I have worked in Xiamen for three years and I like Xiamen very much, with its green mountains and sea view.
Xiamen is a coastal city, and its main attractions are basically island tours and gardens.
I recommend several very classic and affordable itineraries: (1) Morning: Visit the Xiamen Botanical Garden and recommend the cactus area as a must-see. It is expected to take 2 to 3 hours to complete the climb.
Tickets are 40 yuan.
"Xiamen Botanical Garden" is a botanical garden carefully designed around the Wanshiyan Reservoir.
According to the needs of scientific research and tourism, the park has arranged more than 20 specialized gardens and plantings, including pine and fir gardens, rose gardens, palm gardens, shade sheds, introduced plant areas, medicinal botanical gardens, large-scale cactus gardens, flower halls, and orchid gardens.
In the area, more than 3,000 tropical and subtropical plants are cultivated, including metasequoia and ginkgo, which are known as "living fossils".
There are three major ornamental trees in the world - Chinese golden pine, Japanese golden pine, Araucaria, as well as rare flowers and trees such as cacti. It is a beautiful and colorful tourist garden with fragrance all year round.
(2) Noon: Take a short rest.
Food recommendation: Xiamen has a very unique and very popular food stall: the Little Glasses Food Stall, located in Wenzao.
Or Little Squid: The address is at Jiangjun Temple.
If you want to eat authentic southern Fujian-style snacks, I recommend Heheyinxuan, which has a delicious fragrance (the best store is the one near the sports center), and you can also hear the traditional Nanyin.
Another recommendation is Shihuitang, which is also opposite Wenzao and Little Glasses. Many celebrities who come to Xiamen go to this restaurant, so it is also known as the celebrity's private kitchen.
The consumption levels of the recommended restaurants are not much different, ranging from 40 to 100 yuan per person, depending on the dishes you order.
(3) Afternoon: Gulangyu Island, the most famous scenic spot and a must-see place. In fact, Gulangyu Island is not big, and it is expected to be completed in about 2 hours.
If you have plenty of time after leaving Gulangyu Island, consider going to Xiamen University Baicheng, renting a tourist bicycle, traveling around the island, feeling the coastal scenery, the sunset, and the twilight on the seaside.
Admission to Gulangyu Island is free, but I forgot how much it costs to ride a bicycle for one hour, haha.
Other attractions: Tickets for Taiwan Folk Customs Village are RMB 60, Garden Expo Park tickets are RMB 60, Yefeng Village, Convention and Exhibition Center (free).