I have been living in Xiamen for more than six years， but every time I visit Kulangsu， it feels special. When I first visited the island， it felt like stepping back in time， right into an era when people were closer to one another. Casually strolling through the isle streets， bumping into an old friend， sharing a few words with another visitor who crosses your path… Seemingly trivial things but such precious experiences in our hurried modern paces of life.
　　Kulangsu offers us those involvements on a daily basis.
　　The island， aka Gulangyu， is Xiamen’s most famous tourist spot. Its historical settlement has been listed as UNESCO World Cultural Heritage since 2017. Kulangsu is the place where the 19th-century traders from abroad and China alike built their mansions， after Western powers forced China to open its ports including Xiamen. Consequently， Victorian architecture scattered across the island was influenced by merchants from all around the world. Many foreigners can spot little reminders of their country， one such recent example being that of a friend from Georgia who told me she had uncovered a trail of Georgian traces on the isle， once again underlining the importance of Kulangsu back in the 19th century.
　　Thanks to its special mix of cultural and historical elements， Kulangsu makes you feel enriched， and makes you want to know more about its history. Moreover， thanks to the fact that it is a pedestrian-only island， visitors can enjoy long walks traversing the historical settlement.
　　Kulangsu is a magical place at any time of day； or year， for that matter. During the hot summers， the cicadas buzzing their nonstop crescendo make for the only sound that will accompany you along the narrow alleyways. It feels like the clock has stopped ticking there and an English gentleman dressed in a frock coat will appear around the next corner.
　　During the cooler winter days， it’ll be mostly you and the sound of wind going solo when visiting the island. I remember Christmas 2015， when I visited Kulangsu with my boyfriend. We took different ferries to get there and met on the island. We walked around， enjoying the calm and entered one of Kulangsu’s churches. Christmas is the most important holiday in the Czech Republic， a time when the whole family gathers and attends church at night. It was of special importance to me to follow this tradition in China with my own， new family. 　　The cicadas and gusts of wind are not the only ones creating the sounds of crescendo. The island is well known in musical circles （especially in classical ones） and the people of Kulangsu have a special gift for making music. The name of the island itself is connected to the notion of sound—kulang meaning drum waves. Kulangsu is only some 3 square km big， but piano ownership per capita ranks No.1 in the nation. It is host to China’s only piano museum， also one of the world’s largest with more than 200 pianos in shapes and sizes you may have never seen before.
　　Thanks to its special connection with classical music， the island has been nicknamed the Island of Music. You are likely to hear the Waves of Kulangsu Island， its unofficial theme song being played on the streets. Every time I hear this tune， it reminds me of the beaches along Kulangsu lined with banyan trees and aromatic frangipani， and the statue of Zheng Chenggong， a Ming Dynasty （1368-1644） general also known as Koxinga， standing as if protecting the island from the waves.
　　Thanks to its uniqueness， the island receives some 10 million tourists every year. Subsequently， its preservation poses a big challenge to the local government. In order to better manage visitor traffic on and off the island， there is an international ferry terminal that specifically caters to sightseers. People living on the island and holders of a Xiamen Social Insurance Card can use the smaller， faster ferry located next to yet another top tourist spot in Xiamen， Zhongshan Pedestrian Road.
　　Kulangsu... Every time you go there， you’ll find a new spot. And a new story. BR