An island made by many worlds
Explore Gulangyu’s international settlement through its lanes, overseas-Chinese builders and the everyday work of keeping an island inhabited.
Gulangyu
Also known as Kulangsu, Gulangyu lies beside Xiamen’s port city and became an international settlement in 1903. Its historic landscape includes much more than individually celebrated villas: lanes, gardens and public institutions give the buildings their relationships. Different stories lead into that landscape, from overseas-Chinese patrons and Amoy Deco to Lin Erjia’s shoreline garden and the people who sustain its musical culture.
Gulangyu
How to read Amoy Deco
Learn to read Amoy Deco on Gulangyu through building forms, garden thresholds and the architectural choices of overseas-Chinese patrons.
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A garden with the sea outside its walls
Read Shuzhuang Garden on Gulangyu through Lin Erjia’s family connections, shoreline composition and the changing scale of rocks, paths and sea.
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Who keeps Gulangyu sounding?
Meet Gulangyu’s musical culture through family practice, instrument repair and performances that connect organs, chamber music and Chinese instruments.
ReadPhoto credits and rights
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Sunlight Rock rises above Gulangyu, with Xiamen across the water.厦门市鼓浪屿文化旅游发展中心 · Rights status unspecified Photo source ↗ Original aspect ratio retained. Display copies resized only when needed; no enlargement, crop or retouching.
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A historic villa on Gulangyu, where building forms and garden walls meet the lane.Rolfmueller, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Original aspect ratio retained. Display copies resized only when needed; no enlargement, crop or retouching.
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Shuzhuang Garden brings bridges, rocks and the sea into one view.厦门市鼓浪屿文化旅游发展中心 · Rights status unspecified Photo source ↗ Original aspect ratio retained. Display copies resized only when needed; no enlargement, crop or retouching.
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The Organ Art Center on Gulangyu.厦门市鼓浪屿文化旅游发展中心 · Rights status unspecified Photo source ↗ Original aspect ratio retained. Display copies resized only when needed; no enlargement, crop or retouching.
