⚠️ Timetables, prices and access conditions may change without notice, for reasons beyond our control (season, weather, decisions by operators, venues or local authorities). Before every trip, check the information with the relevant authorities and service providers.
More than 900 historic buildings bear witness to the era when the island hosted an international community; the “Amoy Deco” style blends Minnan architecture and Western influences.
Official websitewhc.unesco.org→“Piano island” displays a collection of antique instruments in a seaside garden designed in 1913.
Official websitegly.xm.gov.cn→Antique organs in the Bagua Lou, one of the island’s most recognisable buildings with its red dome. No official website of its own.
Gallery opened in 2017 by Beijing’s Palace Museum, devoted to foreign objects from the imperial collection. No official website of its own.
The island’s summit, at about 93 m, offers the best view of Gulangyu and Xiamen’s towers.
The city’s great Buddhist temple, very popular, set against the hill and the botanical garden. No official website in English.
Often called one of China’s most beautiful campuses, by the sea; visitors enter by reservation (WeChat).
Official websitexmu.edu.cn→Fort built in 1894, which still has a 280 mm Krupp cannon facing the strait. No official website.
Large earthen communal houses of the Hakka, round or square, World Heritage since 2008; a day trip from Xiamen.
Official websitewhc.unesco.org→Ancient music of southern Fujian, sung in the Minnan dialect with lute and flute, inscribed as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2009.
Official websiteich.unesco.org→A port opened to foreign trade in the 19th century, Xiamen (Amoy) saw consulates, schools and villas settle on Gulangyu, where Chinese families returning from Southeast Asia invented a style blending local and Western influences. The island has been a World Heritage Site since 8 July 2017. Around it, Minnan culture is still alive: Buddhist temples, nanyin music and, inland, the Hakka tulou, also listed by UNESCO.
Header photo: Nanputuo Temple — Popolon, CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons