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AmoyMagic--Guide to Xiamen & Fujian
Copyright 2001-7 by Sue Brown & Dr. Bill Order Books Xiamenguide Forum
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"Discover Gulangyu"
Gulangyu Links Poems by Gulangyu foreigner, 1904
"Free Guided Tour Routes"  Suggested Tours
Gulangyu Intro excerpts     
Koxinga" excerpts  Chinese Version
"Frederic Coyett--Taiwan'sDutch Governor"
"Gulangyu's Pioneer Educators" excerpts
"Gulangyu's Pioneer Medicine" excerpts 
"Isle of Arts, Music and Literature" excerpts
Gulangyu Colonial Architeture
Gulangyu Postcards! by Mr. Bai Hua
Lily Wang's Gulangyu Photos

Overview of Gulangyu

International Settlement It won't take you long to understand why Laowai chose this tiny island for their International Settlement. And even today Gulangyu possesses one asset almost unheard of elsewhere in China: quiet! Vehicles and bicycles are forbidden on the tiny island. (In fact, Gulangyu has not had cars for centuries!).

The one sound you will hear on Gulangyu is pianos. This tiny community of 20,000 has more pianos per capita than anywhere else on the planet -hence Gulangyu's nickname "Piano Isle."

Preachers & Pianos Early on, Protestants started several churches on Amoy and Gulangyu Islands--including China's 1st Protestant Church. (in 1848). David Abeel, Elihu Doty, Rev. William Pohlman, William Burns, J. Macgowan, Rev. John Van Nest Talmage--the list of well known missionaries and mission doctors (like Sir Patrick Manson, Father of Tropical Medicine) in Amoy is endless.

Catholics were busy too. The Vicariate Apostolic of Amoy (created in 1883 under the Dominicans) oversaw 11 European and 8 Chinese priests, 32 churches or chapels, 3 orphanages, and 13 schools (and included Taiwan in its domain). The piano played an integral part in all religious services-and Gulangyu folk have been hooked on them ever since.

It is no surprise that an inordinate number of famous pianists have come from tiny Gulangyu island. Gulangyu has more pianos per capita than any other city in China (perhaps even in the world)-over 350 pianos, or one in every five homes.

Virtually every evening some family is holding a recital for their budding pianist, and many go on to study in the Amoy Music Academy, and from there to play in London, New York, Paris-or the local churches from whence the pianos came in the first place.

Savor Gulangyu's silence (punctuated by a few hundred preschoolers practicing scales or "Chopsticks"), then a glimpse of the magnificent harbor and skyline by climbing Gulangyu's Sunlight Rock. (You'll really wish you had 'stolen' that glimpse when you fork out 40 Yuan for the entrance ticket).

Descend Sunlight Rock's sweaty heights and cool off by windsurfing in the harbor, or taking a bumpy speedboat tour around the island. Then visit Dragon Hill, Hoisting Flag Hill, or the many parks and gardens where Chinese colleagues eagerly point out the ancient engraved inscriptions that immortalize every rock and boulder (for after 5,012 years, Chinese have analyzed and written poems about every mountain, rock, river and lake in China).

If you have a couple of hours, take a leisurely walk on Gulangyu's paved, 4 kilometer ring road. Savor the beach on one side and the eclectic architecture on the other-bungalows built in English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish and Chinese styles. You can even walk on water on the Nine-Bend Forty-Four Bridge, which snakes across the water at Shuzhuang (Bean Plantation) Garden. Shuzhuang Garden was built by a Taiwanese businessman who moved here with his family during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895.

If two-hour hikes aren't your cup of coffee, you do have alternatives. You can be hauled around on a bamboo litter by bearers wearing unique numbered uniforms, just like the Good Ole Days when their ancestors hauled our forebears to public parks and private clubs that even in Xiamen bore signs, "No Chinese or Dogs Allowed."

At least nowadays the litter bearers are well paid for their services. And they give camera--loving Laowai some good photo opportunities.

If bamboo litters aren't your style either, take a boat. The 8 kilometer cruise around Gulangyu offers tantalizing glimpses of Monkey Isle, Baozhuyu (Pearl) Isle, and Huoshaoyu Isle (or 'Burning Isle," because it is an extinct volcano).

Many cities in China have put out glossy tourist brochures with such boasts as "1,043 Scenic Sights famous at both home and abroad." (Quanzhou City, to our north, boasts over 2,000!). But with Gulangyu, it's no brag, just fact. Gulangyu has dozens of sites worth a looksee, like The Overseas Chinese Garden for the Introduction of Subtropical Plants, which has over 1,000 species of plants, one experimental horticulture nursery, and a refrigerated room. You might also enjoy touring some of the 1,000+ Western style buildings put up by Laowai during the heydey of the opium trade. 

For more, please read "Discover Gulangyu."

Gulangyu Tourist Center Suggested Tour Routes

Free Guided Tour Routes (The Tour Center gives free tours!)
Route A (About 1.5-hours): Ferry Terminal, Visitor Center, Former British Consulate, Former Japanese Consulate, Catholic Church, No.44 Villa, Huang Rongyuan Villa, Haitian Tangguo (Sea & Sky Mansion), Music School, Ma Yuehan Statue, Main Gate of Sunlight Rock

Route B (About 3-hours; visitor admission tickets required): Ferry Terminal, Visitor Center, Former British Consulate, Former Japanese Consulate, Catholic Church, No.44 Villa, Huang Rongyuan Villa, Haitian Tangguo (Sea & Sky Mansion), Music School, Ma Yuehan Statue, Main Gate of Sunlight Rock, Gulang Dongtian, Sunlight Rock Temple, “Coolness in Summer,” Ancient Fort Gate, Ancient Summer Resort Cave, Ancient Command Platform, Zheng Chenggong Memorial Hall, Summit of Sunlight Rock, Hero Hill (Tingtao Bluff, Hero Garden, Gulangyu Aviary), Koxinga’s Well, Shuzhuang Garden (Calligraphic Carving Museum, Twelve Rockery Caves, 44-turn Bridge, Piano Museum, Restored Ancient Relics Museum), Dagong Well, Longtou Road Shopping Street, Ferry Terminal

Route C (About 4-hours; visitors’ admission tickets required): Ferry Terminal, Visitor Center, Former British Consulate, Former Japanese Consulate, Catholic Church, No.44 Villa, Huang Rongyuan Villa, Haitian Tangguo (Sea & Sky Mansion), Music School, Ma Yuehan Statue, Main Gate of Sunlight Rock (Gulang Dong Tian, Sunlight Rock Temple, “Coolness in Summer,” Ancient Fort Gate, Ancient Summer Resort Cave, Ancient Command Platform, Zheng Chenggong Memorial Hall, Summit of Sunlight Rock), Hero Hill (Tingtao Bluff, Hero Garden, Gulangyu Aviary), Koxinga’s Well, Shuzhuang Garden (Calligraphic Carving Museum, Twelve Rockery Caves, 44-turn Bridge, Piano Museum, Restored Ancient Relics Museum

Suggested Self-guided Tour Routes

Route A Special Historical Tour (about 4-hours): Ferry Terminal, Visitor Center, Quanzhou Road, Hero Hill, Gulang Rock, Kangtai'an, Zhugonghe, Jiu’anhe, Zhongdegong, Bishan Cave, Former Joint Court, Former Municipal Council, Trinity Church, Yongchun Road, Sports Ground, Longtou Road Shopping Street, Ferry Terminal

Route B Special Geological Exploration Tour, including Springs and Ancient Wells: (about 6-hours): Ferry Terminal, Visitor Center, Fuding Ancient Well, Fuding Rock, Sword Rock, Yindou Rock, Shuzhuang Garden, Koxinga’s Well, Ancient Summer Resort Cave, Sunlight Rock, Jimu Hill, Quanzhou Road, Zhonghua Road, Dagong Well, Longtou Road Shopping Street, Ferry Terminal

Route C Special Stone Inscription Tour (about 5.5-hours): Ferry Terminal, Visitor Center, Haoyue Park, Shuzhuang Garden, Sunlight Rock, Longtou Road Shopping Street, Ferry Terminal

Route D Special Historic Architecture Tour (about 4.5-hours): Ferry Terminal, Visitor Center, Catholic Church, Former British Consulate, Former Japanese Consulate, Octagonal Building, Huang Rongyuan Villa, No.44 Villa, Haitian Tangguo (Sea & Sky Mansion), Longtou Road, Quanzhou Road, Jingua Building, Trinity Church, Former Municipal Council, Former Joint Court, Yizu Villa, Guancai Building, Chunchao House, Fanpo (Foreign Woman) Villa, Yang Family Villa, Octagonal Dome Building, Former HSBC Mansion, Former U.S. Consulate, Sanqiutian Ferry, Electric Sightseeing Car Tour to Gangzihou Beach, Longtou Road Shopping Street, Ferry Terminal

Route E Special Music Culture Tour (about 4.5-hours): Ferry Terminal, Visitor Center, Music School, Concert Hall, Piano Museum, Gangzihou Beach, Electric Sightseeing Car Tour to Sanqiutian Ferry, Pipe Organ Museum (Octagonal Dome Building). Longtou Road Shopping Street, Ferry Terminal

Route F Historical Sites Tour (about 4 hours): Ferry Terminal, Visitor Center, Former Japanese Consulate (including the prison in which Chinese patriots were incarcerated during the war of Resistance Against Japan), Sunlight Rock (Zheng Chenggong Memorial Hall),, Hero Hill, Carefree Villa (Former CPC Underground Party Organization's Secret Meeting Place), Koxinga’s Well, Shuzhuang Garden (Patriotic Overseas Chinese Lin Er-jia), Yu Garden (Dr. Lin Qiaozhi Memorial Hall), Haoyue Park (Zheng Chenggong Memorial Garden), Hu Xiang (Former CPC Organization of Fujian Province), Longtou Road Shopping Street, Overnight stay on Gulangyu, Ferry Terminal

“A good traveler is one who does not know where he is going to, and a perfect traveler does not know where he came from.” Lin Yutang

Other Fascinating Fujian Destinations!
Mythical Zaytun (Quanzhou) Start of the Maritime Silk Road!
Quanzhou Marionettes
Fujian's Marvelous Wooden Bridges!
Zhangzhou Ancient City of Flowers
Hakka Roundhouses Unique earthen castles
Ningde Birthplaces of S. China Civilization?
Water World (Sandu'ao) Fishing Villages Upon the Sea!
Xiapu Rafting, Kukai's Temple (Japanese), Seafood, deng deng!
Zhouning (my favorite!) Zhouning Thumbnails Delightful place--China's largest waterfalls complex, Kungfu fighting highlanders, carp worshippers...
Wuyi Mountain Amazing historical, cultural and natural attractions

TRAVEL LINKS Favorite Fujian Sites Fujian Foto Album Xiamen Gulangyu Fujian Guides Quanzhou Zhangzhou Longyan Wuyi Mtn Ningde Putian Sanming Zhouning Taimu Mtn. Roundhouses Bridges Jiangxi Guilin Order Books Readers' Letters

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