Pianist Yin Chengzong’s house (Yin Cheng Zong Zhai 殷承宗宅)

Kulangsu’s most famous pianist, Yin Chengzong, still owns and periodically visits this hilltop house. It is one of the island’s most beautiful private homes, now inhabited by the pianist’s brother, Yin Chengdian, who is a first-rate musician in his own right and the former dean of the Xiamen Music School. In 1924, Yin’s father bought the […]

Hai Tian Tang Gou Mansion (海天堂构)

Hai Tian Tang Gou Mansion was built by Philippine Chinese Huang Xiuliang and Huang Nianyi between 1920 and 1930. The mansion is a complex of five villas in symmetrical styles laid out on both sides of the Middle Villa, which is the complex’ central axis. The mansion is regarded as a perfect marriage of eastern and western […]

Yanwei Hill Time Cannon (Yan Wei Shan Sheng Tai Gong Yuan 燕尾山生态公园)

The Yanwei Hill Time Cannon Emplacement was set up by Xiamen Customs toward the end of the nineteenth century. The cannon used to fire once at twelve noon every Saturday so customs officers and passing vessels could synchronize their timepieces. The time cannon adopted the standard time in accordance with the clock on the Xiamen […]

Former Kulangsu Mixed Court (Hui Shen Gong Tang 会审公堂)

The Gulangyu Mixed Court, designed in was built by the English Presbyterian Mission in early Modernist style after permanently leased this parcel of land in 1915. After being sold twice, this building became the residence of the “Sugar King of Java,” the Indonesian born Xiamenese Huang Zhonghan. The Kulangsu Mixed Court rented this building as […]