A trip to Xiamen isn't complete without a visit to Gulang Island (Gulangyu). :D
Gulang Island, which translates literally to "Drum Wave Island", got its name from the drum-like sound produced when the waves from the sea hit a rock at the seaside. (The rock is named Gulang Rock therefore.) It is an offshore island located just off the southwest of Xiamen, and you gotta take a ferry to reach there. Gulang Island is also nicknamed "The Piano Island", as many musicians were/are from there and the island has the highest concentration of pianos in China. There are also many architectures with different style, due to the historical factors. And these buildings have been preserved, adding charm to this beautiful (albeit touristy) little island.
All right. I shall not bore you with all these things which you can find on search engines. I shall jump straight into my day at Gulang Island!
It was another warm and sunny day. And this time, it wasn't as windy as the day before at the beach. There are many cute cafes, small (also really cute) eateries, and even cuter gift shops selling accessories, plushies, etc. My cousin and I spent the day just wandering around, eating so much food, and taking way too many photos. (Just a warning, this post contains more than 80 photos xD)
Milk tea! With popcorns placed in a tray on top of the milk tea bottle. This is really creative. And both the milk tea and the popcorn taste really good.
Candy shop! You get to choose a container of your choice and fill it up with candies.
A really cute cafe.
The display outside a gift shop!
You can pen down your thoughts or wishes on the post-its and paste on the wall. Alternative, you can write a postcard there and they'll post it for you. I think. (Pictured below)
Bought this checked skirt and jumper ages ago and finally I had the chance to wear them #IWasVeryHappy
I have a thing for red bricks.
All the colourful buildings (!!!)
I have a thing for alleyways too.
More red bricks!!!
Oh, how I wish I lived there.
As much as I don't like cats (sorry), this furball was just curled up there and enjoying the afternoon sun. Too cute to not take a photo. (It didn't want to look at me though.)
There's never such thing as too much for red bricks.
Sunlight Rock! (Ri Guang Yan) It is the highest point in Gulang Island. Look at all the people up there!
We decided to get tickets to visit Shu Zhuang Garden (Shu Zhuang Hua Yuan), as the famed Piano Museum is located inside it. The tickets also double up as postcards, which I thought is pretty cool. Like, you can save the money of buying postcards. :D From inside the Garden, you get the "iconic postcard" view of Gulang Island (pictured below). The place is reallyyyyy big. I am so envious of the people who used to live there. The are 2 galleries to the Piano Museum. Unfortunately, the main one was under renovation. The other gallery has an amazing exterior, and the piano collection is exquisite. Sadly, no photography is allowed. There are so many amazing piano, some really aged, some with unique and unusual designs. There is this piano where the keyboard is split into 2 sections, each perpendicular to the other one. Like, how do you even play that? :O Sigh, if only I could play on one of those pianos...
Iconic postcard-ish view.
iPhone panorama!
The Piano Museum!
This looks like the perfect house to live in zomg.
The view from inside the gallery. Now you know why I said it's the perfect house to live in.
Another shot of Sunlight Rock!
After walking around Shu Zhuang Garden, we decided to grab some food, then head to the must-visit Sunlight Rock. On the way to Sunlight Rock, we saw some people playing football at a field. (Yay for the beautiful game). And, the golden hour that day was so, so amazing. The golden hour and sunset in Xiamen were so amazing for the 2 days I was there.
Cute dog which I couldn't get a proper shot of...
Sweet potato? Potato? With pineapple, broccoli and cucumber. It was yummy.
Some fried potato thingy which was yummy too.
Look at that lightttt.
Juice in a milk bottle? Pretty interesting.
Fishballs!
Golden hour! Asdfghjkl.
That lighttttt.
And it was all (yellow) golden.
This photo isn't sharp SIGH.
When we reached the foot of Sunlight Rock, the sun had begun to set. I was really hoping to catch the sunset on the summit, and hence we hurried up the rock/mountain/hill. That's when I realised how out of shape I was/am. It wasn't even 100m above ground (92.7m to be exact), but I was panting so heavily. Anyway, when we finally made it to the summit, we were greeted by the breathtaking panoramic view of Gulang Island bathing in gorgeous golden light, and the skyscrapers of Xiamen.
The sea. The sky. The buildings. I am so in love.
Xiamen in the background!
Some people taking selfies, and I took a photo of them :)
iPhone panorama!
It was really windy hence...Tumblr shot! Kinda...?
Eeeeekkk.
We didn't actually stay on the summit for the entire sunset. However, as we were descending the hill, we caught the sun going down the horizon. It was so beautiful. The sky got dark really quickly afterwards. We had dinner, which was Sha Cha Noodles, a speciality in Xiamen. As we walked to the jetty for the return ferry, the lights from the buildings in Xiamen were so pretty so I had to take photos.
Dinner!
City lights + water = prettiest things
It was really windy and hence I was almost bundled up like a dumpling.
And that's the end of this post! Gulang Island is such a charming and beautiful place, and I thoroughly enjoyed my day exploring the place. :)
Elsa
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