Riguang Mountain, Fujian, China

4SOH KIEN PENG 5:00 PM Jan 15, 2019

Scenic panoramic view and beautiful sunset
Riguang Mountain (日光岩) is not very high even lower than our Bukit Timah Hill in Singapore. It takes about 20 to 40 mins to reach the summit. But it is a must visit top attraction in Gulangyu island for 2 simple reasons: the beautiful sunset and the panoramic scenery of the island. It is not free and I made a mistake not purchasing the combo ticket of RMB 100 and paid RMB 50 for just a single admission to this attraction. The single ticket also gives access to Qinyuan (琴园) but that is all and not to other sites of attractions. On the other hand, the combo ticket allows access to 4 other must see attractions on Gulangyu: (a) Shuzhuang Garden( including Piano Museum)-淑庄花园 (b) Hoayue Garden (Zheng Chenggong Statue)-皓月园 (c) Gulangyu Organ Museum(the Eight Diagrams Tower)-风琴博物馆 (d) International Engraving Museum-国际刻字馆 Thus, it would be financially prudent to buy the combo ticket. I came to Xiamen on the very first day of China's Golden Week on their national day. You can imagine the crowd at the summit of this mountain. Everyone was squeezing their way up the narrow staircase while the departing visitors are taking the same staircase down. With the jostling of the crowd, it is very risky to take out your hand phone near the railing because a little push from someone in the crowd may result in your hand phone slipped out of your grip and fell into the bottom of the valley below. I saw a couple sit so near to the edge of the hilltop and the girl's hand phone accidentally slipped out of her grip and dropped to the edge of the boulder. She saw her hand phone resting on the edge of the mountain but she just could not climb over the railing to retrieve her hand phone. She stood there staring helplessly at her hand phone and crying while her boyfriend was trying to contact the security to help to retrieve the hand phone. I am not sure how the security can retrieve her hand phone as the one attempting the act may just slip down the steep slope of the hill and get killed. So, be careful when you are using your hand phone to take photos of the sunset or the panoramic view of the island. It is rather windy up at the summit. Majority of the crowd went up during dusk solely to see the sunset. The sunset is beautiful and the panoramic view magnificent. It is worth the climb but the squeeze with the crowd is terrifying.

4LG_Kay 5:00 PM Dec 31, 2017

Main attraction in Gulangyu
Sunlight Rock is the most famous scenic spot in Gulangyu and is the highest point of the island. Hence, hordes of tour groups would head to this attraction. Entrance fee is 60 rmb. I bought the combo ticket (100 rmb), which can be used there. After the entrance is the Sunlight Rock Temple, with some pavilions, nothing spectacular. The highlight is climbing to the top of the mountain, not too strenuous though certain sections of the stairs are rather narrow. Initially the path up was wide, with 2 sets of stairs, one for ascending and one for descending. It can bring me to the viewing platform close to the summit. However the last leg is terrible in design, only a narrow flight of steps to the summit, to be shared for ascending and descending visitors. As I visited during off peak season, the queue was ok. I can't Imagine the chaos during peak season. Hence I recommend to stop at the viewing platform just below the summit. I don’t think the view is much different for the 20+ steps at the summit.