1-Day Xiamen City Highlights and Gulangyu Island Private Tour

In the morning, our tour guide and the driver will pick you up from your hotel at about 09:00. We will transfer you to a ferry for the 10-minute boat trip to Gulangyu Island to start this private Xiamen day tour.

The first stop is Shuzhuang Garden in the southern part of the island. With an ingenious layout designed around the natural terrain, the park includes two parts: the Garden of Hiding the Sea (Canghaiyuan) and the Garden of Making-Up Hills (Bushanyuan). Then, you will be guided to the Piano Museum, which houses a large assortment of historic and modern fine pianos from the collection of Hu Youyi. Gulangyu Island attracts a lot of tourists for its pleasant climate and picturesque views. Seen from a distance, it is like an enchanting garden floating on the sea. Roaming leisurely about the island, you will be amazed by buildings constructed in the Chinese as well as foreign styles, blooming flowers and lush trees, plus the fascinating coastline scenery. As a private garden once, the villa-style Shuzhuang Garden on the island owns many beautiful buildings such as pavilions and houses. In the Piano Museum within Shuzhuang Garden, visitors can also have a nice glimpse of the history of this musical instrument.

After lunch, your Xiamen day trip will be extended to the South Putuo Temple, a temple well-known throughout China and the location of the Buddhist College of Minnan. The South Putuo Temple is an ancient Buddhist temple originally built during the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907). With large and imposing scale, it is composed primarily of four buildings: Devajara Hall, Mahavira Hall, Dabei Hall and the scripture library. If you are interested in Buddhist culture, you won't be disappointed admiring the sacred Buddhist statues and treasures inside the temple.

After that, our guide will accompany you to the Hulishan Battery Scenic Spot which was a military outpost constructed during the latter part of the Qing dynasty. Today it features cannonry from the Qing dynasties. If time permits, you'll be able to walk along the Island Ring Road to view the spectacular seascape and man-made scenery.

At the end, you will be escorted back to your hotel in Xiamen.