What are the fun attractions in Gulangyu Island in Xiamen?

Gulangyu Island in Xiamen is a very famous tourist attraction. There are many tourist attractions here, which are worth visiting by friends. So what are the interesting tourist attractions in Gulangyu Island? Let’s take a look next!

1. Sunlight Rock (suitable for overlooking)

Sunlight Rock was originally called "Sunlight Rock". It is said that Zheng Chenggong came to Sunlight Rock and saw that the scenery here was better than Sunlight Mountain in Japan, so he named it "Sunlight Rock". This is the highest peak of Gulangyu Island. Standing on Sunlight Rock, you can see the panoramic view of Gulangyu Island, and when the weather is good, you can even see Kinmen.

Opening hours: 7:00-18:00

Opening hours of cableways, bird parks, and cinemas in the scenic area: 8:30-18:15 in winter; 8:30-18:15 in summer; 18:45

Ticket: 60 yuan

2. Qinyuan

Qinyuan is a tourist area full of cultural and artistic charm. There are a bird garden, an audio-visual hall, an art gallery, and a hero's garden to commemorate the martyrs. In addition, there are Melody Square, Qinsi Square, Liuyin Zhuxiao, Tingtaoya, etc., all of which are inextricably linked to the piano. Gulangyu Island is known as the "Piano Island" and the "Cradle of Musicians" because it gave birth to many musical talents and piano poets, and the island's pianos rank first in the country.

Ticket: 20 yuan

Address: Gulangyu Hero Mountain, Xiamen

Opening hours: 7:00-18:45

3 , International Architecture Expo

The International Architecture Expo has been completed in recent years: the original Gulangyu Park has been transformed into an underwater world; Hao Yue Garden has a tall statue and relief of Zheng Chenggong; Yu Garden has the famous Chinese gynecologist Lin marble statues; Huiqiao Subtropical Plant Introduction Garden, with floral, palm, and fruity aromas; Xiamen Museum, displaying Xiamen’s thousand-year history and the construction of special economic zones; Zheng Chenggong Memorial Hall, which celebrates heroic achievements; and Yanping Park, Gangzihou Swimming Pool, and Zhongshan Library Museum, People's Stadium, Gulangyu Villa with garden architectural style, Guanhaiyuan Tourist Resort, Gulangyu Hotel, etc.

In Gulangyu Island’s 1.78 square kilometers of land, there are so many parks and residences, and its density is probably rare in the world.

Opening hours: Open all year round.

4. Underwater World

Xiamen Underwater World is located in Huangjiadu on the east coast of Gulangyu Island. It turned out to be Gulangyu Park, close to the ferry terminal. It houses more than 10,000 fish from over 350 species of saltwater and freshwater fish from all continents and oceans of the world. Xiamen Underwater World is located in Huangjiadu on the east coast of Gulangyu Island. It turned out to be Gulangyu Park, close to the ferry terminal. Walking on the ferry terminal, you can see at a glance that the Huatan clan owns a sea-blue crystal palace building, which is the "Xiamen Underwater World".

Opening hours: Open all year round. 8:00-18:00 (extended by half an hour in summer)

Ticket prices: Adults: 70 yuan/person; children, military personnel, and the elderly: 40 yuan/person; retired people are free.

5. Lin Yutang’s former residence

Lin Yutang’s former residence, the home of his wife Liao Cuifeng, is one of the oldest buildings on Gulangyu Island. It was originally a two-story villa, but the first floor collapsed due to disrepair. Lin Yutang's wedding hall and new house are still there.

The villa is in British style, with an arched cloister, two bedrooms and one living room in the front, and a two-story sloping roof. There is a small garden in the middle, with two-story buildings on both sides, connected to the main house in the front, and a fish pond in the back garden.

The legs of the villa overlap beautifully, while the railings on the second floor are simple. The underground moisture-proof barrier is not low, ensuring that the hall above is dry and comfortable. There is a long stone staircase in front of the archway in the middle hall on the first floor, surrounded by ancient banyan trees, longan trees and magnolia trees, making the small garden full of greenery, refreshing and cool, and creating a warm atmosphere.

Lin Yutang studied in Gulangyu Island and stayed here. After getting married, he went from here to the world and became a world cultural celebrity.

Address: No. 44, Zhangzhou Road

6. Jingua Building

Jingua Building was built in 1922 and bought as a residence in 1924 by Huang Cimin, an overseas Chinese living in the Philippines. . This building is a villa building decorated with traditional Chinese decoration techniques. All the beams, columns, eaves, and corners are decorated with reliefs of flowers, birds, and plants, which have both a local flavor and a Rococo charm. The windows are European style with shutters. The layout of the inner hall is a combination of Chinese and Western styles, with both Chinese-style wing rooms and public halls, and

7. Bagua Tower

a representative of Gulangyu modern architecture. It was funded by Taiwanese businessman Lin Heshou and designed by John Yu. It was built in 1907. However, the project became too large and expenses became insufficient. In the end, the project was not completed, and Lin Heshou had nothing. He had no choice but to avoid Taiwan Province, and the Japanese repaired it hastily.

The Gulangyu Pipe Organ Museum, with Bagua Tower as the main body, is currently the largest pipe organ museum in the world. Mr. Wu Youyi, an Australian Chinese born in Gulangyu Island, has collected nearly 80 ancient pipe organ treasures from around the world, including the British Norman Beale pipe organ on display, and China's largest pipe organ, the No. 1 pipe organ, which is being restored and will be displayed in the new museum. Casson No. 700.

After the Sino-Japanese War, the Qing government ceded Taiwan Province to Japan, and the two wealthy gentry Lin families of Taiwan Province traveled together. In 1913, he modeled the Banqiao villa in Taipei and built a garden based on the famous gardens in the south of the Yangtze River. He named it "Shu Zhuang", which is homophonic with the owner's character "Shu Zang".

Gulangyu Piano Museum is located in Tingtaoxuan, Guzhuang Garden. The museum displays nearly a hundred fortepianos collected by Mr. Hu Youyi, including rare and precious gold-plated pianos, the world's earliest four-cornered piano, the largest upright piano, ancient hurdy-gurdy, as well as pedal-type automatic pianos and eight-piece pianos from more than 100 years ago. A pedal harpsichord.

Gulangyu Music Story Gulangyu has become a world-famous "international community" as early as the 1920s. This made Gulangyu people the first to introduce pianos and became the first place in China to own pianos and be exposed to Western music. Western missionaries built churches and schools on this small island, creating fertile soil for the popularization and spread of Western music. As a result, Gulangyu Island is full of music atmosphere, residents have extremely high musical literacy, and music talents emerge in large numbers. Therefore, Gulangyu Island is known as the "Piano Island" and "Music Island" in the world.

8. Shuzhuang Garden

Built in 1920-1930, it was purchased by Huang Xiuxuan and Huang ***tong, overseas Chinese in the Philippines. It is a group of five symmetrical villas, with the middle building as the central axis and spreading to both sides. The design draws on the strengths of Chinese and Western cultures and can be called a classic combination of Chinese and Western cultures.

9. Haitian Structure

Built before 1840, it is one of the earliest ferries on Gulangyu Island. The early residents of Gulangyu Island took boats from here to enter and exit the island. Later, the wharf developed into an important distribution center for goods entering and leaving the island. After 1985, the new wharf was opened and the old wharf was gradually abandoned.

10. Sanqiutian Pier

It was designed by American reformist doctor John Yu and built in 1920. Its architectural design is very creative, European style, simple and bright, and looks like a cruise ship about to set sail.

11. Houseboat

During the climax of Gulangyu housing construction in the early 20th century, around 1913, Filipino overseas Chinese Yang Zhongquan and Yang Zhongyi bought an old house from the British mission. After demolition, the Yangjiayuan villa complex consisting of four western-style buildings was built.

12. Yang Homestead

It was built in memory of his mother by Xu Jingquan, an overseas Chinese living in the Philippines, and was completed in 1924. Its shape is gorgeous and unique, especially the clay sculpture of the Queen Mother of the West on the gable wall of the roof, so neighbors call this building "Fanpo Building".

13. Fanpo Tower

It was founded in the first year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty (1796). It is the earliest existing red-brick residential house in southern Fujian on Gulangyu Island, and its owner is Huang Xuzhai. Huang Xuzhai gave birth to a third son. The eldest son, Huang Kunshi, was an official in the Ministry of Household Affairs. He is a fourth-level official in Beijing. Therefore, a plaque with the title "Big Shot's Home" was hung in the house to show its prominence.

14. Dafu Di

In 1924, Yin Chengzong’s father bought this place and it was designed by his eldest son Yin Zuze. It has the characteristics of a stone town in southern Fujian and the charm of the European Renaissance. In 1942, the famous pianist Yin Chengzong was born here.

15. Yin Chengzong Villa

In 1932, Chu Songtian, an overseas Chinese living in the Philippines, returned to Xiamen and spent money to build this apartment on Gulangyu Island that blended Nanyang and Minnan styles. After it was completed in 1933, it became a unique building in Gulangyu Island.

16. Chujiayuan

It was built at the end of the 19th century and was later bought by the Liao brothers. In 1919, Lin Yu

17 and Liao Family Villa

were built during the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty. They were originally called Lotus Temple and were rebuilt in 1586. Because it is built at the foot of Sunlight Rock, whenever the sun rises, sunlight shines into the rock and temple, hence the name. In 1936, Master Hongyi retreated to Liao Fang in the East Hall and inscribed a plaque "Sunlight House".

18. Chongxing Sanhe Palace Cliff Carvings on Gulangyu Island

Built in 1863, it is the earliest church on Gulangyu Island. It was built with donations from the American Reformed Church, the Church of London, and the Presbyterian Church. It was called the "International Chapel." It was renamed Concord Church in 1875 and rebuilt in 1911.

19. Sunlight Rock Temple

Typical Gothic architecture. In 1912, after Spanish Catholic priest Ma Shouren became the bishop of Xiamen Diocese, he moved the church to the Spanish Consulate. In 1917, an existing Catholic church was built on the west side of the consulate.

20. Xiehe Chapel

In 1934, the three churches of Xiamen Port, Xinjie and Zhushujiao were built together to facilitate the increasing number of believers on the island. A church. It is named "Trinity Church", which not only symbolizes the original construction of the three churches, but also symbolizes the Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

21. Catholic Church

In 1906, American Christian pastor B.L. Anderson came to Gulangyu to preach and run a school. After that, he bought a mountain on Jishan Road and built a three-story stone school building in 1934 as the school's girls' department. To commemorate his achievements, this building is also called "Anxian Tower".

From 2010 to 1010, the cemeteries were concentrated around Anxian Tower, roughly distributed in a triangle. The tombs are mainly from the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, and the owners of the tombs are mainly Chinese Christians who lived on Gulangyu Island. The shape of the tomb reflects the history of the localization of Christianity.

22. Trinity Hall

In 1893, the United States built the Consulate in Xiamen at the current site.

The original building was destroyed by a fire in 1904, and the existing consulate building was rebuilt in 1930. All the red bricks used are imported from the United States, with a strong color of American classical Renaissance architecture.

23. Anxian Building

In 1921, Indonesian overseas Chinese Huang initiated the founding of Zhongnan Bank, with its head office in Shanghai. Xiamen Branch was established in 1922. Zhongnan Bank issued banknotes in the year it was founded. The current location is Zhongnan Bank's office in Gulangyu Island.

24. Christian Cemetery

In 1843, when Xiamen opened as a port, the British first sent a consul to Gulangyu Island. In the 1860s, a consulate was officially established on Gulangyu Island. The consulate is a three-story red brick building with a square shape and rigorous structure. It is a representative of the early colonial architectural style of Gulangyu Island. Now, the building was rebuilt on the original site in the late 1990s.

25. The former site of the U.S. Consulate

The official residence of the First Consul on Gulangyu Island. When Xiamen opened as a port in 1843, Britain took the lead in sending a consul. First, he rented a private house on Gulangyu Island, and then bought the villa from a British businessman as the official residence of the consul.

26. Former Site of China South Bank

In 1847, the American Reformed Church opened a "girls' school" in Xiamen. After the girls' school caught fire, it was moved to Tianwei, Gulangyu Island, and was called "Tianwei Girls' School" or "Citigroup Girls' School". In 1921, it was developed into a middle school and renamed "Yude". The school's first principal was an American girl named E.M.Taimage.

27. The former site of the British Consulate

It was built in 1918 and bought by Overseas Chinese Huang in 1926. This was once the apartment of the Danish Great Northern Telegraph Company. This is a French-style building with excellent sea views.

29. The former site of the British Consulate

It is the favorite beach of old Xiamen and old Gulangyu people. This beach has excellent water quality and soft gravel, suitable for swimming. It is also the location of the legendary "Gulangyu Island".