Gulangyu Island used to be an uninhabited oasis, also known as "garden sandbar" or "garden island". At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, with people, a semi-fishing and semi-farming village was gradually formed. At the southwest end of the island, there is a reef with a sea cave. Whenever the waves hit, it sounds like drumming, hence the name "Gulangyu". Now it has become a scenic spot, hence the name "Gulangyu", which was renamed in the Ming Dynasty.

Gulangyu Island was developed in the Ming Dynasty. 1573, the earliest stone carving "Gulangyu Cave" appeared on the island. 1586, Lotus Temple was founded in Riguangyan. /kloc-in 0/650, Zheng Chenggong camped in Riguangyan, trained as a navy division, and left behind sites such as Zhaimen, Shuicaotai and Fujingquan. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Chen Shijing went to the island from the sea with the king of Lu to assist the uprising against the Qing Dynasty. His tomb is in Jimu Mountain.

184 1 August, the British government fleet attacked Gulangyu and set up a fort at the top of the mountain to control Xiamen. 1842 In August, the Qing government signed the unequal treaty of nanking with Britain, and Xiamen became one of the five trading ports. Subsequently, Britain, the United States and Spain successively set up consuls in Gulangyu, while other countries served as consuls as businessmen and foreign firm managers. 1902, the China government was forced to sign the Charter of Xiamen Gulangyu Concession with the United States and Germany on the same day, and Gulangyu Island was officially defined as a public concession by the foreign powers. Britain, the United States, Germany, Japan, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Sweden, the Philippines and other countries have set up consulates, churches, schools, hospitals and foreign companies on the island. 194 1 65438+February, the Pacific War broke out and Japan monopolized Gulangyu Island. 1On August 5th, 945, Japan surrendered unconditionally, and Gulangyu returned to Xiamen people, thus ending the enslaved history of 100 years.

Since the Opium War, Gulangyu's unique development history of more than 100 years has made Gulangyu a "World Architecture Expo" with rich cultural landscape, complex historical interest, numerous ethnic styles and a combination of Chinese and Western. The island is called "Piano Island" and "Music Island" because the number of pianos and violins per capita ranks first in China. Because the island covers an area of 1.87 square kilometers, it is called "walking island". Gulangyu Island has become a famous island with cultural landscape, architectural landscape, art and landscape tourism, history and music.