Gulangyu Island ready to greet holiday travelers

Red lanterns have been put up on the outer walls of a Western-style building to greet the upcoming Spring Festival on the Gulangyu Island in Xiamen, Fujian province. [Photo/news.xmnn.cn]

Gulangyu Island is a pedestrian-only island off the coast of Xiamen, East China's Fujian. It is renowned for its beaches, winding lanes and unique architecture.

As one of the most renowned tourist attractions in the coastal city of Xiamen, the isle is gearing up for throngs of tourists for the first Spring Festival holiday after joining UNESCO's world cultural heritage list on July 8, 2017.

On Feb 2, calligraphy lovers gathered at a park on the island to create the Spring Festival couplets and calligraphy of Chinese character "Blessing" for residents. The activity was organized by the Management Committee of Gulangyu Island.

To offer tourists an opportunity to experience the cultural atmosphere on the historic international settlement, the committee will open all the public museums and exhibition halls during the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb 16 this year.

To better serve tourists from across the world, about 300 volunteers will be deployed at seven crowded areas to provide tourism consultation and guide services from 9:00 am to 11:30 am and from 2:00 pm to 5:30 pm.

The number of daily visitors to the island will be restricted to 50,000 during the Spring Festival to protect the cultural heritage site and offer better travel experience, the committee said.

The committee also noted that ticket sales will be more transparent as tourists and citizens near the airport, railway stations and bus stations will receive text messages containing a website recording the real-time number of remaining tickets.