Sunlight Rock (Ri Guang Yan 日光岩)

Kulangsu (Gulangyu)’s top tourist attraction and highlight, lording over the beautiful island. From atop Sunlight Rock, you can see the entire coastline and hilly landscape of the island as well as sweeping views of downtown Xiamen–and, on a clear day, even Taiwan’s Jinmen Island. An inexpensive ticket gets you into the park, where you can […]

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 […]

X-Readspace (Xiao Xue Tang Chong Dong Shu Dian 晓学堂虫洞书店)

The Chinese name of this masterfully renovated two-story brick mansion, adjacent to Hai Tian Tang Gou Mansion, literally translates to “Worm Hole Bookstore.” But this business is hardly just a bookstore: the core belief of the founders is that globally disparate civilizations can interact with each other across time & space…beginning right here. The Worm Hole Bookstore claims inspiration […]

Long Tou Public Food Market (Long Tou Cai Shi Chang 龙头菜市场)

This colorful food bazaar, which takes up a town block, is bursting with energy and speed. It’s paradise for the home cook who has a fetish for the kind of traditional local produce, dairy, meat, and fish you can only get at a farmer’s market like this. Group tourists rarely wander through this market, but for the […]