables and 1,600 slot machines. The complex is topped by a 340m-long SkyPark with a capacity of 3,900 people and a 150m infinity swimming pool, set on top of the world's largest public cantilevered platform, which overhangs the north tower by 67m.

The Marina Bay Sands (MBS) integrated resort celebrated its opening on 23Jun,2010 with a lavish bash, but not before its owner made an even more glittering prediction: Just as the resort's towers have transformed the skyline, the IR will 'forever change' Singapore's image and give the country's tourism industry a major fillip.

Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson called the US$5.7 billion (S$7.92 billion) facility a game-changer for tourism here, and added that after all is said and done, he expects between 125,000 and 150,000 people to visit it each day, a record for parent company Las Vegas Sands' (LVS) properties worldwide.

Don't look down: A guest swims in the infinity pool of the Skypark that tops the Marina Bay Sands hotel towers - 55 storeys over the city of Singapore

Grand Millennium Beijing Hotel receives 5-Star Rating

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels plc (M&C) added another star to its premiere ‘Grand Millennium’ brand today, with the official 5-star accreditation of the Grand Millennium Beijing. The accreditation not only cements the hotel' s promise of world class accommodation to guests, but also reinforces M&C’s standing at the forefront of the Chinese hospitality industry.

Xiamen Dragon Boat Festival a Live Shot

Xiamen Hotels First Blog, Magic Haijng presents Xiamen Dragon Boat Festival 

Give you a show on Xiamen Dragon Boat Festival,  29th and  30th May , 2010, my own shot on 29th May.   Now no one missed that , see it live  for yourself here .  It is rather a cultural and human touch of Xiamen than a simple Boat race.

Let's  start!

the panaroma view

Xiamen , worth the time

Just grasp a composition from a magazine about Xiamen , the magazine is called grand hotels.It happens that the author stayed in Millennium Harbourview Hotel Xiamen while writing this .

Have a quick share:



Xiamen , worth the time.

October is a golden month for family travel and vacations, and your writer strongly recommend Xiamen, a popular tourist destination without visiting which you can’t leave China’s Fujian province, they say. As one of the representative cities of Minnan (Southern Fujian) culture, Xiamen presents spectacular scenery. Every time I visited Xiamen, the weather was fine. Under the clear sky and bathed in sunlight, the distant mountains produced an ink-and-water effect. Sunlight Rock and western-style houses hidden in the lush greenery on Gulangyu Islet, a tiny island off the coast of Xiamen, were faintly visible. Golden beaches on one side of the Island Ring Road, roadside greenbelts and the blue sea formed a vivid, colorful picture.



Xiamen’s cityscape has undergone drastic changes compared with a dozen years ago, featuring carefully preserved traditional Minnan-style verandah buildings as well as contemporary high-rises and luxuriant gardens. Millennium Harborview Hotel Xiamen where your writer stayed is adjacent to shop-lined Zhongshan Road pedestrian, the history of which can date back to the 1930s when it was a busy commercial street. The numerous restaurants, snack bars and vendors selling dried foodstuffs make your life easy and convenient.



Xiamen is a city of leisure. Unlike Chengdu where you seem can find teahouses everywhere, Xiamen adds a heavy dose of Minnan culture to its leisure activities. The warm weather has also contributed to the vibrant scenes in which you will always feel fresh and energetic. To immerse yourself in the leisure activities, you can sample the “noon tea” at Lu Dao Hotel which overlooks Gulangyu Islet in the distance, and visit Harbor Hotel for an extravagant dinner, feasting your eyes on the glorious sunset, starry night sky and twinkling lights, and letting the sea breeze gently caress your face. No wonder the city had appealed to so many great names in history who lingered on and on.



Xiamen has a strong humanistic touch. The home to overseas Chinese reflects the combination of Minnan culture and the tropical flavor of Southeast Asia. The city is marked with Minnan culture, from the local vernacular to Tieguanyin Oolong Tea, from Kingmen gongtang (hard candy) to Taiwan fenglisu (pineapple cake). Lu Xun, Yu Dafu and Lin Yutang had left their footmarks in Xiamen, which takes pride in Tan Kah Kee (“a flag of overseas Chinese and glory of China” by Chairman Mao) and Madame Dr. Lin Qiaozhi, modern China’s pioneer gynaecologist.



Xiamen is definitely worth the time.






source: http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_49e0b6010100faob.html

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Xiamen Listed Top Ten of Hottest Cities and Best Destinations from Ctrip

Ctrip released Top Ten Hottest Cities and Best Destinations during the Golden week , China National Days 2009.

Xiamen is on both list of course , ranked 8 on Hottest Cities and 6 on Best Destinations. From Government report 8.5 hundred thouands touriests visited Xiamen and spent more than 8.6 thousand millions rmb .

Here is the list:

The Hottest Cities:

1. Beijing 2.Shanghai 3. Hangzhou 4. Hongkong 5. Chengdu 6.Nanjing 7. Qingdao 8. Xiamen 9. Xi'an 10.Dalian

The Hottest Outgoing Cities:

1. Shanghai 2. Beijing 3. Guangzhou 4. Shenzhen 5. Chengdu. 6.Hangzhou 7. Nanjing 8.Wuhan 9. Chongqing 10.Xi'an

The Best Destinations :
1. Beijing 2. Sanya 3. Hangzhou 4. Guilin 5.Chengdu 6.Xiamen 7.Lijiang 8.Qingdao 9.Jiuzaigou 10.Huangshan Mountain

The Balanced Index list:

1. Beijing 2. Shanghai 3. Guangzhou 4. Hangzhou 5. Chengdu 6.Nanjing 7.Xi'an 8. Qiangdao 9. Xiamen 10. Shenzhen

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Xiamen named the 4th most laid back City in China

China Media named the top six most hectic and top six most leisure cities in China. The selection criteria include hours of TV watching, number of fast food outlets, walking pace of pedestrians and shoppers, job-hopping frequency etc.

And the most laidback cities listed as:

1.Lijiang - the most romantic , Beautiful and laidback in China
2.Lhasa - Belief , simplicity
3.Chengdu - easy attitude to life
4.Xiamen - though not to compare the above three individually, Xiamen has all of them and friendly citizen
5.Harbin - I don't know why
6.Beijing - I know old Beijing , old Beijing people had great culture , maybe it is still lasting


the most hectic cities listed :
1.Hongkong - no one will question that
2.Suzhou - quite shocking , but maybe true , as it is growing very fast
3.Shenzhen - used to be the fastest city in China
4.Taipei - no idea , maybe
5.Guangzhou - true?
6.Shanghai - it is quite convincing




Xiamen is ranked 4th in the top six most laid back cities’ list.

The most hectic cities in China are Hong Kong, followed by Suzhou, Shenzhen, Taipei, Guangzhou and Shanghai.

The most laid back cities in China are Lijiang in Yunnan Province, followed by Lhasa, Chengdu, Xiamen, Harbin and Beijing.

Here is the review of the survey:

Xiamen review: Leisure pace of life keeps Xiamen in becoming one of the most laid back cities in China. Xiamen has great outdoor weather and beautiful terrain, and openness.

TV watching hours: Long; Xiamen locals especially the young generation are not willing to work outside the city and commute far, watching TV is part of their leisure life.

Fast food outlets: Not too many if sidewalk snacks are excluded.

Walking pace: Slow. Xiamen has the most suitable environment for wandering or taking a walk.

Alcohol consumption: Alcohol Culture in Xiamen is healthy, the locals regard alcohol as medicine rather than substance of intoxication, as old saying goes: alcohol equals to ginseng. Consumption is rational.

Work Timetable: Keep to the work routine, generally punctured.

Job-hopping frequency: Low; workers are more traditional and loyalty still exists

Physical exercise: Good; People have a lot of spare times.

Mobile Phone's contents: For work and social chating.

Marriage status: Old Chinese tradition; Just as Chinese old saying goes: A young man should get married on coming of age, and so should a young girl.


From:http://www.whatsonxiamen.com/

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Fujian Tulou ， the world heritage listed by UNESCO

West of Xiamen , about 200 kilometers , there is a place now is drawing the world's highest attention , that is Fujian Tulou, the earthen round building . 7July , 2008 ,UNESCO listed her as world Heritage .

From 700 years ago , a group of Chinese resided in Yong Ding, Nanjing area build themselves round buildings , in UNESCO wording 'The large, technically sophisticated and dramatic earthen defensive buildings' defined its uniqueness , historical value and cultual Value.

A physical tour was made few days ago and here I want to share with you:

Here is what we call , four dishes and one soup , back to nineteen sixties, when US army used saterllite to picture some round shapes in South-east China , the FBI immediately suspected China had a massive missile base, and the whole US military head office was shocked . This was first time the west encountered with the Tulou! Might be reliable !

Such a beauty in front of you !

One corner of it , breathtaking

Inside the Building

Building inside the building

the shadow magic


One day tour probably is not enough , Yong ding and Nanjing show differences . The local dishes are recommendable as its non-poluted vagetables are so delicious , and many more to see .


If you stay in Millennium Harbourview Hotel Xiamen , then package tour is so easy to book by local tour agent . Never forget bringing your camera. ..


Anything about Xiamen Hotel , the very best of Xiamen Hotels . From Magic Millennium , Magic Haijing

Wanna make a room booking in the Best Xiamen Hotel , Millennium Harbourview Hotel Xiamen ? Make room reservation here !