Gulangyu island is to the southwest of Xiamen island. In chinese, Gulang means the roar of the waves breaks on the rocks and Yu means island. In other words, Gulangyu is the ideal place to “kill” your time during China Tours. If you want to make your china travel more interesting, a self-service travel in Gulangyu, Xiamen may be your best choice.
Gulangyu covers an area of 1.78 square kilometers, but it is a small island with a lot of unforgettble sceneries.
1. 
The sunlight rock
The sunlight rock is the island’s highest point with an altitude of 92.7 meters (304 feet). So you can get a bird’s eye view of the whole of Xiamen City. It gets its name for the reason that when sun rises in the morning, the granite in the sunlight temple are illuminated and the rocks are bathed with sunlight. When spring comes, the rock will be filled with hundred kins of flowers. During the time of summer, it is a cool place with gentle sea breeze.
2. A piano island
Gulangyu has many nicknames related to music, such is “Piano Island” and “Music Island”. It is because more than 50% families in Gulangyu won a piano. When the shade of evening began to closed round, sweet music comes out from families in streets and lanes.
Considering people’s enthusiasm for music and piano, there is no doubt that Gulangyu owns the nation’s lagest piano museum. The piano museum is inside a beautiful garden named “Shuzhuang Garden”. It has two exhibition halls. One for the history of the instrument for display, and the other shows different kinds of pianos: miniature pianos, automatic pianos, accordion pianos and round-shaped pianos etc. Pianos in this museum show us the unique music culture which combines both modern and classic connotations.
3. 
The world architecture museum
In 1902, Gulangyu island became a concession, so many countries set up consulates and built villas on this island. Most of the architectures are carefully preserved. As a result, it has a new name ”the word architecture museum”.
When you walk on the island ring road, you wil come across many impressive architectures.
Ship Villa. The ship villa a simple building shaped like a cabin on an ocean vessel.It is located at No.48, Guxin Road. If you viewed from its upper floor, it looks like an ocean vessel which is ready to set for a voyage.
Octagonal Villa. This villa is located at No.15, luojiao Road in Gulangyu. It is inside the Shuzhuang Garden with French style.
Golden Melon Villa. It is at No.99, Quanzhou Road, it combines western style with chinese elements, such as flower, bird and plant embossment.
Besides these, there are many other special buildings in this island （Eight Diagrams House， Golden melon villa， foreign lady villa， Lin house and so on.）They will surely give you a sepecial experience.
Tips:
- The price for sceneries: you are encourage to buy 80 yuan package for: Sunglight Rock，Shuzhuang Garden，Bright Moon Garden，Organ Museum，International Lettering Art Gallery.
- Most of the museums on Gulangyu close at 5 o’clock pm, so pay attention to your time skedule.
- Gifts or souvenirs: the Gulangyu pie is your best choice. Some snacks like Sea-fried oyster, sea and deep-fried oyster and paste noodles also worth a try.
- There are no cars in Gulangyu island, you can travel on foot or by battery car.
- There is a tourist information center near the ferry terminal, you can get some free information about each scenic spots on the island.
Take China Flitgts and start a life of elegant ease in Gulangyu.
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