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A Survey of Xiamen
Xiamen, “Gate of Chinese Mansion(宅地)”, is the second largest city in Fujian Province．It was said that the egrets(白鹭)frequently perched on the island, so Xiamen is also called Egret Island．It is located at the southeast of Fujian, bordering the sea in the southeast and facing Penghu, Taiwan, across the strait, being close to Zhangzhou in the west and to Quanzhou in the north．It covers an area of 1516.12 square kilometers, consisting of Siming, Kaiyuan, Gulangyu, Xinglin, Huli, Jimei districts and Tongan Country, with a total population of 1．17 million．Xiamen Island, covering an area of 128．14 square kilometers, is the fourth largest island of Fujian．Because of the sub-tropical marine(亚热带海洋的)climate, it has the spring season all the year, with an average temperature of 21．The average temperature of the coldest February is 12 and that of the hottest August is 28．It is available for travel all year round, with the best tourist season from April to November．
Xiamen has a long history．As early as 3000 years ago, a primitive tribe lived here．The first administrative unit was set up in Song Dynasty．In the last 1000 years, it has changed its name for several times, from “Jiaheyu(Excellent Grain Island)” in Song Dynasty to “Middle and Left Offices” at the beginning of Ming Dynasty, then to “Xiamen Town”．At the end of Ming Dynasty, Zheng Chenggong changed Xiamen again into “Siming Zhou(Si-ming means longing for the restoration(恢复)of the Ming Dynasty)”．In 1933, it was renamed Xiamen City．
