Xiamen is a coastal city in Fujian province, built on an island and facing Taiwan's Kinmen across the strait. Spend a day and a night on car-free Gulangyu, see Nanputuo Temple and Xiamen University next door, ride the coast road to Hulishan Fortress and eat along Zhongshan Road. Give it three or four days, one of them for the Fujian tulou.
Xiamen is an island city on China's south-east coast, the old treaty port the West called Amoy. Its draw is a car-free island of colonial villas, a temple and campus side by side, and a seafront road that circles half the island. Eat on the street and keep a day for the tulou.
Kulangsu, a short ferry ride off the city, became a UNESCO site in 2017 for the consulates, churches and villas built after Xiamen opened as a treaty port. There are no cars on its lanes. Sleep over: the island is a different place once the last day-trippers leave.
The highest point on Gulangyu, a granite crown about 93 metres above the sea, with the island's red roofs below and the city skyline across the channel. It is the best orientation on the island, and the busiest spot by midmorning.
Xiamen's main Buddhist temple, dedicated to Guanyin, its halls stepping up the slope beside Xiamen University. The current buildings are largely modern rebuilds of a much older foundation. Entry is free, but a WeChat reservation may be required.
Founded in 1921 by the overseas Chinese merchant Tan Kah Kee, the campus pairs Western building bodies with sweeping Chinese roofs around a lake. It is one of China's most visited universities, and visits run on a booking system.
A Taiwanese merchant family's seaside garden of 1913, with a zigzag bridge over the water and rockeries borrowed from classical Suzhou design. The piano museum in its grounds explains why Gulangyu calls itself the island of music.
The seafront road wraps the island's south and east shore, with a bike path beside it past beaches, sculptures and views to Kinmen. It is the route of the Xiamen Marathon. Ride it east from Baicheng Beach in the late afternoon.
A Qing coastal battery of the 1890s on a headland over the strait, built to guard Xiamen's harbour. Its German Krupp gun, one of the largest 19th-century coastal guns to survive, still points out to sea. Kinmen is in view on a clear day.
The old town's pedestrian spine, lined with 1920s arcaded shophouses that run to the Lujiang waterfront. Order peanut soup at Huang Zehe, then shacha noodles in the side lanes. The street is a show; the food is in the alleys off it.
The round and square earthen houses of the Hakka and Minnan, some built to hold whole clans, are a UNESCO site since 2008. Tianluokeng, about 150 km west, is the famous cluster: four round houses around a square one, best seen from the ridge above.
Across the causeway on the mainland, Tan Kah Kee funded a whole town of schools with flared-roof buildings around a dragon boat pond. Aoyuan, the seaside garden he designed, holds his tomb and a granite wall of carved history.
Palace Museum pieces from abroad, shown in a former hospital.
A World Athletics label race along the coast road, held in early January.
Chinese New Year, on the lunar calendar. Gulangyu ferries and trains sell out.
Tomb-sweeping day, when Xiamen families roll popiah at home.
Boat races and zongzi on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month.
The big investment fair opens on 8 September. Hotel prices climb that week.
Families roll six dice in a bowl for mooncake prizes, Xiamen's own Mid-Autumn game.
The 1 to 7 October national holiday. Book the Gulangyu ferry well ahead.
China's top film awards, held in Xiamen with a week of screenings.
On the north of the island, about 30 minutes by taxi from the old town. The new Xiang'an airport is due to open by the end of 2026, so check which one your flight uses.
Most fast trains use Xiamen North in Jimei, on Metro Line 1; some stop at Xiamen station on the island. Book on 12306 with your passport.
Lines 1 to 3 cross the island and the mainland; Lines 4 and 6 began trial service in September 2026. Elevated BRT buses fill the gaps.
Visitors sail from the Dongdu International Cruise Center to Sanqiutian or Neicuo'ao, about 20 minutes. Book a named ticket ahead in peak season.
Thin spring roll wrappers filled with stir-fried vegetables and seafood.
Noodles in a rich satay-style broth, with toppings you pick yourself.
Sweet soup of peanuts simmered until they melt, eaten as a snack.
Sea worm jelly, set cold and served with vinegar, garlic and chilli.
Small oysters fried in egg and sweet potato starch, with sweet sauce.
Minnan rice dumpling packed with pork, mushroom and chestnut.
Fine rice vermicelli in a thick seafood broth, a breakfast staple.
Oolong from nearby Anxi, brewed small and strong, gongfu style.
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