15 top things to do in Xiamen, China

On the east coast of China between Hong Kong and Fuzhou, Xiamen is a city of lush tropical greenery, humid heat, intense flavors, the chaotic buzz of commercial quarters and a tumultuous history of global trade and colonial wars. In other words, it’s everything you’d expect from a storied port sitting just above the Tropic of Cancer.

The island city, known to generations of Europeans as Amoy, made its most impressive mark on China’s political history when it was captured by the British in the First Opium War. Its new rulers forced the city to open up to foreign trade, which instantly turned Amoy into one of the richest and most cosmopolitan spots in the country. In case the name Amoy sounds familiar, the famous food brand of the same name was founded here in 1908, before moving to Hong Kong. 

In the late 19th century, a self-governed settlement emerged on the offshore island of Gulangyu (Kulangsu), leaving a rich legacy that makes it Xiamen’s top attraction today. History repeated itself in 1980, when Xiamen became one of the first free economic zones in China, heralding the country’s rise as a modern financial and trading superpower.

If you fancy a visit to a Chinese city that is as cultured and historic as Shanghai or Hong Kong but less explored, Xiamen suits the bill. Here are the top things to do when you arrive. 

Getting to and around Xiamen 

The city spills across a large island, with Gaoqi International Airport at its northern end, and more city neighborhoods sprawl on the mainland. The island of Gulangyu lies just offshore. If you arrive by train, be sure to buy a ticket to the island's main train station, Xiamen Zhan, rather than Xiamen North Station on the mainland, as it’s an hour-long metro ride between the two.

Xiamen’s ever-expanding metro network links all parts of the city, with easy connections between the mainland and the main island, but not Gulangyu. Alternatively, you can make use of efficient city buses and plentiful taxis, plus rideshare services such as DiDi Chuxing. Carry a business card or a piece of paper with the name of your destination written in Chinese characters so drivers are clear where you want to go. 

Several ferry terminals serve Gulangyu, some only operating in the morning, afternoon or evening. Check locally before you set off to make sure you’re heading to the correct terminal. 

1. See relics from the colonial era on Gulangyu island

A pedestrian-only island of winding lanes, golden sand beaches and picturesque volcanic outcrops, Gulangyu played an outsize role in relations between China and the west. European and American settlers filled the island with western-inspired architecture at the turn of the 20th century, leading to its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

You’ll encounter striking examples of period architecture as soon as you disembark at Sanqutian Ferry Terminal, from the former American consulate to the Hope and Wilhelmina Hospital, which now houses the Kulangsu Gallery of Foreign Artifacts, displaying items gifted to Chinese emperors and Communist leaders by ambassadors and merchants. Perched at the top of the hill is the palatial Eight Diagrams Mansion, containing the wonderful Organ Museum and its collection of musical instruments.

The southeastern part of the island is home to the colonnaded neoclassical Union Church, the neo-Gothic Ecclesia Catholica and the former Spanish mission. A short walk away are the former British consulate and two grandiose art nouveau mansions – Hai Tian Tang Gou Mansion and Huang Rongyuan Mansion – built by Filipino-Chinese businessmen in the 1920s. The latter now houses the China Record Museum, with its collection of old vinyl. 

Planning tip: Several ferries with terminals on the west coast of the main island offer transfers to Gulangyu, and the trip takes about 15 minutes. Non-Chinese passport holders use a specific terminal; ask at your hotel about the correct terminal before you set out. 

2. Encounter southern Chinese heroes at Sunlight Rock

The volcanic outcrop known as Sunlight Rock (Riguangyan Gongyuan) is the highest point in Gulangyu, and it provides sweeping views of Xiamen if you’re up for the short and moderately strenuous climb up steep flights of steps to get here. 

At the bottom of the rock there are some 80 inscriptions, left by prominent Chinese intellectuals, as well the large Koxinga Memorial Hall, which commemorates Xiamen’s great local hero, the 17th-century prince Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga), who conquered Taiwan and defeated the Dutch East India Company. 

3. Enjoy Gulangyu’s pretty gardens

The most enchanting of Gulangyu's lovely gardens is the Shuzhuang Garden, which opens with several causeways and charming ponds at sea level, then rises up a steep cliff covered with a maze of artificial rocks and 12 animal statues representing the signs of the Chinese zodiac. The upper part is given over to the Gulangyu Piano Museum, which features a fine collection of instruments. 

Another park worth checking out is the Haoyue Garden, centered on a rocky outcrop dominated by a towering statue of Zheng Chenggong in full battle regalia. The warrior prince is hailed as a hero on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, as well as in Japan, his mother’s homeland. 

4. Explore Xiamen’s delightful high street

With its festive atmosphere, Zhongshan Lu (Zhongshanlu Buxingjie) is one of those food and shopping streets where parting with your money feels like an adventure. Like the rest of the central area, Xiamen’s pedestrianized main drag is dominated by whitewashed commercial buildings with colonnaded galleries on the first floor, most built by Chinese traders returning from overseas in the 1920s.

The side streets toward the southwestern end of the street, abutting the sea promenade, are densely packed with seafood restaurants displaying the day’s catch in a slightly in-your-face manner that may make you feel as if you’re sitting inside a giant aquarium. 

Planning tip: At the west end of Zhongshan Lu, Lujiang Ave offers impressive views across the bay to the mainland part of Xiamen and to Gulangyu. 

5. Lunch at Xiamen’s liveliest fish market

Seafood spots in Xiamen’s Old Town center around Kaihe Lu Fish Market (Kaihelu Caishichang), where the sheer amount of fish, lobsters and crabs staring at you from the colorful stalls will make you feel like an invitee to SpongeBob’s birthday party. 

For locals, this is a place for buying fresh fish for home cooking as much as for eating out at the market’s many kitchens. Morning is the best time for shopping here, but restaurants in and around the market are open till late. Seek out dishes made with oysters, squid and abalone, and don't shy away from more unfamiliar choices like braised sea cucumber and sandworm jelly. 

Detour: In the evening, throngs of locals and visitors head to Zengcuo’an Village, the city's largest food district, located by picturesque Mengmeng Beach. It’s a huge maze of brightly lit, restaurant-lined alleys with lobsters, sandworm jelly, fish and dumplings on display under glistening neon lights. 

6. Try an oyster omelet, Xiamen’s trademark snack

Every evening you’ll find a permanent queue of people waiting to be served at Old Xiamen Oyster Omelet (Laoxiamen Kezai Jian), a hole-in-the-wall kitchen located near the seafront end of Zhongshan Lu. One of the main reasons for its popularity is the show its chef puts on when preparing this characteristic Xiamen delicacy of fried oysters and sweet potato starch. The other reason is the quality of the resulting product, along with the not-to-be-missed crab roe dumplings.

Planning tip: Another Fujian street-food signature to try in Xiamen is shachamian, a popular noodle dish featuring dried fish, onion and chilies. Try it at Kaihe Shachamian, open 24 hours a day on Xiahe Lu. 

7. Dive into history in Xiamen’s museums

Xiamen has an impressive clutch of museums exploring the culture and backstory of the city and surrounding Fujian province. The Overseas Chinese Museum tells the story of the Chinese diaspora, while the Xiamen Museum takes a deep dive into the city’s illustrious past, with a focus on the colonial era. 

Elsewhere, the Xiamen Olympic Museum looks at China’s considerable achievements in sport, while the kid-focused Xiamen Science and Technology Museum has activities for younger travelers, including a dedicated exhibition on travel to Mars.

8. Visit Xiamen’s magnificent botanical garden

Xiamen wouldn’t be what it is without the Xiamen Botanical Garden (Xiamen Yuanlin Zhiwuyuan), a riot of tropical lushness that covers the slopes of Wanshi Mountain on the southern side of the island. The highlight here is a patch of artificial rainforest, with the added effect of artificial mist, but there’s much more to see, including an impressive desert garden. 

This green bower can be explored in different ways. You could simply admire the sheer diversity of flora on the hop-on, hop-off garden train, but if you’re in the mood for hiking, then this is a formidable mountain with fairly steep slopes, lakes, temples, picturesque rocks and boulders engulfed by dense vegetation. A network of walking trails weaves across the slopes. 

Planning tip: The garden has four entrances – if you’re coming from Zhongshan Lu, the south gate is the closest.

9. Ride the Zhonggu Cableway

After exploring the botanical garden, you can admire its dense canopy from above on the Zhonggu Cableway (Zhonggu Suodao). With its base station conveniently located next to the garden's west gate, the cable car takes passengers over Wanshi Mountain, with views of the sail-shaped skyscrapers of the Shimao Cross-Strait Plaza and Gulangyu. 

Planning tip: Treat this as a sightseeing trip rather than a means of getting from A to B. The return trip takes about 30 minutes, and you can’t disembark at the far end. 

10. Appreciate the arts (and culinary arts) in Shapowei

With a couple of old fishing boats resting in the shade of the futuristic, sail-shaped Shimao Cross-Strait Plaza towers, Shapowei hints at the transformation of what was once a fishing village into a fashionably scruffy food and art zone in the midst of the modern city.

The Xiamen Art Museum of Chinese Profiles shows off modern Chinese artworks inside a converted fish market, while on the busy Daxue Lu, numerous family kitchens churn out seafood dishes, dumplings and skewered meats. Alternatively, make for the waterside wharf lined with quaint cafes. 

Further on under the towers, a flea market sells antiques and crafts made by local artisans alongside multicolored bric-a-brac.

Planning tip: The best time to visit Shapowei is on the weekend, when there are regular live events and lots of artisans selling their wares. 

11. Stroll Xiamen’s famous walkway

Ancient but definitely not stuck in the past, Xiamen constructed the futuristic 23km (14-mile) Xiamen Mountain-to-Sea Trail (Xiamen Shanhai Jiankang Budao), a pedestrian walkway elevated above the city center. It begins with an elegant spiral ramp climbing a hill near the International Cruise Terminal at Dongdu and ends at Guanyinshan Beach on the eastern side of the island.

The trail was built to connect the city’s surviving areas of green in an otherwise densely built metropolis. Linking Xiamen’s main parks and several rugged mountains, the walkway has 50 entrances, many conveniently located near metro stations.

Planning tip: If you only have time for a short section, walk from the spiral Dongdu entrance to Huweishan Park, with impressive city views along the way. 

12. Visit Xiamen’s old navy fort

Towering above Baicheng Beach, the Huli Shan Fortress (Hulishan Paotai) is a great spot to take in views of Gulangyu, and there’s a rather enormous Krupp cannon from the 19th century, set here to keep foreign armies at bay. The fort saw plenty of action against Japanese forces from 1937 to 1945.

More old cannons are scattered around the grounds, along with a formidable banyan tree known as Single Tree Forest, due to its many trunks. At 10am and 4pm daily, actors dressed in imperial-army attire stage an elaborate cannon-firing ceremony, with lots of running around, barked orders and ominous music. 

Planning tip: Baicheng Beach is a pleasant spot to while away an hour or so, particularly at sunset and on weekends.  

13. Visit Xiamen’s most impressive Buddhist temple

A magnet for pilgrims and tourists from all over Southeast Asia, Nanputuo Temple stands in the shade of Wanshi Mountain, fronted by a vast lotus-dotted lake. In front of the main courtyard is the twin-eaved Big Treasure Hall, presided over by a trinity of statues representing the Buddha’s past, present and future forms. 

Behind this rises the eight-sided Hall of Great Compassion, containing a golden, 1000-armed statue of Guanyin, the goddess of mercy. Dating back to the Tang dynasty, the temple has seen numerous transformations, and it spent time as a factory during the Cultural Revolution. There are a couple of good and perpetually busy vegetarian restaurants on the premises. 

Planning tip: To reach the temple, take bus 1 from the train station or bus 21, 45, 48 or 503 from Zhongshan Lu. 

14. Spend a day at the hot springs

Xiamen may feel like an open-air sauna for much of the year because of the climate, but soaking in its hot springs is still an exhilarating experience. At least four centuries old, the Riyuegu Hot Springs (Riyuegu Wenquan) of today is a modern spa park with many pools scattered around an area of humid tropical forest, with faux-antique Buddhist-themed statues up here and there. 

Smaller pools vary in temperature and added aromas, and there’s a large main swimming pool, a cluster of saunas, a water slide and a hydromassage area. The food court by the main pool serves inexpensive fusion cuisine.

Planning tip: Branded shuttle buses run every 30 minutes from Dongfu station, near the far end of the green line on the metro.

15. Take in the spectacle of the Dragon Boat Festival

A national event held in early June, the Dragon Boat Festival is a particularly wonderful spectacle in Xiamen, thanks to the city’s archipelago setting and ancient boating traditions, as well as the enthusiastic participants in the boat races. 

The races kick off near the Jimei School Village metro station in the mainland part of Xiamen. It’s more of a fun, camaraderie-building festival than a serious sports competition. Participants strive to outdo each other in the exoticism of their team’s outfits and their theatrical antics as much as paddling faster than their rivals. 

Planning tip: Bring an appetite; the festival sees the consumption of lots of street food, especially glutinous rice dumplings.

This article was adapted from the China guidebook published in August 2025.