Historic site · FUJIAN · UNESCO
Gulangyu Island
鼓浪屿 · Gǔlàngyǔ
About
UNESCO-listed car-free island off Xiamen, with around 1,000 European-style colonial-era villas. Walkable, music-school heritage, beaches.
Gulangyu (1.88 km²) sits across a narrow channel from Xiamen Island. From 1842 (after the First Opium War) until 1949 it was a foreign settlement; over a thousand European-, Japanese- and Chinese-blended villas accumulated, plus churches, gardens and a famous music academy that gave the island the nickname 'island of pianos'. UNESCO-listed since 2017. Cars and motorcycles are banned; visitors walk or take electric carts. Popular as an overnight stay in restored villa hotels. Reached by 5-minute ferry from Xiamen Lujiang Pier or Songyu Pier.
How to get there
Ferry from Xiamen International Cruise Terminal (Songyu) — visitors must use this terminal, not the Lujiang one which is locals-only.
When to visit
October–April. Avoid summer typhoons.
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