Xiamen (厦门; population 4.28 million; in Fujian Province (福建省) on the southeastern coast of China, facing Taiwan across the Taiwan Strait; known historically in European and colonial contexts as "Amoy" — the Hokkien/Minnan pronunciation of the city name; one of the five original treaty ports opened to foreign trade by the Treaty of Nanking (1842) after the First Opium War) is the most scenically beautiful coastal city in Fujian Province: the city is built on a series of islands and peninsulas in the Xiamen Bay (the bay formed by the Jiulong River estuary and the South China Sea coastline), with the most famous element being the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Gulangyu Island (鼓浪屿 — Gulang Yu: "Drum Wave Island"; named for the percussion sound the waves make striking the hollow rocks at the island's southwestern tip; the UNESCO inscription 2017 for "Historic International Settlement"): the 1.88 km² car-free island (no motor vehicles; no bicycles; pedestrian-only since the 1920s) immediately adjacent to Xiamen harbour that served as the international settlement for the foreign consulates and merchant communities of the treaty port era (1843-1943) and is now a remarkably intact architectural museum of Sino-European colonial architecture (the Sino-Portuguese (Minnan-Portuguese fusion architecture), the British colonial, the German colonial, the American Mission style and the Minnan Chinese vernacular houses (the Minnan bankers and returning overseas Chinese merchants who built the most opulent residences on Gulangyu from 1900-1930) visible side by side on the island's narrow lanes). Gulangyu is also known as the "Music Island" (音乐岛 — the most pianos per capita of any place in China: the highest concentration of pianos in a Chinese community resulting from the Western missionary music education tradition established on the island in the 1840s-1940s; the most famous Gulangyu-born musician is Lang Lang's teacher, the pianist Lin Ruihe; the Gulangyu Piano Museum (钢琴博物馆) holds one of the largest collections of historic pianos in Asia).
Gulangyu Island (鼓浪屿 — UNESCO World Heritage Site 2017; the 1.88 km² island immediately south of Xiamen harbour; accessed by the 10-minute ferry from the International Ferry Terminal or the 5-minute tourist ferry from Xiamen's Lundu Pier): the history (the foreign settlement era (1843-1943): after the Treaty of Nanking (1842) opened Xiamen as one of the 5 original treaty ports, the foreign community established a settlement on Gulangyu Island (the closest island to the Xiamen harbour); the international settlement was formally established by the "Land Regulations for Kulangsu" (1902) which placed the island under the joint governance of a Mixed Council (the representatives of Britain, the USA, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, Norway, Denmark and the Philippines) — the only such multinational municipal governance in any Chinese treaty port; the architectural legacy (the international settlement character of Gulangyu 1843-1943 produced the most varied collection of colonial architecture in any compact Chinese setting: the Minnan vernacular (the southern Fujian Chinese architecture tradition (the red-brick (the Minnan red brick (闽南红砖) — the distinctive dark red terracotta brick of the Fujian architectural tradition, used for the most ornate Minnan residences (the "Minnan Villa" style))), the colonnaded verandah style (the British and American colonial style — the white-painted colonnaded verandah house that is the most common foreign-built building on Gulangyu), the reinforced concrete 1920s-30s modernist style (the inter-war period buildings built by the returned overseas Chinese merchants who combined Western architectural training with the Minnan ornamental tradition)).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideSunlight Rock (日光岩 — Riguang Yan: "Sunlight Rock"; the highest point on Gulangyu Island at 92.7 m above sea level; the most photographed viewpoint in Xiamen): the rock (the Sunlight Rock is a large granite boulder rising from the central hilltop of Gulangyu Island — the most distinctive natural feature of the island (the smooth granite dome shape visible from the Xiamen waterfront and from arriving ferries); the historical significance (the Sunlight Rock was the command post of Koxinga (郑成功 — Zheng Chenggong, 1624-1662): the Ming dynasty loyalist commander who used Xiamen and Gulangyu as his base for the resistance against the Qing conquest of China (1644-1683); Koxinga launched his famous 1661 expedition from Xiamen to expel the Dutch East India Company from Taiwan (the Dutch had occupied Taiwan since 1624) — the successful campaign (the Siege of Fort Zeelandia, 1661-1662) drove the Dutch from Taiwan and established the Zheng family Kingdom of Tungning (1661-1683) in Taiwan — the first non-indigenous government of Taiwan; the Sunlight Rock is thus significant in both Chinese and Taiwanese historical memory); the view (the panorama from the Sunlight Rock summit: Xiamen Island (to the north — the Xiamen city skyline, the Xiamen University campus, the Xiamen Binhai Avenue coastal road), the Xiamen Strait (the narrow strait between Gulangyu Island and Xiamen Island — the width at the narrowest point: approximately 500 m), Kinmen (Jinmen) Island (the Taiwan-controlled island visible 12-15 km to the west in the Taiwan Strait on clear days — the artillery duel between the People's Republic of China and Kinmen (1958-1979) was the longest artillery duel in modern history: 21 years).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideGulangyu Piano Museum (钢琴博物馆 — Gangqin Bowuguan; in the Shuzhuang Garden (菽庄花园) on the south coast of Gulangyu Island): the Gulangyu piano culture (the "Music Island" (音乐岛) reputation of Gulangyu: the island has the highest concentration of pianos per capita of any community in China — the result of the Western missionary music education tradition established by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) on Gulangyu from the 1840s onwards; the missionaries used the piano as a cultural tool to attract the Chinese community to Christian worship and Western education; the piano tradition (once established in the most prestigious Minnan merchant families of Gulangyu) became a marker of social status and educational aspiration that persisted long after the missionaries left; the most famous musicians from the Gulangyu tradition include the pianist Lin Ruihe (the teacher of the internationally renowned pianist Lang Lang)); the museum (the Gulangyu Piano Museum collection: 100+ historic pianos spanning 200 years of Western piano manufacturing history (the oldest instrument in the collection: an early 18th-century harpsichord; the most notable instruments: a Bechstein grand piano that once belonged to Ludwig van Beethoven's student Carl Czerny, an upright piano from the estate of Frédéric Chopin, a 19th-century Érard grand piano (the Érard piano was the instrument on which Chopin gave his first public concert in Paris (1832)); the Shuzhuang Garden (菽庄花园) surrounding the Piano Museum — the 1913 private garden built by the Fujian businessman Lin Erjia on the south coast of Gulangyu: the stepping-stone bridge across the tidal pool, the rockery pavilions and the borrowed view of the Taiwan Strait.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideGulangyu lane walk (the most architecturally rewarding pedestrian walk in Xiamen — the network of car-free lanes covering the interior of Gulangyu Island): the architectural character (Gulangyu Island's lane network (the island has no motor vehicles and no bicycles — the only transport is foot and the small electric maintenance vehicles used by island service staff): the lane walk through the interior of the island reveals the full range of colonial-era architectural styles; the most significant buildings: the Former British Consulate (1844 — the oldest surviving colonial building on Gulangyu: the white-painted veranda house with the Doric columns and the double-pitched roof; set in the consulate garden at the top of the lane behind the ferry pier); the Former German Consulate (1905 — the elaborate neo-Baroque building with the curved gables and the circular corner tower; now a hotel); the Bai Lu Lou (the "White Deer Villa" — the most photographed villa on Gulangyu: the 1921 Minnan-Western hybrid building with the colonnaded facade, the Minnan red brick base and the European roofline; built for the Philippines-based overseas Chinese merchant Huang Shiyuan; the "White Deer" name from the white deer in the garden fountain); the Huliqiu Villa (the 1913 private villa of Lin Erjia); the Minnan red brick district (the "Taiwanese Village" area in the northeast of Gulangyu — the most concentrated Minnan red brick vernacular housing on the island (the traditional Minnan residences with the swallowtail ridgeline (燕尾脊 — the upswept ridge ends curling skyward like a swallow's tail) that is the most distinctive element of the Minnan architectural tradition in both Fujian Province and Taiwan).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideNanputuo Temple (南普陀寺 — Nan Putuo Si: the "Southern Putuo Temple" — named for the Putuo Mountain on Zhoushan Island in Zhejiang Province (the sacred island associated with the Bodhisattva Guanyin, the most widely venerated figure in Chinese Buddhism); the most important Buddhist temple in Fujian Province): the history (the Nanputuo Temple was originally founded in the Tang dynasty period (618-907 CE) on the southern slope of Wulao Mountain (五老峰) — the five-peak mountain ridge behind the temple; the temple was destroyed and rebuilt multiple times; the current temple complex (primarily 20th century reconstruction) is one of the most visited Buddhist pilgrimage sites in southern China — particularly the devotion to the Bodhisattva Guanyin (観音 — the Goddess of Mercy, the most widely worshipped Buddhist deity in China): the largest statue of Guanyin on Wulao Mountain (the 14.8 m bronze Guanyin statue visible on the mountain slope above the temple complex)); the complex (the Nanputuo Temple complex (20 ha): the Heavenly King Hall (Tianwang Dian — the entrance hall with the four Heavenly Kings and the laughing Maitreya Buddha); the Main Hall (Daxiong Bao Dian — the Three Precious Buddhas: Sakyamuni (the historical Buddha), Amitabha (the Buddha of Infinite Light of the Pure Land) and Medicine Buddha (the Healing Buddha)); the Sutra Library (Zangjing Lou — the 3-storey building in the traditional Chinese palace style housing the Buddhist scriptural collection); the Wulao Mountain hiking trails (the path from the rear of the Nanputuo Temple up the five peaks of Wulao Mountain: the view from the highest peak (515 m) of Xiamen Bay, Gulangyu Island and the Taiwan Strait).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideXiamen University (厦门大学 — Xiamen Daxue; the national comprehensive university founded in 1921 by the overseas Chinese merchant Tan Kah Kee (陳嘉庚/陈嘉庚, 1874-1961) — the most significant philanthropic contribution to Chinese education by an overseas Chinese): the history (Tan Kah Kee (known as the "Henry Ford of Southeast Asia" for his rubber and pineapple empire in Singapore and British Malaya) donated his entire fortune to establishing and sustaining educational institutions in his native Fujian Province; Xiamen University (1921) is the most important institution he founded; the "Tan Kah Kee style" Minnan-Western hybrid architecture that dominates both Xiamen University and the nearby Jimei School District (the educational town Tan Kah Kee built in Jimei, 25 km north of Xiamen) defines the most distinctive architectural tradition of modern Fujian: the buildings combine Minnan red brick (the traditional Fujian red terracotta brick) with Western colonnaded facades and European-style rooflines in a hybrid that Tan Kah Kee developed after visiting Cornell University and the University of Edinburgh)); the campus (Xiamen University's central campus (the main campus on the southern shore of Xiamen Island, adjacent to the Nanputuo Temple and facing the Taiwan Strait): the "most beautiful campus in China" (consistently voted the most scenically beautiful university campus in China in student surveys): the Furong Lake (the ornamental lake in the centre of the campus), the Jiageng Building (the main administrative building in the Tan Kah Kee Minnan-Western style), the Siming Lake (the tidal lake on the southern boundary connecting to the South China Sea), the Zhengda Guangchang (the central campus square with the Xian Gong Auditorium); visitors can walk freely through the open campus (no admission required).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideZhongshan Road (中山路 — the "Sun Yat-sen Road" pedestrian commercial street in the Siming district of Xiamen; the most historically significant commercial street in the city): the history (Zhongshan Road was developed during the 1920s-1930s as the main commercial artery of the Xiamen treaty port city: the "Qilou" arcade buildings (the 骑楼 — the colonnaded arcades at ground floor level with the residential or commercial floors above; the arcade forms a covered walkway along the street frontage, protecting shoppers from the subtropical rain and heat): the Xiamen Qilou is a variant of the Southeast Asian covered arcade (Hokkien/Minnan: "ang mo jhou" — literally "red hair arcade" = "foreign colonial arcade") — the same building type found throughout Penang, Singapore, Hanoi, Hoi An and the other cities of the Hokkien diaspora trading network; the overseas Chinese connection (the Zhongshan Road Qilou buildings were built by the Fujian overseas Chinese merchants (the Hokkien diaspora of Southeast Asia (the Hokkien/Minnan-speaking merchants from Fujian Province who dominated the maritime trade of Southeast Asia from the 16th century onward: Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand) who returned to Xiamen to build their commercial properties in the prosperous 1920s-1930s period)); the current street (the 1.2 km pedestrian-only Zhongshan Road is the most visited shopping street in Xiamen: the seafood restaurants (the oyster vermicelli (海蛎煎), the sand worm jelly (土笋冻)), the souvenir shops (the Fujian lacquerware, the peanut candy from the Gulangyu Island candy workshops), the colonial building facades.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideXiamen evening seafood culture (the definitive Minnan/Hokkien cuisine of Fujian Province): the oyster vermicelli (海蛎煎 — hai li jian: the Xiamen/Hokkien signature dish: the oyster omelette (the small Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) from the Xiamen Bay mixed with sweet potato starch, egg and spring onion and fried on the flat iron griddle with lard until crispy on the bottom and soft in the centre; served with the sweet chilli sauce; the dish identical in character (though not in name) with the Taiwanese "e-a-jian" (蚵仔煎) and the Singapore/Malaysian "or luak" — the same Hokkien seafood omelette tradition spreading through the diaspora network); the sand worm jelly (土笋冻 — tu sun dong: the most unique Xiamen delicacy — the jelly made from the geoduck-like peanut worm (Phascolosoma esculenta — the "tu sun" = "earth bamboo shoot"; an invertebrate of the Sipuncula phylum that burrows in the Xiamen Bay coastal mud flats): the worm is boiled until its natural gelatin dissolves, then strained and the broth solidified as a savory aspic; the jelly is served cold, cut into cubes, with the soy sauce, vinegar and minced garlic dipping sauce — the most unusual delicacy in Xiamen cuisine and the most effective cultural divider between the adventurous and the cautious food tourist); the Taiwan Strait seafood (the fish and shellfish from the shallow (20-50 m depth) Taiwan Strait: the grouper (石斑鱼), the eel (鳗鱼), the Spanish mackerel (马鲛鱼), the hairtail (带鱼); the steamed grouper with ginger and scallion is the most common "celebration seafood" dish of the Hokkien tradition).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideHulishan Fortress (胡里山炮台 — Hulishan Paotai: the coastal artillery fortress on the southern tip of Xiamen Island, commanding the Taiwan Strait and the entrance to the Xiamen harbour): the history (the Hulishan Fortress was built 1894-1896 by the Qing government's Fujian Province military command to defend Xiamen harbour from the anticipated Japanese attack (the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 was underway during construction — Japan defeated China and acquired Taiwan under the Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895)); the fortifications (the fortress consists of two primary coastal artillery installations: the "East Cannon" and "West Cannon" batteries; the most famous weapon: the 28 cm Krupp Coastal Gun ("Krupp 28 cm" — the L/22 coastal artillery piece manufactured by the Krupp Steel Works of Essen, Germany in 1894): the gun (the Krupp 28 cm gun (calibre 280 mm; barrel length 6.16 m; weight of gun alone: 49.6 tonnes; range: 9,700 m at maximum elevation; the shell weight: 240 kg): the gun was fired in combat twice: during the 1937 Japanese naval bombardment of Xiamen (the gun shell pierced the hull of a Japanese gunboat at 4,500 m range) and during the 1958 People's Liberation Army artillery bombardment of Kinmen (Jinmen) Island (the "First Taiwan Strait Crisis" (1954-1955) and the "Second Taiwan Strait Crisis" (1958) — the PLA shelling of Kinmen from the Xiamen coast: the longest sustained artillery duel of the 20th century)); the Guinness record (the Hulishan Krupp gun is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest existing coastal gun of its age (1894) still in its original emplacement in the world)).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideXiamen Binhai Bike Path (厦门滨海骨干道 — the coastal cycling and walking path on the southern and eastern shores of Xiamen Island): the path (the Xiamen Binhai (coastal) multi-use path is the most scenic cycling route in Fujian Province: the 43 km path runs along the southern and eastern coast of Xiamen Island with views of the Taiwan Strait and the various offshore islands; the most scenic sections: the Zengcuo'an section (曾厝垸 — the traditional fishing village converted to an art district and café village (2010-present): the most Instagram-popular neighbourhood in Xiamen (the narrow lanes with the colourful murals, the coffee shops in the converted Minnan fisherman houses, the view of the Taiwan Strait from the Zengcuo'an seafront)); the Guanyinshan Beach section (观音山沙滩 — the most popular beach in Xiamen: the 2 km sandy beach backed by the Guanyinshan resort area with the hotels and restaurants); the Huandao Road section (环岛路 — the "Ring Island Road" coastal road: the 43 km circuit of southern Xiamen Island that is simultaneously the most scenic road drive and the most popular cycling route; the Egret Island (鹭江岛 — the island visible offshore from the Huandao Road: the nesting colony of the great egret (Ardea alba) and the Chinese egret (Egretta eulophotes — the Chinese egret: the most threatened egret species in East Asia (approximately 2,600 individuals surviving as of 2023); nesting colony on Egret Island in Xiamen Bay (one of the most significant breeding colonies of the species)).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideKinmen (Jinmen) Island viewpoint from Xiamen (the most geopolitically charged landscape view in China): the view (from the southern coast of Xiamen Island (the Hulishan Fortress viewpoint or the Zengcuo'an coastal cliff) on a clear day (the visibility in the Xiamen area is 15-20 km on clear autumn/winter days) it is possible to see Kinmen (金門 — Jinmen) Island: the Taiwanese-administered island 12-15 km from the Xiamen shore; the largest island of the Kinmen County of the Republic of China (Taiwan)); the history (the Kinmen Islands are the most militarised small-territory dispute in East Asia: the ROC (Taiwan) military has garrisoned Kinmen since 1949 (the Nationalist government retreat from mainland China; the PLA victory in the Chinese Civil War) and repelled the PLA assault in the Battle of Guningtou (October 1949 — the most significant military defeat of the People's Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War); the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis (August 23, 1958 — the PLA began the most intensive artillery bombardment of Kinmen: 44,000 shells fired on the first day alone; over the 44-day bombardment (1958) approximately 470,000 shells were fired; the United States 7th Fleet deployed in the Taiwan Strait; the Soviet Union declined to support China with nuclear weapons as requested by Mao); the political normalisation (regular ferry service between Kinmen (Shuitou Pier) and Xiamen (Wutong Pier) has operated since 2001 (the "Mini Three Links" programme of limited travel and trade between Taiwan-controlled Kinmen and mainland Xiamen) — currently (2024) suspended due to cross-strait tensions).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideXiamen waterfront sunset (the Lunjian Dao — the "Heron Island Road" promenade on the Xiamen city waterfront facing Gulangyu Island across the 500 m-wide Xiamen Strait): the view (the Xiamen city waterfront facing south across the Xiamen Strait to Gulangyu Island: the most photographed urban view in Xiamen (the island's colonial-era villas and the Sunlight Rock visible across the strait; the evening light falling on the Gulangyu waterfront in orange and pink in the 30 minutes before sunset on clear days); the Lujiang Road promenade (the 1.5 km waterfront promenade on the Xiamen city side of the strait: the colonial-era buildings of the Xiamen city waterfront (the former Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, the former Customs House, the former Overseas Chinese Hotel) form the backdrop as the boats cross the strait to Gulangyu and back); the ferry traffic (the Gulangyu-Xiamen ferry (the tourist ferry and the resident ferry — two separate services) crossing the strait throughout the day and evening: the most frequent ferry service in Fujian Province (the ferry runs every 10-15 minutes in peak season); the Gulangyu Island at dusk (the island lights coming on as the sun sets: the villa windows lit, the Sunlight Rock floodlit, the piano music audible from the island cafes and residences across the still water of the strait in the evening calm)); the seafront dining (the Lujiang Road and Zhongshan Road intersection restaurants: the seafood restaurants facing the Gulangyu Island view — the most desirable tables in Xiamen.
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