Gulangyu Island: Shot To Be a Feast

Gulangyu, separated from Xiamen by the 500-metre-wide Egret River with an area of 1.77 square kilometres enjoys a laudatory title "Garden on the Sea” The original name of the islet was Yuan Zhou Zi In the Ming Dynasty it was renamed Gulang, meaning ''drum waves", because the holes in the southwestern reefs hit by the waves make sounds like the drum beating. Gulangyu Island is born to be a fairy tale.

The best way to see this small island is on foot It’s also almost the only way Cars and bicycles are forbidden on the island with exception of electric-powered tour vehicles, fire trucks and police vehicles Freight is moved by simple hand carts, requiring 2 people to push when navigating the undulating topography

However, those feeling more adventurous can plunge into the narrow streets that crisscross the island. Maps are available but not really necessary as the island is so small that it’s difficult to become truly lost The paved, 4km ring road offers views of the beaches on one side and Western-style bungalows with their flowers, pavilions and terraces on the other.

Wandering around the island tourists encounter one charming site after another picturesque hidden gates, modern garden mazes, abandoned villas covered with creeping vines gardens with bamboo and banyans For those who have tired of taking photos, a trip to the market offers fresh fruit, carvings, pearls or clothing as souvenirs of the visit.

Gulangyu also is known as Garden on the Sea because of the many gardens that decorate the island. At the south end is Shuzhuang Garden Designed to exist in harmony with the rolling topography, it was built as part of a private villa by a Taiwanese businessman who moved to the region with his family during the Sino-Japanese War of It became a garden park open to the public in 1955 and is home to the Piano Museum.

Sunlight Rock (Riguang-yan) is the island’s highest point and offers a cool respite from summertime heat From there the tiled roofs of the town and a panoramic view of Xiamen can be seen on one side and the ocean on the other At the base of Sunlight Rock is a hall built to memorialize Zheng Chenggong a pirate hero and champion of the Ming cause who drove the Dutch from Taiwan in 1661.

Such an island to be memorized Such a feast of shot