We hired a driver and new Buick minivan to get to the Tulou earth ( round houses ) which I highly recommend, it was worth the long driver there and back. Lovely countryside once you get out of the built up area's, plus the locals out in the country side are quite friendly. Definitely worth the effort and personally I'd give Gulangyu Island a miss it's a bit dinky in my opinion, I wouldnt visit it a second time...
We went about 3 years ago, as we have friends who's parents own an apartment in Xiamen... Food was pretty good, at very reasonable prices, with LARGE portions compared to Hong Kong. The Dim Sum was kick ass, and everything was about 50% bigger. Man oh man, it was good.
Indianno Johns, SAMRAT is a must visit if you really enjoy Indian food, I absolutely loved the food at this place, it just made me satisfyingly happy. Give it a try if you get a chance, you wont be disappointed...
Their address is 2nd Floor, 69 Jiangtou Bei Road, Kaiming Theater Complex
Xiamen Shi, Fujian, China 361009
+86 592 555 7699
Another kickass place was a faithfully reproduced Hong Kong style retro cafe, that served some Hong Kong old cafe faves, maybe better than they do in Hong Kong. Best photo op place and great food I think It was Xiamen Port Kee old style restaurant or something like that, was a pretty killer spot for photos and excellent food
If I can find my photos Ill post them up, as the only one I could find online doesnt really do it justice, or maybe the place went broke, as it was 3 years ago since we last visited.