Members of the co-sanctioning China LPGA and Ladies European Tours went sight-seeing ahead of the Xiamen International Ladies Open.
The players visited the ancient Lian Tang Villa, a supermarket in the Free Trade Zone and went cycling on Haicang Avenue to experience the vibrant city of Xiamen on the southeast coast of China. They also boarded a ferry to Gulangyu Island, a domestic tourist destination which is home to 20,000 people where only electric buggies are allowed and road vehicles are banned.
Among the Ladies European Tour members who attended, rookie professionals Emily Kristine Pedersen from Denmark and Anne Van Dam from the Netherlands were visiting Xiamen for the first time, along with Paula Hurtado from Colombia.
Hurtado commented: “I love it: the culture, the city and everything that I saw today is very interesting. I’ve never been in China before. It’s the first time here and I really enjoyed it. I’m very lucky and thankful to get sponsor invitation, it gave me a good chance to experience the culture: it is very cool!”
Germany’s Leigh Whittaker, Caroline Martens from Norway, Amelia Lewis of the USA and Stephanie Na from Australia were all returning to China. Na said: “It’s nice to come out and have a look around Xiamen. The place we went to is very interesting; all the buildings are very cool. It is really relaxed here. The weather is pretty good. It’s a great experience here, Xiamen is a good place to explore.”
Martens, who also completed the tour ahead of the first Xiamen International Ladies Open in 2014, commented: “It’s an amazing experience to explore in Xiamen today. It’s my second year in Xiamen. We visited different sites from last year, which gave me more opportunity to know more about this city’s culture, people and local customs. I really enjoyed it.”
The LET visitors were joined by six members of the China LPGA Tour: Li Dan, Lin Yezhou, Chen Cuixia, Ploychompoo Wilairungreung and Sui Xiang, who commented: “This is my second time in Xiamen. The last time, which I’ve almost nearly forgotten, was when I was 10 years old. I enjoyed the half day tour very much. It gave me a good chance to understand the South Fujian culture and local people. Visiting Gulangyu Island was my favourite part.”
Touring Gulangyu Island, which is 2km square, was a fun cultural experience for the LET visitors to Xiamen.
