XIAMEN, CHINA

Deemed China's "cleanest city," this island community off the northeast coast in the Fujian province continues to rocket to the top of vacation destination lists. It possesses all of the manifestations of a major city while still maintaining the alluring charisma of a vacation resort. Towering four-star hotels with highbrow international restaurants and trendy nightclubs share the streets with ancient temples and classic colonial style buildings, exhibiting a rare display of synchronic vision for the past and present. An aura of white beaches and green mountains complement its urban offerings, lending it the kind of vacation options normally only associated with small South Pacific islands.

Like most of China's other coastal cities, Xiamen has a past of endless control struggles. During the 1600s, the Dutch attempted to incorporate it into their fattening colonial empire, but were rebuffed by the legendary Zheng Chenggong, a local warrior whose military heroics are immortalized with statues and museums throughout the Xiamen area. Later, following China's defeat in the Great Opium Wars, the British... more