We were very excited to arrive in the port of Xiamen,our first port of call on the Chinese Mainland. Our excursion was to visit Gu Lan Gyu (meaning drum, wave, island) which is an island off Xiamen which was a trading port from the early days and is like a holiday island for the Chinese. Just while we were there we saw at least 4 brides getting photographed. It was a beautiful little island with cobbled streets and lots of old Colonial buildings reflecting the island’s past. There are no cars on the island other than a few electric cars and so everyone mostly walks around the island. There were lots of shops and eating places including street food. There is a piano museum which has a superb collection of pianos for viewing. There was a tea shop which also sold various dried food and othe products including bottles of seahorses.
Gulangyi
Carting goods around on the island
street food
seahorses
oyster shells
It would have been good to have more time there as we were only able to rush through with our limited time. We walked for hours and all were tired when we got back to the ship.
