Xiamen (Mar '25) - Overview

Traveled to Xiamen from 23 Mar (Sun) to 27 Mar (Thurs). Always wanted to visit Xiamen, but was deterred by its high airfares until I saw the discounted prices. In this trip, I managed to visit most of my planned attractions but could only miss out the beautiful night scenes of Xiamen due to a last-minute change of destination.

Xiamen (厦门), historically romanized as "Amoy", is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian besides the Taiwan Strait. As part of the "Opening Up Policy" under Deng Xiaoping, Xiamen became one of China's original four special economic zones opened to foreign investment and trade in the early 1980s.

To better understand Xiamen, the tour guide from my day trip summarizes into six elements:

Number	Element	Description
One (1)	Island	Gulangyu Island
Two (2)	Roads	Zhongshan Road, Huandao Road (Island Ring Road)
Three (3)	People	Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga), Tan Kah Kee, Dr. Lin Qiao Zhi
Four (4)	Trees	Flame Tree (Royal Poinciana), Purple & Golden Trumpet Trees, Orchid Trees (Bauhinia), Ancient Banyan Trees
Five (5)	Bridges	Xiamen Bridge, Haicang Bridge, Jimei Bridge, Xinglin Bridge, Xiang'an Tunnel (all connecting Xiamen Island)
Six (6)	Districts	Siming, Huli, Jimei, Haicang, Tong'an, Xiang'an

Leisure trip at a glance

Country / Region: People's Republic of China (Fujian)
Period: 23 Mar to 27 Mar 2025
Flight timings:
23 Mar: SQ 868, SIN–XMN, ETD 0810 ETA 1230
27 Mar: SQ 869, XMN–SIN, ETD 1350 ETA 1845
Air tickets:
Return tickets at SGD 397.70 (inclusive of airport taxes)
Accommodation:
Holiday Inn Express Xiamen Lushan – 厦门庐山智选假日酒店 (23 to 27 Mar)
Currency exchange rate:
CNY 100 = SGD 19.00 (Mar '25 period)

There is no time difference between Singapore and China as both countries are in GMT+8 time zone. Total damage was about SGD 900 including transport, food & hotel, and excluding personal expenses.

Here's the overview of the trip itinerary:

Day 1 – Breakfast in Changi Airport then boarded flight SQ 868. Took Didi car to hotel and checked in Holiday Inn Express hotel. Took metro to Cruise Center to get ferry ticket to Gulangyu. Visited Zeng Cuo An and Waitu Xiamen Bookstore. Had dinner at Xiamen Guomao Building.

Day 2 – Joined the one-day tour to "Yunshuiyao + Yongding Gaobei Tulou King". Had dinner at SM Xiamen mall.

Day 3 – Took ferry to Gulangyu and explored the island. Walked along Zhongshan Road and had dinner there.

Day 4 – Visited the Turtle Garden, Tan Kah Lee Memorial Museum and Fomer Residence of Tan Kah Kee. Had lunch at SM Xiamen mall. Explored Overseas Chinese Museum, Ding'ao Cat Street, Shapowei Art Zone and Shimao E-mall Shopping Center. Took iconic photographs at Qingshui Palace. Had dinner at SM Xiamen mall.

Day 5 – Took Didi car to Airport. Had early lunch in the airport and boarded flight SQ 869.

Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport (厦门高崎国际机场)

Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport is an international airport serving the city of Xiamen. It is located on the northeastern side of Xiamen Island, about 12-km from the city's downtown area and 16-km southeast of Xiamen North Railway Station. The IATA code for this airport is XMN.

Terminal 3

Singapore Airlines uses Terminal 3 as it handles mainly international flights and occasionally domestic flights. The terminal was constructed with elements of traditional Minnan architecture (left photo below) but with a modern interior design (right photo below).
Check-in area was efficient with several counters accessible (left photo below). Shops and eateries were available even after custom clearance within the departure hall (right photo below).

New Airport and Closure

Gaoqi Airport will cease all of its civilian traffic once the new Xiamen Xiang'an International Airport (厦门翔安国际机场) is completed and commences its operations in the late 2026. The new airport is located 25-km from central Xiamen and will still retain the IATA code of XMN.

Transportation

Getting in/out of the Airport

Besides car or personalized transfer services, there two modes of public transport available. Note: there is no direct metro station connected to Gaoqi International Airport.

• Buses
  
  
  
  There are Airport Shuttles or Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) available to and from downtown. This is the most cost-effective option, but the average travel time can take about half an hour.


• Taxis or Ride Hailing Services
  
  
  It is convenient and fast for door-to-door transportation, but also the most expensive way to get or leave the airport.

Xiamen Metro (厦门地铁)

Operating since Dec 2017, the Xiamen Metro is a rapid transit system of Xiamen city that consists of 3 lines with 70 stations and a route length of 98.4-km (photo below).

Click on the photo to enlarge. Note: only a section of the entire map is illustrated.
Train Fares

Fares start at CNY 2 for a trip up to 4-km in distance, with additional CNY 1 added for the next 4-12-km, 12-18-km, 18-28-km, 28-43-km accordingly. Typically fare range from a couple of stations at CNY 2 to the longest journey at CNY 7 per ride.

Fare Payment

Single-ride tickets in the form of an RFID-enabled plastic token can be purchased from the automatic ticket vending machines located in the metro station. The most popular form of payment is by the Alipay or WeChat Pay (left photo below). Just show the code to the reader at the gantry (right photo below) and entrance will be granted. Almost in real time, the transaction will be shown in the application after exited from the station.

Train Station

Station entrances can be easily located from its bright signages on the elevated platform (left photo below). As stations been operating for less than 10 years, generally they have a modern and sleek look (right photo below).

Train Cabin

Metro train cabin is clean and spacious with clear indication of stations (photos below).
Announcements are made in three languages: Mandarin (Chinese), Minnan (Hokkien) dialect and English.

Security Checks

All hand-carry bags or luggage from passengers entering any metro station would have to be scanned. The scanning machines used are similar to those used in the airports. Therefore, do expect to wait a little longer in the queue before boarding the metro during peak hours.

Xiamen City Bus

City bus system in Xiamen is well developed and traveling by it is convenient (photos below).
Approximately 4,000 buses serve about 370 routes around the city, and most of them run from 0600 hours to 2300 hours. Bus stops are easily identified (left photo below) and its bus route information needs no clarification (right photo below).


The fare for regular buses is CNY 1 per person, and CNY 2 for air-conditioned buses. Need to tap the card or scan the QR code both when boarding at the front door and exiting from the rear door.

DiDi Ride (滴滴出行)

Besides metro trains and city buses, I also hired Didi cars to transport me from the airport to the hotel, and vice versa. The DiDi application can be found in the Alipay application and no separate download is needed. Similar to Grab in Singapore, the type of vehicles and its associated fare can be seen easily from the App (right photo). At the end of the trip, the actual cost of the trip will then be shown to allow payment to be made (far right photo).

Accommodation

Holiday Inn Express Xiamen Lushan (厦门庐山智选假日酒店)

The Holiday Inn Express Xiamen Lushan hotel was booked via internet at SGD 463.74 for four nights per standard room with daily breakfast. This 4-star hotel of 23-floors is located just steps away from the "Lianhua Intersection" metro station Exit 2 (left photo below). Its lobby is situated on ground floor, and has a spacious waiting area (right photo below).


Standard Room

This standard room had a comfortable queen-sized bed (left photo below) and a functional TV console that served as a snack bar (right photo below).



A cozy couch for me to rest and surf the internet using my ipad (left photo below). The attached bathroom was clean with basic amenities provided (right photo below).

Breakfast Buffet

Daily breakfast was served on the third floor (left photo below) and the coffee beans came from a local coffeehouse chain "Luckin" (right photo below).
The hotel offered a variety of Western and Chinese style breakfast (photos below).
There was even a "on-demand" snack counter that serves local delights (left photo below), and my favorite was the "satay noodles" (沙茶面) that tasted authentic (right photo below).
Following were the selections on my second and third day of stay (photos below).
Similar choices were made with some salad on my fourth day of stay (photos below).
Breakfast selections were typical and almost the same, except gotten a bowl of satay noodles, on my fifth (last) day of stay (photos below).

Interesting Observations

• Don't be confused that I was back to Okinawa with these cute guardian lions (photos below).
  
  
  
  In fact, these are "Wind Lion Gods" (风狮爷). The Wind Lion, also known as the Stone Lion, is a unique protective and wind-warding deity found in southern Fujian (especially Kinmen) and the Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa). Its origin is related to the strong monsoon climate in these areas, where residents erected stone lion statues to pray for blessings and protection against wind disasters. In Ryukyuan culture, these wind lions are called "shisa".
  
• Xiamen can be superstitious, especially on the number '13'. As such there was "13th floor" missing in the hotel (left photo below).


• Live-streaming in China is so popular that a livestream host can earn millions by promoting products in a single day. Equally profitable are the livestream agencies that took a large portion of the commissions. It's not surprising that their advertisement of recruiting livestream hosts could be seen along the walls of metro station escalators (right photo below).
  
  


• Minnan, or Southern Min, dialect is spoken in southern Fujian, specifically in the cities of Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, and much of Longyan, hence the name. To help visitors pronounce Xiamen in local dialect, even Hanyu Pinyin (ĕi méng) was used to translate its tone (left photo below).
  
  
  
  However, for readers who know Minnan (Hokkien), naming the eatery "Lau Sai" was somewhat unexpected (right photo below). Perhaps the owner was trying to hint that the food was "so delicious till lau sai" or "好吃到拉赛(拉肚子)"?
  
  
  
• The locals gave the Minnan translation another meaning, such as "礼好" depicts "你好" (left photo below), and "壶见" depicts "福建" (right photo below).
  
  


• Another tonal translation was the use of Chinese characters with Mandarin pronunciations to match the Minnan spoken tone. This was what I saw on the hanging red lanterns of a restaurant (photo below).

  Chinese Characters Actual Meaning 冻尾雕 受不了 迪咔蹦 猪脚饭 巴肚妖 肚子饿 挖兄利 我想你 礼呵 你好 欢夕 欢喜 虾米 什么 哥垄苏 鼓浪屿 水渣貊 漂亮女人 晒父 师傅 呵代志 好事情 宾友 朋友

• Political slogans can be found even at a village road (left photo below) and cruise center (right photo below) to remind citizens and tourists that it is a socialist country.
  
• Mr. Tan Kah Kee is so influential in Xiamen that even posters advocating "Kah Kee's patriotic sprit" could be seen (photos below). To such an extent that I had not seen a single image of Mao Zedong or Deng Xiaoping during my travel in Xiamen.
  

Some useful links:

• China Discovery – Xiamen Tavel Guide:
  https://www.chinadiscovery.com/fujian/xiamen.html
  
  
• KAYAK - Xiamen:
  https://www.kayak.sg/Xiamen.34115.guide
  
  
• Xiamen - Wikivoyage:
  https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Xiamen
  
  
• Xiamen - Wikitravel:
  https://wikitravel.org/en/Xiamen

Yuexiu District (part 4)

Day Three

Took metro to 'Changshou Lu' station (长寿路站) for my next destination. But before my visit, I decided to take my lunch at Hengbao Square located directly above the metro station.

Fairwood Fast-Food Restaurant (大快活)

After some search in the mall, I opted for Fairwood which is a fast-food chain offering Chinese and Western food (left photo below). Knowing the recent food ordering system is to "Scan to Order" (扫码点餐), I then walked right into the dining area instead of ordering from the counter (right photo below).

Got myself a "grilled pork curry and lemon soda" set by scanning from the QR code located on the table (left photo below). To my surprise the food came in rather stylish presentation which far exceeded my expectation for a fast-food restaurant (right photo below).


Taste was good and satisfying. Total cost for this set lunch was CNY 41.90.

🍔 Fairwood • Heng Bao Square brunch (大快活 • 恆寶華庭店)
Address:	F2, Hengbao Square, No. 133 Baohua Road (寶華路133號恆寶廣場F2)
Access:	Changshou Lu station (长寿路站) of Line 1
Operating Hours:	0800 hours to 2100 hours; daily

After lunch, I then walked along Baohua road.

Baohua Road (宝华路)

Although only about 770-meters long and 11-meters wide, Baohua Road is lined with restaurants, making it a great place for food lovers to explore (photos below).
The Baohua Road can be reached from Changshou Lu station (长寿路站) Exit D2 of Metro Line 1.

Among the many eateries, following is the list of stores highly recommended based on their ratings from several Food Bloggers.


List of Recommended Stores along Baohua Road
	陈添记 Baohua Road No. 15, second house inside the third alley It is one of the famous snack restaurants along Baohua Road. The store is rather well hidden within a side lane. Although it is less-than-luxurious storefront, the food is truly delicious. Recommendation: 爽鱼皮, 艇仔粥, 豉油王蒸猪肠粉 (~ CNY 5 to CNY 28)
	顺记冰室 Baohua Road No. 83 Founded in 1932, Shun Kee Ice Room is the only remaining independently operated traditional "ice rooms" (冰室) in Guangzhou. There are signature ice creams, namely coconut, mango and durian flavors. Recommendation: 芒果雪糕, 椰子雪糕, 红豆冰, 椰子雪糕, 芒果雪糕 (~ CNY 15)
	宝华面店 Baohua Road No. 117 Established in 1993, Baohua Noodle Shop offers a wide variety of noodle dishes, including mushroom wontons, shrimp wontons, beef brisket noodles, pork trotters/spare ribs noodles, and various dry noodles with abalone sauce, fried sauce, and peanut sauce. Recommendation: 鲜虾云吞面, 猪手面 (~ CNY 20)

Yong Qing Fang (永庆坊)

Spanning approximately 760,000 square meters on Enning Road, Yong Qing Fang is a nationally rated AAAA scenic area that integrates tourism, culture, entertainment, and community activities (left photo below). It has emerged as one of Guangzhou's most beloved cultural landmarks where visitors can step back in time while enjoying all the comforts of modern urban life (right photo below).
A Glimpse into History

In the late Qing Dynasty, Enning Road emerged as a key economic zone in southern China, where overseas Chinese brought the unique architectural style of the colonnaded buildings, creating the longest and most intact street of its kind in Guangzhou. Established in 1931, this historic area was once a bustling hub of Cantonese culture, where opera stars, martial artists, and litterateurs gathered to practice, perform, and create.

Micro-Renovation

After years of meticulous "micro-renovation" that began in 2016, a total of 83 preserved traditional architectural heritage sites were beautifully restored and now leased by popular brands (photos below).
The iconic qilou (arcade-style buildings) combines Chinese and Western design elements where covered walkways are supported by columns, and ornate façades with detailed carvings and colored glass windows (photos below).

Interesting Shops

Lian Xiang Lou (莲香楼) is probably one of the most famous restaurants and teahouses in Guangdong, and it is not surprising to find its outlet in Yong Qing Fang (left photo below). Besides the traditional pastries and dim sums, there were "salted egg yolk phoenix lamps" (蛋黄凤凰盏) which are another type of savoury Cantonese sausages (right photo below).



For fans of 3D metal models, the flagship store of Piececool is not to be missed (left photo below). This store displayed many Piececool products from iconic landmarks and military machines to detailed transport models; all assembled without the use of glue or paint (right photo below).

Cantonese Opera Art Museum (粤剧艺术博物馆)

The Cantonese Opera Art museum is a short walk from the bustling commercial street (left photo below) and offers a serene place for cultural immersion (right photo below).
This whole complex beautifully blends Lingnan architecture with traditional craftsmanship, drawing design inspiration from ancient garden-style buildings (photos below).
Aims to protect, inherit and promote the art of Cantonese opera, the museum comprises an exhibition hall, themed exhibition halls, a theatre, a garden area and other functional areas. Its main basic exhibition hall, covering 1900 square meters, uses various methods such as display boards, model replicas, and scene reconstructions, along with interactive elements and touchscreens, to comprehensively showcase Cantonese opera (photos below).
Visitors can enjoy this museum for free, but reservations are required in advance. With a bit of luck, I just walked in without showing any registration code.

🎫 Cantonese Opera Art Museum (粤剧艺术博物馆)
Website:	https://www.gz.gov.cn/zlgz/gzly/wzgz/wbcg/content/post_9589231.html
Access:	☑ Huangsha Station (黄沙站) Exit B and walk about 600-meters ☑ Changshou Lu Station (长寿路站) Exit D and walk about 800-meters
Opening Hours:	0900 hours to 1730 hours; closed on Mondays
Admission:	Free Admission

Bruce Lee Ancestral Home (李小龙祖居)

The ancestral home, located at No. 13 of Yongqing Lane 1, was purchased by Bruce Lee's father, Lee Hoi-chuen, in 1947 (left photo below). While Bruce Lee himself never lived here, the residence was home to his father and sister. The property now serves as a cultural museum, preserving the Lee family's heritage and Bruce Lee's enduring influence on martial arts and cinema (right photo below).


The interior spans three sections with a total area of 161.5 square meters. Intricate wooden carvings, colored glass screens, and traditional architectural elements showcase the craftsmanship of the era (left photo below). The museum is organized into several themed areas including family heritage, Bruce Lee's childhood (right photo below), and achievements in martial arts and movies (bottom photos).


Left this small museum after exploring for about half an hour.


🎫 Bruce Lee Ancestral Home (李小龙祖居)
Website:	https://www.lw.gov.cn/zjlw/tslw/content/post_9051658.html
Access:	☑ Huangsha Station (黄沙站) Exit B and walk about 600-meters ☑ Changshou Lu Station (长寿路站) Exit D and walk about 800-meters
Opening Hours:	0900 hours to 1700 hours; closed on Mondays
Admission:	Free Admission

Instagrammable Spots

There are many instagrammable spots throughout Yong Qing Fang. Decorative art installation formed the Chinese words "广州" from a fusion of Lingnan architecture and colored glass windows (left photo below). The "Moon bridge" (叠月桥) is another photo-taking spot during the night that placed lights under the arch to create the illusion of a perfect crescent moon suspended over the water (right photo below).

Took subway to Gongyuanqian station and walked towards Beijing Road.

Archaeological Site of the Palace of Nanyue Kingdom (南越国宫署遗址)

Also known as "Nanyue Kingdom Palace Ruins", this archaeological site museum occupies a total area of approximately 52,000-square meters with cultural layers reaching a thickness of 5 to 6-meters (photo below). It contains cultural relics spanning from the Qin and Han dynasties to the Ming and Qing dynasties. This museum stands as a testament to Guangzhou's more than 2,200-years of development as a maritime trading port city.
A Glimpse into History

Discovered recently in 1995 when a corner of a large stone-built pool "Pan Pond" was unearthed besides the bustling shopping street Beijing Road. Further trial excavations were then conducted and the "Crooked Stone Brook" was unearthed in 1997. The Nanyue King Palace Site Museum was subsequently built and opened to public in 2014.



On 08 Sep 2021, the "Museum of the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King" was then merged with the "Museum of the Nanyue Palace Site" to form the "Nanyue King Museum" that exhibits the archaeological discoveries and relics of ancient Nanyue Kingdom.

Nanyue Palace Garden Building

The museum comprises mainly of four distinct sections: Nanyue Palace Garden Building, Southern Han Palace Building, Exhibition Building and Ancient Wells Building (left photo below). The building structure encloses the entire archaeological site and has elevated walkways for visitors to observe the 2,000-year-old site at close range (right photo below).
The Crooked Stone Brook is the centerpiece of the exhibition. This stone watercourse flowed from the northeast to the southwest, featuring artificial hydraulic structures including a sharp bend, crescent-moon pond (left photo below), down slopes, through gates (right photo below), bridges and over stepping-stones.
More than 500 ancient wells spanning successive periods have been unearthed over the years. These wells include earthen wells, brick wells, tile wells, wooden wells, bamboo-ring wells, and pottery-ring wells (photos below).


Measuring with a height of 5-meters, the stratigraphy wall is a real sample retained from the excavation for exhibition purposes (photos below). Stratigraphy studies the relationship between ground layers at an archaeological site where the lower layer is the earlier time that was deposited. This stratigraphy wall contains layers of at least 12 different dynasties or periods.


To further enhance the experience of visitors, digital display was used to project the liveliness of the ancient Nanyue Palace Garden. This includes the illumination on the Crooked Stone Brook by 20 multimedia video projectors (left photo below), and the presentation of historical stories on the gauze curtain above the Cresent Moon Pond (right photo below).
Through 3D modeling and simulation, the entire winding stone canal is outlined, simulating the dynamic effects of flowing streams, crawling tortoises, playing fishes, and running rabbits on the lush green grasses.

Excavated Relics

The excavation of the Nanyue Kingdom Palace Site has uncovered more than 4,800 relics from 12 historical periods. Among them were the roof tiles that functioned to protect the palace eaves from decay. Made of sandy gray pottery, it is hard in texture, with a "cloud pattern" or "long lived" (万岁) characters on their surfaces (left photo below). Another relic was the printed square tile with hexagonal patterns (right photo below).
More than 100 wooden slips from the Nanyue kingdom were discovered from a well at the excavated site. These slips are all made of wood, with the intact slips measuring 25-cm in length, 1.7 to 2.4-cm in width, and 0.1 to 0.2-cm in thickness. The inscriptions on the slips are all written in ink, with varying numbers of characters (left photo below). Another important relic is the "Celadon-glazed tripod censer with two handles" (青釉双耳三足陶盒) made during the Han Dynasty. The vessel is a tripod censer with two handles and is covered in a celadon glaze (right photo below). The presence of celadon pottery indicates that a relatively mature low-temperature lead-glazed pottery firing technique had been mastered at that time.

Left this museum after spending about an hour.

🎫 Archaeological Site of the Palace of Nanyue Kingdom (南越国宫署遗址)
Website:	https://www.nywmuseum.org.cn/Home/Index
Access:	Gongyuanqian Station (公园前站) Exit E/F and walk about 400-meters
Opening Hours:	0900 hours to 1700 hours; closed on Mondays
Admission:	Free Admission

Ancient Nanyue Kingdom

The ancient Nanyue Kingdom ruled Lingnan region between 203 B.C. to 111 B.C. during the Western Han Dynasty. At its peak, its boundaries included the present-day Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, Macau, and parts of Southern Fujian and northern Vietnam (left photo below). The ancient Nanyue Kingdom lasted for 93 years and was governed by five rulers (right photo below). Zhao Tuo and his successors adopted the title of "Emperor" within their own territory, while maintaining a tributary vassal relationship with the Han Dynasty to the north until it was finally destroyed by Emperor Wu in 111 B.C. and absorbed into the Han Empire. Following is the brief descriptions of the five rulers of Nanyue Kingdom: Name Reign Name Reign Period Description Zhao Tuo (趙佗) 武王 203 – 137 B.C. In 214 B.C, the first emperor of Qin Dynasty dispatched a 500,000 strong army to unite the Lingnan area. After the downfall of Qin Dynasty, the former Qin general Zhao Tuo rose to power in the ensuing chaos and established the Nanyue Kingdom in the year of 203 B.C. During his reign of 67 years, Zhao Tuo carried out series of policies that were conducive to the unification of ethnic peoples, and social and economic developments in the Lingnan region. Zhao Mo (趙眜) Other name: 趙胡 文王 137 – 122 B.C. Zhao Mo was the second king, ruling the Nanyue Kingdom for 16 years. He was Zhao Tuo's grandson. Since Zhao Tuo lived a long life, Zhao Mo's father did not get the time to be king before Zhao Mo was bestowed with the crown. Zhao Mo's life was recorded in historical records such as "Shiji"《史记》 and "Hanshu"《汉书》. Zhao Yingqi (趙嬰齊) 明王 122 – 113 B.C. Zhao Mo's son, Zhao Yingqi, became the third king for 10 years. His mausoleum was plundered during the Three Kingdoms Period. Zhao Xing (趙興) 哀王 113 – 112 B.C. Both the fourth and the fifth Kings were Zhao Yingqi's sons. The brothers fought for the crown at the expense of each other's life. The time they were kings in all counted no more than three years. The Nanyue Kingdom disappeared from history when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty caught and killed the fifth king. Zhao Jiande (趙建德) 陽王 112 – 111 B.C. The Nanyue Kingdom was a crucial turning point for the Lingnan region, transitioning it into a highly developed agricultural society and marking the beginnings of the Maritime Silk Road. Interestingly, the ancient Nanyue Kingdom also had an influence on other countries. Zhao Tuo, known as "Triệu Đà" in Vietnamese, was considered to be the founder of the Triệu dynasty where it is the official starting point of Vietnamese history. 💡Travel Trivia: There is an interrelated link between Vietnam and Nanyue. In 1804, Vietnamese ruler Gia Long seek permission from Emperor Jiaqing of Qing dynasty to change their country name. Originally, he had wanted the name "Nam Việt", but was refused because it had an identical name with the ancient Nanyue (南越) kingdom, and the territory of Nanyue contained Liangguang which belonged to Qing dynasty at that time. Instead, Emperor Jiaqing agreed to reverse the name to "Việt Nam" (越南). The diplomatic correspondence over this naming was documented in Gia Long's "Đại Nam thực lục" (Chronicle of Greater Vietnam). As a result, "Vietnam" was used as an official national name by Gia Long during his reign from 1804 to 1813. Subsequently, the name for the region was changed again several times. Following the August Revolution in 1945 and the declaration of independence from French colonial rule, the name "Vietnam" was restored and has since been used as the official designation, symbolising the country’s sovereignty and cultural identity.

Short Tea Break

Decided to have my tea break in a fast-food restaurant located along Beijing Road (left photo below). Ordered a five-piece chicken nuggets and a cup of coke-zero at CNY 27 (right photo below). It was rather expensive as I ordered them seperately instead as a set meal.


Had a good window-shopping along Beijing Road before heading to Tiyu Xilu station.

Hefu-Noodle (和府捞面)

Decided to have my dinner in Hefu-Noodle (left photo below). Through the "Scan to Order" (扫码点餐) QR code, I then made my order from the App (right photo below).


Got myself a bowl of "Fatty beef noodles in hot and sour soup" (酸辣汤肥牛面) (left photo below) and a "Cheese Pull-Apart Potato Pancakes" (芝士拉丝薯饼) together with my self-serviced tea (right photo below).

Total cost was CNY 33.9 and the taste of its herbal broth was still appetizing compared to its Beijing outlet.

🍔 Hefu-Noodle • Comic City store (和府捞面 • 广州动漫星城店)
Address:	Shop B120, B1 Floor, Kaisa Plaza, No. 191 Tiyu West Road, Sports Cente
Access:	Tiyu Xilu Station (体育西路站) of Line 1 and 3, Exit B and walk 260-meters
Operating Hours:	1000 hours to 2130 hours; daily

Supper

Bought my supper from Lian Xiang Lou (莲香楼) store while shopping along Beijing Road (left photo below). Got a "Wife Biscuit" (老婆饼) and a "Husband Biscuit" (老公饼) (right photo below).
The biscuit cost CNY 8 each. Wife biscuit was sweet due to its winter melon paste while the husband biscuit was on the savory side due to its red bean curd.

🍔 Lian Xiang Lou • Beijing Road (莲香楼 • 北京路)
Address:	Shop No. 2, 1st Floor, Juntian Commercial City, No. 313 Beijing Road
Access:	Gongyuanqian Station (公园前站) Exit E/F and walk about 200-meters
Operating Hours:	0900 hours to 2100 hours; daily

Packed my luggage and had a good rest thereafter.


Day Four

Checked out from the hotel and took Didi car ride to the Terminal 2 of Baiyun International Airport. Total cost for the ride was CNY 85.13 including the highway toll.

Fast food Breakfast

Decided to have my breakfast in the KFC restaurant (left photo below) after some searching at the basement of Terminal 2. Ordered a "Chessy-pork Panini (sandwich)" and a cup of hot soy bean milk at a total cost of CNY 22 (right photo below).
Taste of the crispy panini bread was good and the soy bean milk was not too sweet.

Scoot Airways

Boarded flight TR101 and it took off on time at about 10.45 am (left photo below). As the flight time stretched over lunch, I decided to pre-order my flight meal at an additional cost of SGD 18.50 for a black pepper beef with rice set (right photo below). Disappointedly, the rice tasted 'instant' which was much mushy compared to the regular rice. Perhaps this will be my deterrence to order flight meal again in Scoot.
The flight landed on Singapore safely at about 3 pm. With this, it ended my four days trip to Guangzhou.