Gulangyu, a Beautiful Place and a part of History in China's Colonial's Past

The island of Gulangyu is located southwest of Xiamen City in southern part of China. I learned about this island from a travel documnetary and wanted to visit this island while we were visiting China. We took the fast train from Guangzhou to Xiamen, and from there we took a ferry to Gulangyu.

We were greeted by beautiful garden and the fragnant smell of flower blossoms as soon we alighted from the ferry. In order to learn more about the history of this lovely island, we hired an official tour guide who accompanied us for our tour.

Gulangyu is special as it is a pedestrain only island as vehicles are not allowed except for some emergency vehicles. Therefore we did see people transporting household items such as furniture, fruit and vegetables being transported on handcarts.

There are many interesting things to see on this pictureque island, such as beautifully landscaped Chinese gardens, concert hall, museums. a tunnel, a sandy beach crowded with families, lots of open green space with numerous street musicians entertaining visitors to thIS park like place.

Gulangyu is sometimes referred to as “Piano Island”. With only 20,000 people on this tiny island, there are a staggering 5,000 pianos, that’s one piano for every four people! We visited the Piano Museum and enjoyed a free piano performance by a pianist.

One unique thng about Gulangyu is its colonial architecture instead of traditional Chinese buildings on the island and the number of Christian churches. This can be explained by Gulangyu’s history.

As a result of the Treaty of Nanking made after the First Opium War (1839–1842), Gulangyu Island was designated as an international foreign settlement in 1903. This allowed members of the 13 partner countries to settle, build houses, start their own businesses, and control the administration of the island.

"During this time many colonial-style mansions, churches, and hospitals were established throughout the island and are some of the only buildings of their kind throughout China. Along with the unusual style of architecture, newcomers to the island also brought with them their love of Western instruments and many of their competitive sports."

Gulangyu is a marvelous place to visit and we were glad that we got to visit this awesome place in China. We highly recommend it to future travellers visiting China. If you are close enough to be around Gulangyu, don't miss this fantastic place! RT, Gulangyu, China 022024