Luoyang Departure: Gulangyu, Sunlight Rock and Shuzhuang Garden, 5 Days 4 Nights

A morning flight from Luoyang lands at Gaoqi, and the bags go straight to the hotel. The rooms in Siming sit close to the water, so drop the pack and walk to Shapowei. This was a fishing harbour and is now a run of coffee shops and studios in old factory shells, with a few wooden boats still tied up in the dock. In the evening sit on the stone steps of the sheltered basin and watch the lights come on across the water.

Attraction introduction: Shapowei sits at the end of Xiamen port and has been a shelter for fishing boats since the Ming dynasty; the crescent of still water is called the Wind Shelter Dock. The old workshops along the bank became an art district and kept their concrete beams and iron windows. Ten minutes west is the Yanwu bridge, and at low tide the beach below opens out a long way.

Tips: November days run above twenty degrees, so a thin jacket for the evening wind is enough and heavy clothing can stay home. Guests generally find the first afternoon is best spent without sightseeing, sitting at Shapowei. In practice, day one covers only the neighbourhood around the hotel, which shakes off the flight.

Tickets collected at the Dongdu cruise terminal in the morning, and twenty minutes later the boat ties up at Sanqiutian. Walk first to the highest point on the island; the steps up Sunlight Rock are narrow enough to need a sideways pass, and the top is windy, with a whole field of red roofs and the towers of Xiamen spread below. Down and around into Shuzhuang Garden, where the sea is borrowed into the courtyard and the Forty-Four Bridge skims the water. The afternoon is for the lanes off Longtou Road, the porticoes of old villas and bougainvillea over the walls.

Attraction introduction: Sunlight Rock is the highest point of Gulangyu, with a platform at the top looking across to Xiamen and out toward the islands beyond. Shuzhuang Garden was laid out in 1913 by Lin Erjia, who walled the sea into his own yard; the Listening Pavilion inside later became a piano museum holding dozens of historic instruments. Longtou Road is the busiest street on the island, lined with shops in old houses.

Tips: The return ferry is 35 yuan and stays valid for 20 days, so there is no need to count the last sailing. Guests generally find the queue at Sunlight Rock builds after ten. In practice, we put the rock first, straight off the boat, and leave the gardens and lanes for the quieter hours.

The morning goes to Nanputuo Temple, where the gate takes no ticket and turtles sun themselves on the stones of the release pond. Behind the halls a short stair climbs Wulao Peak for a view over the university and a wedge of sea. Lunch is a vegetarian table inside the temple, the mixed braise clean and light. In the afternoon follow the coastal road east, past the ramparts of Huli Hill Fort facing the water, and on to Zengcuoan, where the lanes are narrow and the stalls of satay noodles and oyster omelette crowd together.

Attraction introduction: Nanputuo was founded in the Tang dynasty and honours Guanyin, taking its name from its position south of Putuo Hill; Wulao Peak behind it is one of the eight classic views of Xiamen. Huli Hill Fort was built in the Guangxu reign of the Qing, and the coastal gun on its platform was bought from Krupp in Germany. The Island Ring Road follows the southeast shore with hills on one side and sea on the other.

Tips: Nanputuo is free but needs a timed reservation, and three sticks of incense are handed out at the gate, so there is no need to bring your own. Entry to Xiamen University runs on a separate ballot and cannot be guaranteed, though the footbridge outside and the mouth of Furong tunnel can be photographed. Guests generally find a bicycle is better than a car on the coastal road. In practice, this day carries no fixed target; sit down by the water whenever the walking tired you out.

Cross the bridge to Jimei, where the dragon boat pond lies flat and a row of red brick buildings faces it, ridges curled up in the style Chen Jiageng set. Aoyuan sits by the sea, its stone carvings running the length of the corridor with episodes of history and scenes of ordinary work. The Chen Jiageng Memorial holds his school accounts and letters, written small and very even. Back on the main island in the afternoon, walk the Eighth Market while the ice under the fish is still holding.

Attraction introduction: Chen Jiageng began building the Jimei school village in 1913, from primary classes through to teachers college and a navigation school. The buildings are known as the Jiageng style, red brick over white stone bases with Minnan swallowtail ridges. Aoyuan on the southeastern shore was completed in the 1950s, its corridor carvings cut by local craftsmen. The Eighth Market is the oldest market in Xiamen and where locals still buy their vegetables.

Tips: The school village, the pond, Aoyuan and the memorial are all free and untimed. Guests generally find Jimei far quieter than Gulangyu and the red brick at its best in the slant of late afternoon. In practice, Jimei lands on day four, when three days of walking have earned a slower pace.

One more pass through the Eighth Market in the morning for two boxes of bean paste cakes and a little dried seafood, and the stallholders will vacuum pack it for you. Back to the hotel to pack, check out at noon, and the afternoon flight returns to Luoyang in time for dinner.

Attraction introduction: Xiamen bean paste cakes are filled with mung bean and built from layers of flaky pastry, and the old shops cluster around Zhongshan Road. The Eighth Market starts before five in the morning and changes with the season, with few visitors and honest prices. Zhongshan Road is the arcaded old street that survived in Xiamen, its covered walkway good against both rain and sun.

Tips: Dried seafood needs vacuum packing before a flight, sauces and liquids go in checked bags, and cakes crush easily, so keep them in the cabin bag. Guests generally find the security queue lengthens after two in the afternoon. In practice, we book the return flight after three so the morning still belongs to the market.