Xiamen, Gulangyu & Hong Kong: A 5-Day South China Coastal Route

Transfer in and check in. The afternoon goes to the Zhongshan Road pedestrian street and the surrounding old villas, then the Shapowei area with its 1920s Western-style shopfronts. Dinner on the waterfront.

Morning

Airport arrival and transfer

Afternoon

Zhongshan Road and the old villa district

Evening

Waterfront dinner

Meals

Dinner included

Night 1 Fairmont Xiamen

Note. Xiamen is one of the easiest cities in China for a first visit — clean, walkable, English signage everywhere, and the airport is close.

Take the ferry to Gulangyu, where no private cars are allowed and everything moves by foot or pedal cart. The island has a piano culture — it was the training ground for a generation of Chinese pianists — and there is a piano recital most afternoons. Walk the coastal path, the Shuzhuang Garden, and the old foreign-era villas.

Morning

Ferry to Gulangyu, island walk

Afternoon

Shuzhuang Garden, the piano recital, the old villas

Evening

Ferry back, dinner

Meals

Breakfast included · Dinner included

Night 2 Fairmont Xiamen

Note. Take the last boat back with margin. The queue at Sanqiutian in the evening is long, and there is a second terminal at Xiamen Cruise Centre.

Drive or take the train to Shantou, the old treaty port with an extraordinary run of 1930s Chinese-Western shophouses. Walk the Small Park and the Zhongshan Road arcades. This is also the centre of Chaoshan cuisine, which is one of the eight great traditions and largely unknown outside the region.

Morning

Travel to Shantou

Afternoon

Shantou arcades and Small Park

Evening

Chaoshan banquet dinner, back to Xiamen

Meals

Breakfast included · Dinner included

Night 3 Fairmont Xiamen

Note. The Chaoshan difference is real: the cooking is lighter, saltier and more precise than Cantonese, and the beef and beef-ball dishes are exceptional.

Fly to Hong Kong and transfer in. The afternoon goes to the Peak Tram and the Sky Terrace for the harbour view, then down to the Peak Galleria and the mid-levels. Dinner in Central or Tsim Sha Tsui, and the harbour from the Kowloon side.

Morning

Flight to Hong Kong, transfer

Afternoon

Peak Tram and the Sky Terrace

Evening

Dinner and the Victoria Harbour promenade

Meals

Dinner included

Night 4 The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong

Note. Buy the Peak Tram ticket online — the on-site queue can exceed an hour, and the Sky Terrace is much quieter before 11am.

A morning with the option of the Man Mo Temple and the Tai Kwun heritage site in Sheung Wan, or the Avenue of Stars. Then transfer to the airport. If your flight is late, the Star Ferry crossing itself is worth the ten minutes.

Morning

Man Mo Temple, Tai Kwun, or the Avenue of Stars

Afternoon

Airport transfer

Evening

Departure

Meals

Breakfast included

Note. The Star Ferry is a fifty-cent ride and the best value view of Victoria Harbour in the world. Take the lower deck.