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Gulangyu: island of music

While China is famous for its Great Wall and big exciting cities, its islands are less well known. But they are also well worth exploring, as you will see when you arrive on Gulangyu, just off the coast of Xiamen. This car-free island is dotted with colonial mansions and sandy beaches. A ferry crossing of just 10 minutes whisks you to a world away from the busy mainland.

Beach

Xiamen, 中国

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View of Sunlight Rock

The finest beaches on Gulangyu

The fine sand, palm trees and an average temperature of 21 degrees Celsius combined together make up the charm of the beaches of Gulangyu. A winding pathway along the coast connects all the beaches. Those on the south side are more popular, while the northern ones are deserted. The trail around the island passes the 93-metre-high Sunlight Rock, which offers a beautiful view of Gulangyu and Xiamen.

Sleeping in colonial style

As there are not many hotels on Gulangyu, most visitors take the evening boat back to Xiamen. The hotels that do exist there are often housed in colonial mansions, such as the Lee Inn & Coffee House. Housed in a 100-year-old building with colonnades and 17 rooms, this boutique hotel stands in a walled garden and exudes history. Draped curtains adorn the windows of the rooms, some of which even feature a bathtub on curled legs.

The streets of Gulangyu

Wonderful silence and piano music

Criss-crossing the island are alleys where you may still encounter old pushcarts. Laundry and lanterns hang between the houses. Gulangyu is blessed with a silence known by few villages in China. Piano music, however, does occasionally sound through the streets. At the beginning of the last century, Europeans opened their first music schools here and hundreds of islanders have since learned to play piano. Gulangyu also features the only piano museum in China. All of this has earned the island the nickname ‘Piano Island’.

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Arts & Culture

Nightlife

Beach

Water sports

Nature

Active & Outdoor

Culinary

Arts & Culture

Houston and Dallas may be bigger and more famous, but Austin is in fact the capital of Texas. It’s also the least Texan city in Texas. And the weirdest city in the country. This is something its residents take pride in, as evidenced by the Austin motto of Keep Austin Weird! Have a peek inside weird houses or admire a cathedral of junk in a city where there is even a museum devoted entirely to the weird and strange.

Nightlife

When it comes to music, you might be inclined to think New Orleans (jazz), Memphis (rock ‘n’ roll), Chicago (blues) or Nashville (country), but Austin is actually the music capital of the US. The city boasts over 250 music venues, more than any other American city. You can choose from countless live performances and a fantastic music festival every month, such as SXSW. Austin lives and breathes music.

Beach, Water sports, Nature

The airport in Liberia is the gateway to the Province of Guanacaste, the sunniest part of Costa Rica. Thanks to its large number of snow-white buildings and tree-lined streets made of white gravel, the city itself is also referred to as ‘la ciudad blanca’. But, let’s be honest, most visitors who arrive here are primarily interested in white sand. Only a half hour by car from the airport is the fantastic Pacific coast with beaches that are postcard perfect.

Nature

In the Rincón de la Vieja National Park, you can hike, swim in natural hot springs, picnic and camp. The park features a variety of ecosystems around nine craters and 32 rivers with spectacular waterfalls during the rainy season. The diversity of flora and fauna is amazing: look up and chances are you’ll see toucans, sloths and monkeys in the treetops.

Active & Outdoor

Old towns, stunning constructions and wonderful nature: admire all of this and more in THIS IS HOLLAND, a brand-new 5D movie attraction by the producers of De Nieuwe Wildernis (The New Wilderness). It is the perfect introduction to Holland for first-time visitors, but also an interesting surprise for Dutchies who think they know their country inside out. This is a magical 5D experience with smells, colours, images, sounds, rain and shine.

Culinary

Everyone in Sweden knows Småland as the nation’s culinary centre. The region’s cuisine goes above and beyond the famous meatballs: a Michelin-star restaurant serves innovative Swedish haute cuisine, coffee is elevated to an art, and you can visit a lovely castle and pretend to be Lord or Lady of the manor. Here are three suggestions for typically Swedish restaurants in the city of Växjö.

Arts & Culture

Älmhult is the birthplace of renowned botanist Carl Linnaeus and children’s books author Astrid Lindgren, however its most famous ‘offspring’ is IKEA. Life in this southern Swedish town evolves around the blue-and-yellow furniture giant: from the IKEA Hotel and IKEA Museum to the IKEA Bar and IKEA Spa. Welcome to the one and only IKEA Småland – meatballs and ball pit included.