Xiamen

The main island holds the old town, the university and a coastal road that loops the whole thing. Across a short strait sits Gulangyu, a former international settlement with no cars, no bikes, and several hundred villas in various states of elegant decay. Sleep on Gulangyu for a night if you can: the day-trippers leave on the last ferry and the lanes go quiet.

Back on the main island, Shapowei is the old fishing harbour turned café quarter, Zhongshan Road is the arcaded shopping street, and the university campus and Nanputuo Temple sit together at the south end.

It is a coastal city, so plan for rain in spring, typhoons in late summer, and the loveliest weather from October to December. The Hakka tulou roundhouses are three hours inland and make a good overnight.

Gaoqi (XMN) is on the main island, twenty minutes from the centre by taxi or metro line 1. High-speed trains from Fuzhou take about an hour, Shenzhen two and a half, Guangzhou four, Shanghai five to six. Most of them use Xiamen North on the mainland, a metro ride away; some use Xiamen station on the island.

Southern Fujian eats from the sea: shacha noodles in a peanut-and-brine broth, oyster omelette, sea-worm jelly (tusundong, better than it sounds), ginger duck in winter, and peanut soup for breakfast. Gulangyu's pastry shops sell pineapple cakes and pork floss; the real cooking is in the lanes off Zhongshan Road and around the Eighth Market.