鼓浪屿 Gulangyu

Xiamen is known for being a tourist city, its main sights being Gulangyu, Nanputuo Temple and Xiamen University's main campus (not the one I'm on). I was lucky enough to visit all of these places when I was here in March but have already been to them all again.

The weekend before last, Alex and I decided to go to Gulangyu for the afternoon as a change from normal weekends spent going out at night and recovering the next day! Gulangyu is a small island off the main Xiamen island. It is famous for there being no cars, colonial architecture and lots of pianos! It can be reached by ferry from Xiamen which is how we got there but once there the only vehicles are electric tourist buggies and emergency services, even bicycles are banned! Xiamen became a treaty port when China lost the First Opium war so 13 countries set up consulates on Gulangyu as well as churches and other buildings or built in a colonial style. The architecture makes the island very popular with Chinese tourists who often do not leave the country, as it is a chance for them to see something foreign. The foreigners also brought pianos and organs with them giving the island nicknames "music island" and "piano island". Gulangyu has both a piano and an organ museum adding to its list of attractions.

Getting there and back: The best and easiest way to get to Gulangyu is by ferry. We accidentally went to the wrong bus stop so got the ferry there from 第一码头 (number 1 pier) for 8元 (about 80p) but most people go from 厦门轮渡广场 (Lundu Ferry Square) at a cost of 4元. We went that way back to Xiamen island. Although we paid more from 第一码头, it did mean that the boat wasn't as crowded with tourists as the other one. The extra price was because it's a longer crossing. We decided both times to sit upstairs and pay an extra 1元 to get a better view.

Leaving 第一码头

Gulangyu ferry

Arriving at Gulangyu

Seats on the upper deck of the ferry

The "holding area" where people have to wait before being allowed onto the boat

Once we got there, we wandered along the coastal path as there didn't seem to be that much in the area around the ferry pier we'd arrived at. We could see the main Xiamen island as we walked past the beach to get to the busier part of the island. After a while we decided to go further into the centre and wander around the little streets. It seemed that everywhere we went we saw couples having their wedding photos taken in front of seemingly meaningless things to us like walls and gates, but I suppose as it's foreign architecture it's seen as attractive to the Chinese. I'd seen this before when I went in March but at least then they were posing in front of churches and on the beach, this time there were more couples who just seemed to be choosing any spot they could get!

View of Xiamen island from one of Gulangyu's beaches

Lots of steps to get up the hill!

Couples getting their pictures taken in March, I didn't get any photos of them this time.

Alex's room mate on the main campus had recommended we go up Sunlight Rock, the highest point on the island, to see the view and I hadn't been there when I'd gone before so we decided we'd go up for a look. It normally costs 60元 (about £6) to go up there but it was half price for us as we got student tickets. It seems that this only works for students studying in China though as when I enquired about it they asked if we had Chinese student ID. The area covered by the ticket price also included a statue of the moon cake gambling game, a canon, statues of horses and a Chinese man (not sure who he was supposed to be) and Gulangyu temple. The board next to the moon cake gambling sculpture was interesting as it explained the rules and history of the game, I didn't know that it was only a tradition in this part of China! The temple seemed like a smaller version of Nanputuo Temple on Xiamen island but was still impressive, particularly for Alex as he'd never visited a temple before.

Me playing the moon cake gambling game

Gulangyu temple

Gulangyu temple

We climbed the steps up to the rock and knew that Alex's room mate had been right, the view was definitely worth it! Unfortunately we got there just as it was going dark so not great for photos but we could see the whole of Gulangyu as well as part of Xiamen island and the bridge across to Jimei. 

Xiamen island in the distance

Alex and I at the top of the rock

Bridge to Jimei (mainland) in the top left corner

After our descent from the rock we meandered around the streets past the shops, restaurants and bars in the general direction of the ferry. There seemed to be lots of fresh fish available with restaurants allowing you to choose what you wanted to eat while it was still alive (as fresh as possible!) and an outdoor fish/seafood market. There were lots of people giving it quite a lively atmosphere. This was a side to Gulangyu which I hadn't seen on my previous trip as we'd gone on a tour during the day time, sticking to a strict schedule. I think it might be worth staying the night on the island just to explore the streets some more. Maybe another time. By the time we reached the ferry we were tired from walking around all afternoon but I'm sure we'll be back there at some point!

Choosing their dinner

Streets at night

Fish market

The crabs are still alive, they're tied up so that they don't pinch!

万圣节在厦门 Halloween in Xiamen

I never really expected to be doing much for Halloween this year considering I'm in China and it's more of a Western (American) tradition. However, What's On Xiamen hosted a series of Halloween parties for the 老外 (foreigners) to enjoy and for the Chinese to experience some of Western culture and take lots of photos! 

The first party was actually a week before 万圣节 (Halloween) on the 25th October. As it was so early I was completely unprepared with getting a costume and despite finding some cheap ones on 淘宝 (China's answer to eBay/Amazon), it was too late for us to order them so that they would arrive on time for the party. A Chinese friend, Joseph, had told me that a friend of his knew of a shop selling costumes near the main shopping street 中山路 so the day before the party, I went in search of costumes with a few others with no success. We didn't manage to find the shop that a friend of a friend had recommended and ended up trawling round shopping centres where there were Halloween decorations but no costumes before ending up in 沃尔玛 (Walmart) where they did have some Halloween accessories and children's costumes but nothing too inspiring. The next day, on a mission by now and thinking we'd have to resort to swapping clothes and going as each other, Alex (my boyfriend) and I went on a far more successful costume search. This time we went to SM, a huge shopping centre in the middle of the island, where they had a temporary Halloween shop set up that actually sold adult costumes.

The party took place at 海湾公园 (Haiwan Park). There was a stage and a few stalls for drinks etc. in the middle of the park meaning that it was quite cold considering that it's autumn here now. There were plenty of other people in costumes meaning that we didn't feel too out of place and we spent the evening chatting to different people. There were three costume competitions and we were slightly disappointed to have missed the funniest costume category as our costumes (particularly Alex's) received a lot of attention! Once the outside party ended, we went to one of the bars in the park for a bit before calling it a night. The next day we'd been invited to go to a new resort an hour away from Xiamen so we needed our sleep.

Pre-drinks at our friends' apartment - Esmerelda and Youku (Chinese YouTube)

Bumblebee and Herculina

Bumblebee, Elephant and Pocahontas

Cute Chinese lady selling roses at the park

Scariest costume competition

The next party was on the night of actual Halloween. This time it started at the, already mentioned, SM shopping centre before moving onto a nightclub by the park called Royal KK. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera with me so here's a link to some photos from the SM costume party. This event was different from the previous one as it was more focused around the costume competition with a catwalk where competitors had to perform a short routine in the character of their costume. It was quite entertaining to watch and the winner of the contest won a 4-day luxury cruise worth about £900! What's On Xiamen had plenty of free drinks coupons to hand out once we were at the club so a good night was had by all.