Things to do in Xiamen: 14 worth your time

The five

1. Gulangyu

A small island a twenty-minute ferry from town, with no cars, no bicycles and 931 buildings on UNESCO's count: consulates, churches and the villas of merchants who came home rich from Southeast Asia. You walk it. The paid sights are Shuzhuang Garden, which juts out over the sea and holds a piano museum, and Sunlight Rock, the summit, with a steep last staircase and the view on every postcard.

Two things to know. The ferry is the hard part: tourists board at a terminal 4 km from the obvious one, tickets are tied to your passport, and morning boats sell out. And the island is hillier and hotter than it looks. Go early, land at Sanqiutian, carry water.

A one-day route · How to get tickets

2. Nanputuo Temple

A working monastery stacked up a wooded hill beside the university. Free, with a reservation. Take the incense they hand you inside the gate, not the bundles sold on the pavement. Climb past the main hall, where most people stop, to the gold character carved on the rock behind. Then eat a bowl of vegetarian noodles in the temple canteen for about ¥25.

Nanputuo guide

3. The seafront at the end of the day

The south-east coast is a string of beaches with a boardwalk and a red cycle path running behind them. From about half past four the heat drops and the city comes out. Rent a bike at Zengcuo'an and ride east to Huangcuo for sunset, or walk the western stretch past Hulishan Fortress and its 87-tonne Krupp gun.

Huandao Road and Zengcuo'an

4. Breakfast at the Eighth Market

Xiamen's old wet market, in the lanes behind the ferry piers. Be there by seven. Crabs, eels and mantis shrimp in tubs on the pavement, and between them stalls selling vermicelli porridge, five-spice rolls and peanut pancakes. Walk on down Zhongshan Road under the 1920s arcades to the water.

Old town walk · What to eat

5. A day at the Tulou

Two to three hours inland are the earth buildings: huge round and square communal houses, some of them 600 years old and still lived in. The view down onto the five roofs of Tianluokeng is the one you have seen in photographs. It is a long day by car and worth it.

What you see · How to get there

Six more, with a third or fourth day

6. Jimei School Village

Across the water on Metro Line 1, the home village of the philanthropist Tan Kah Kee. Red-roofed school buildings round a lagoon, his tomb in a seaside garden covered in stone carvings, and an old village behind. Half a day, no reservation, few tourists. The train ride itself crosses open sea. Jimei guide

7. Shapowei

The old fishing harbour, with boats still moored under two 300-metre glass towers. Around it, cafes in converted cold stores. An hour with a coffee, late afternoon.

8. Xiamen University

A handsome 1920s campus by the sea. Entry is by lottery, with as few as 2,000 places on a weekday, so you may well not get in. If you do, it is a lovely hour. If you do not, Jimei has the same architecture. How the lottery works

9. The Botanical Garden

A planted mountainside. Go in by the west gate, see the rainforest valley when the mist machines run at nine or two, then the cactus garden. Two hours. Botanical Garden guide

10. Zengcuo'an after dark

A former fishing village that is now wall-to-wall snack stalls. Loud, crowded, fun for an hour of grazing. If that is not your idea of an evening, the beach across the road is quiet.

11. Hulishan Fortress

A coastal battery of the 1890s on the boardwalk, built around a 280 mm Krupp gun that is one of the largest of its era still in place. Worth half an hour as you walk past.

Three for a longer stay

12. Quanzhou

A medieval world port, under half an hour by train if you book the right station. A mosque dated to 1009, a temple with Hindu carvings, and an 11th-century stone bridge held together by oysters. Quanzhou day trip

13. An afternoon of tea

Fujian is where oolong comes from, and tea here is poured from a pot the size of a fist into cups the size of an egg, round after round. It is the best thing to do in Xiamen when it rains. Tea and heritage

14. Wuyishan

River gorges and tea cliffs in the north of the province, about two hours ten minutes by the fastest direct train. Needs two days. Seven days in Fujian

Time and booking, at a glance

What we would skip

Gulangyu and the Tulou on the same day. Each needs daylight.

Zhongshan Road at two on a Saturday afternoon. Go at eight in the morning or after dark.

Planning a day around a university slot. It is a lottery.

Sunlight Rock if stairs are a worry. Shuzhuang Garden gives you the sea without the climb.

Anything sold to you outside a ferry terminal. Speedboats, guides, discounted tickets, pearls. Visitors who say yes describe the same afternoon, and it is not a good one.

Quick answers

Keep planning

• How many days in Xiamen
• 2-day Xiamen itinerary
• Gulangyu one-day route
• Old town walk
• Nanjing or Yongding
• Xiamen food guide