Gulangyu Piano Museum (钢琴博物馆, Gāngqín Bówùguǎn)

The Gulangyu Piano Museum was founded in 2000 by Hu Yida, a Xiamen-born piano collector who spent decades tracking down rare and historically significant pianos from around the world. Hu's personal passion, combined with contributions from other collectors, resulted in an extraordinary collection of over 100 instruments displayed across two interconnected halls on Gulangyu Island. The museum is recognized by the Guinness World Records as the largest public piano collection in the world.

The first hall displays 19th-century wooden-frame pianos — the delicate, artwork-like instruments made when pianos were as much furniture as musical instruments. The standout piece here is the 1843 Broadwood grand piano, one of the oldest surviving pianos of its kind and once owned by a close associate of Frederic Chopin. The second hall houses the iron-frame pianos of the late 19th and early 20th centuries — heavier, louder, and more structurally similar to modern pianos. It also features automated player pianos that can be programmed to play themselves.

The museum's location on Gulangyu Island is fitting, given the island's own musical heritage. In the early 20th century, Gulangyu was known as "Piano Island" — its foreign residents and wealthy Chinese families owned pianos, and many households had their children study piano with private tutors. Church organs, piano recitals, and chamber music were regular features of island life. The museum helps preserve and display this heritage.