"Gulang Yu, Xiamen" Gulang Yu by afidos

Arrived at Xiamen, formerly known as "Amoy". Xiamen: buzzing metropolis, growing number of foreigners, international-level golf, sailing, bars, discos, restaurants, shopping, and all the rest that goes with being SEZ (special economic zone). Check out oolong tea - it is said here that "no business transaction, no matter how small, is complete without a cup of tea".
I didn't spend much time in Xiamen (as my destination was Gulang Yu), but was told of a few things that sounded interesting: the mountains which are supposedly riddled with bomb shelters and topped with defenses, including a castle made out of hardened glutinous rice!, also a 60-foot megaphone for shouting slogans at the Taiwanese neighbours, and the world's longest cannon.
Before I arrived in Xiamen, the big thing everyone kept telling me was "You can see Taiwan from there". So if you're from Taiwan, you'll be happy to know the local dialect here, MInnanyu, is nearly identical to the Taiwanese dialect.

This enchanting pedestrian-only island is defined by narrow cobblestone streets crammed with crumbling colonial style buildings, clean air, fantastic seafood, and the pianos.. ahh the pianos! There are over 500, plus 80 antique ones. I read that back in the 1960s, just as the Red Guards were preparing to denounce and destroy China's pianos as bourgeois, a famous Chinese composer ("Yellow River") rolled a piano into the middle of T. Square, and played revolutionary odes to Mao for three days, putting his instrument at the heart of the revolution. This coastal port had attracted big European powers at one time, the British, the Portuguese, the Spaniards, the Dutch. After Mao took over and China became a republic, interestingly enough, the British changed location to Hong Kong (which remained a British colony from 1898 - 1997).

Besides the peaceful walks around the island, the historical European architecture, local artists, paintings, handicrafts and hip art, delicious local seafood, there's also a cable ride, a large aviary, an underground sea-world type park, a shopping mall, speedboat rides to Jinmen (Taiwan-controlled island)..