Piano Island, Sun Rise Rock and land of hot sauna

We are still in Gulangyu. We hiked at 5 am to see the sun rise from the top of the rock called Sunrise Rock. We thought we will beat the crowd and the heat, but we were wrong on both accounts. Still, it was beautiful.

5 am climb to the Rock

Sunrise from the rock, and crowd of people

Workers in the morning

After the hiking adventure, we meandered through a seaside park, dipping our feet in the water.  Water is warm, but the sun is even warmer here. I think ocean play is out. L

A fly on Buddha's eye :-)

Island view from a garden

Nine caves and island view

Piano Museum is the only Piano museum in China. This tiny island produced many famous pianists since the 1800’s. The first (Chinese) woman pianist, composer, director was born here, and went to the USA two times. There were many others who followed her. There is a big collection of old and unique pianos here dating back to the 1700’s.

Piano from the Museum: Notice the candle stands built in (no electricity then)

More colonial buildings

Kids practicing English with Don and Jagdish

Home of a famous writer (He wrote: "A moment in Peking" before WW1)

We saw a live performance on an over 200-year-old grand Piano and then met up with Sofia’s friend, who lives here. She took us to this grand mansion where her grandmother was married and we met the owner. The owner is a very simple looking, old woman who was very nice to us, offering tea etc.

Unfortunately, young tourists from the Chinese mainland overrun the island. Kids have finished the infamous GOWKOW exam (this nationwide exam determines what colleges they can go to and basically what jobs they will get) and are all vacationing on this island. That’s how it seems anyway. We talked to a few of them and they are all happy that their exams are over.

After a much needed afternoon nap, we wandered around the island a little more. The American consulate (old one) is the biggest property here and is totally abandoned.

In the evening we attended a free, delightful concert. The concert is conducted daily by the music school students and was a combination of western as well as Chinese instruments and music.

In the two days we’ve been here, we have become familiar enough with the island that we walked back by ourselves in the dark.  I think, only in China, a woman can wander around in the dark without much fear and without knowing the language.