According to culture of Southeast Fujian province, the 9th day of Chinese New year is the birthday of Jade Emperor, king of heaven and leaders of all Buddhists gods (counterparts of emperor on the Earth) 

To celebrate his birthday, people usually offer sacrifices to the Jade Emperor. These sacrifices includes pig, duck, sheep, cake, noodles, fruit. In some areas, there are also dragon or lion dances to celebrate the birthday. People pray to the Emperor at home and then again in the Temper of the Emperor.  

There is a legend about how this day comes. 

It said during Tang Dynasty, The north army came down to the South during the Chinese New Year. They heard the local people called themselves " wolves" ( In Southeast Fujian dialect, the word "people" in dialect souds like "wolves" in North's people's dialect. Because of this misunderstanding, North army started killing the South People. The South people escaped and hid themselves in the sugar cane fields till the the North army left. The day South People left the sugarcane fields was the 9th day of Chinese New year. The South people prayed to the Heaven God, that's Jade Emperor for salvation during their hideout. People then set this day as the Birthday of Heave god. 

Visit one of China’s most attractive cities – Xiamen! This beautiful coastal city is known for its scenery and tree-lined beaches.  Especially nature lovers will enjoy Xiamen’s Botanical Garden and the vehicle free atmosphere on the neighboring island Gulangyu. Lot of Chinese travel to Xiamen and spend some days in the city. There are direct flights to Xiamen from all the main airports in China.

Xiamen is located in Fujian Province at the southeast coast of China not far away from Taiwan. The city is also called “Egrets Island” as there can be found many Egrets, which have beautiful snow-white feathers, in Xiamen.  Xiamen is one of the forerunners of the special economic zones in China especially due the fresh air, the beautiful natural scenery and the clean environment of the city.

As the city is the hometown of many overseas Chinese, it has benefited from their contribution and Xiamen’s economy has undertaken great advancement. There is a good infrastructure and a great variety of entertainment centers also in order to promote the tourism industry. Here you can find islands, mountains temples and parks as well as varied local festivals and special local dishes.

Must-see attractions

Gulangyu Island

Gulangyu is the top attraction of Xiamen and can be reached by ferry. On this Island you will feel like being in a fairyland especially as it is free from vehicles.  At the same time it is a huge exhibition of different style buildings, including the pinnacle of gothic, the cylinder of Rome and the relief of Baroque. Here you find historical sites as well as famous scenic spots of seashore. Wandering through the streets and sitting in one of the many coffee shops will be very relaxing.

Hulishan Fortress

Xiamen was an ancient battlefield where its people resisted imperial aggressors, and it played an important role in resisting foreign aggressors. The Hulishan Fortress was built in the Qing Dynasty and remains to be the eldest and largest seashore barbette in 19 century. The structure is a combination of a European style and a style from the Ming and Qing Dynasty. The Fortress displays more than 50 iron cannons from the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, unearthed from the Xiamen waters and the building site of capital construction. Here you can also find a museum which was built in 1997. The exhibition includes, with a length of 11 cm and a diameter of 2.4 cm, the smallest cannon in the world

Nanputuo Temple

The Nanputuo Temple was build in Tang Dynasty. It is the Buddhist sacred land of South Fujian. The temple faces the sea while the mountain is at its back. In the first hall you can find the smiling Maitreya Buddha, with the four heavenly kings standing on both sides. However, the most precious articles of the temple are the Saddharma-pundarika-sutra written with someone’s own blood in Ming Dynasty and the Avalokitesvara statue made of ceramic white ware. Additionally the vegetable dishes of the temple are very famous around the world because of their pure and elegant taste.

Xiamen University was founded in 1921 by Tan Kah Kee, the well-known patriotic overseas Chinese leader. It was the first university in China founded by an overseas Chinese. At present it is the only university in any of five special economic zones and is one of China 's higher-level universities designated for the state key construction of the “211 Project” and the “985 Project”. Currently, Professor Zhu Chongshi is the President of the University and Professor Zhu Zhiwen is the Chairman of the University Council.　　Over the past eighty–eight years, as the result of following the school motto: Pursue Excellence, Strive for Perfection , Xiamen University has accumulated rich experience in offering its educational programs and has presented its distinctive features in running the programs. Equipped with a strong team of faculty and staff, Xiamen University, which provides a fairly complete range of programs of education, has become a first-class comprehensive university in China with extensive international influence. Since its founding, Xiamen University has produced more than 150,000 undergraduates and graduates for the country and over 60 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) have studied or worked at Xiamen University.　　Xiamen University has a graduate school , 22 schools containing 60 departments and 10 research institutes and research centers. With 14 Doctoral degrees in first –class disciplines, and 17 Master degree in first-class disciplines, the university offers 82 undergraduate programs, 219 graduate programs, and 134 PhD programs. 14 subjects have been assessed and awarded as “the national key disciplines”. There are 15 Post doctoral research centers, 9 subjects of “national educational centers for talents”.5 first-class and 9 second-class national key disciplines.