Gulangyu Island - Xiamen's Main Tourist Destination Part 1/2

A 2 square kilometer's island situated at the coast of Xiamen, in Fujian, China lays Gulanyu. A chief tourist destination in the province is a car-free location which is a home to at-least 20,000 people. The Island is major tourist destination and is popular to both local and foreign visitors.  One of the best travel destinations in China,  it offers five great tourist attractions namely, The Zheng Chenggong Statue, Shuzhuang Garden, Xiamens Piano Museum, and the Sunlight Rock.

Statue of Zheng Chenggong, Xiamen Tourist Spot.

Gulangyu Island got its name from the sound created by a huge wave hitting a massive reef with resemblance to the beating of drums. "Gu" which means drums, "Lang" means waves, and "Yu" mean islet.

Gulangyu Island by Night

If you want to spend some time in the island or planning for a food-tripping session, or you just want to be alone, then visiting the island by night is a good choice. There are fewer tourists, and the streets aren't crowded.

It is also nice and recommended visiting Gulanyu by day if you enjoy watching plenty of folks visiting the islet. Furthermore, most of the stores are open during the day-time so you might not be able to glimpse them during the evening.

The recommended time for a visit is one whole day. So you will be able to explore and take some photos on the island's beautiful and scenic landscapes.

A local tour guide holding the flag.

Starting from the ferry quay in Siming District, you would notice a great deal of tour-guides leading a crowd of excursionist from the city and off to the island. This is a normal scenery from the port.

Guides are identified with their colorful flags and enjoy talking loud with their Dictaphones. I'm having fun watching this guy leading the crowd.

Ferry ticket going to the island cost only CNY8 round trip, not a big deal right?

There are lots of people in the waiting area. So please be mindful of your wallets and your valuable paraphernalia. Still prevention is better than cure.

Docking and waiting for the passengers to get on board.

Shown on the right is a small ferry which goes back and forth to the island in 7-10 minutes. Since it is just more than half a kilometer away from the city.

Prefer yourself to stand all the way to the island while on board unless you get in first and take a seat upstairs. However, there is a fee on staying on the upper deck.

This lady conductor will ask you to pay an added CNY 1 for staying on the second floor. Well, I don’t mind paying the extra charge; it is just PhP 6.00 in the Philippines and its worth it when taking pictures for the first time.

Lady conductor asking for an extra charge at the upper deck.

I recommend you try this as will. The lady turned away as she was a bit shy on the camera (picture below).

Eventually, you get a in a superior way view at the top rather than staying below. Be reminded that there are lots of tourists by day going to the island, so more than be quick or be leafed behind! :) no worries, there are lots of ferries coming in and out of the island up until midnight. Check out the Gulangyu Ferry's Timetable here.

Crowd of domestic tourist.

 A bit crowded and you can see lots of locals rather than western foreign faces. I bet most Asians have common facial figures rather than their western counterparts.

Getting off and seems there are a few have been left. Anyway, on my own observation, the captain of this small ferry doesn't mind about the maximum capacity as long as everyone had stepped in, and I think they are strictly following their travel itineraries,  whether full, over capacity, or fewer passengers on-board. I can’t even see life jackets. Safety precautions are written in native language.

Gulangyu in Chinese written characters.

Welcome to Gulangyu Island! You will see a golden metal finished Chinese's character as soon as you step off from the ferry.

Zheng Chenggong Statue

The first visible structure on the island was the huge statue of Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong). According to Chinese's history, Koxinga drove out the Dutch from Taiwan for China and was revered as a national hero in China. The huge monument of the Chinese general stands proud of the coast of Gulangyu.

In 1662, Koxinga manifested a plan to attack the Philippines, but was never realized due to his sudden death. The demand for tribute was relayed through his chief Italian adviser threatening to raid Manila if his demands were not given.

Another nice beautiful spot in the Island is the Shuzhuang Garden (below).  In 1913, a rich merchant from Tainan begun building this magnificent park in memory of his native home in Taiwan. The garden got its name from his mother’s name. Rank on the top spot of Xiamen's popular parks, this beautifully igneous designed memorial would let you feel the serenity and the harmonic flow of nature.

Shuzhuang Garden

Nine-Bending-Fourty-Four Bridge

The famous Nine-bending-Fourty-four Bridge (below) which has an approximate length of over one hundred meters. Described as a dragon moving towards the sea, it has a Viewing Fishing Stand and the so-called Ferrying-to-the-Moon-Pavilion as seen on the photo. One thing I noticed while walking on the bridge is that you get this sense of feeling like floating or walking in the water. So it might be also fantastic to try it as will during high tides. Constant strolling will lead you to minuscule Danish like village called the Xiamen Haoyue Holiday Club. This is small beautiful western designed houses overlooking the sea facing Siming District.

Xiamen Haoyue Holiday Club

I got the time to pose some pictures in this magnificent spot. Truly, a dream vacation to live here for just a short period of time. The place was amazing!

Click to continue reading - Gulangyu Island - Xiamen's Main Tourist Destination Part 2/2