Gulangyu Marvels World Museum

Gulangyu Marvels World Museum

Gulangyu Marvels World is a natural science museum approved by the Xiamen Science and Technology Bureau and the Gulangyu District Government. It serves as an educational exhibition space integrating astronomy, geography, humanities, and natural ecology. The museum showcases Minnan cultural arts along with a variety of bizarre animals and specimens. The venue is divided into the Minnan Cultural Arts Gallery, the Marvelous Beasts Gallery, and the Universal Wonders Gallery.

Minnan Cultural Arts Gallery

The traditional performance art of glove puppetry showcased in the Minnan Cultural Arts Gallery has won the Gold Award for Performance at the Second International Puppet Festival held in Romania. The puppet performances are remarkably lifelike — the puppets can hold cups, drink from them, offer cigarettes, light them, and even exhale smoke. In acrobatic acts, they juggle trays, balance jars on their heads, perform stick tricks, dance with ribbons, and engage in martial scenes where shields parry spear thrusts in thrilling combat. Traditional lion dances are vigorous and dynamic, while folk artists play drums and dance gracefully. The glove puppets imitate human movements with vivid expressions, reflecting the full range of human emotions — singing, speaking, acting, fighting, as well as joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness — all portrayed with stunning realism that leaves audiences in awe.

Marvelous Beasts Gallery

The Marvelous Beasts Gallery houses nearly a hundred rare and exotic creatures, including the world’s only two-headed, three-eyed mutant pig, a three-legged chicken, dancing mice, the world’s largest bird egg, horned monsters, chinchillas, Pikachu-like creatures, sleeve dogs, humanoid eagles, two-tailed lizards, ET lizards, and ninja turtles. The Butterfly & Insect Gallery features over 300 types of insects and butterflies, such as four-foot-wide beehives, yin-yang butterflies, the world’s largest insect, the world’s largest butterfly (the King of Butterflies), the world’s most beautiful butterfly (the Queen of Butterflies), the world’s smallest butterfly, the world’s dumbest butterfly, the world’s fastest-flying butterfly, the world’s smartest butterfly, and color-changing butterflies (dead leaf butterflies).

Universal Wonders Gallery

The Universal Wonders Gallery displays mysterious artifacts such as deep-sea Dragon King fish, white-haired magic stones, the legendary Yeti of the Himalayas, shrunken human heads from the Amazon River, the fabled mermaid, adorable mummified cats, human bone rosaries, fifty-pound giant seashells, night pearls, gabara stones, and six-foot shark swords.

Address: No. 38 Huangyan Road, Gulangyu, Xiamen City

Type: Museum/Art Gallery

Recommended visiting time: 1–2 hours

Opening Hours:

08:00–18:00

Ticket Information:

Joint ticket for Old Xiamen Story Museum + Marvels World Museum: 60 RMB; Joint ticket for Centennial Gulangyu Museum + Old Xiamen Story Museum + Marvels World Museum: 120 RMB. Free entry: children under 1.1m, seniors aged 80 and above with valid ID. Discounts: children between 1.1m and 1.4m receive half-price tickets; seniors aged 70–80 with valid ID receive half-price tickets.