Kulangsu is an island right next to Xiamen, where the 2017 BRICS Summit will be held. With a 5-minute ferry ride from the city you arrive at one of the most celebrated tourist sites of China, a 1.9 square-kilometer island, which successfully became a UN World Heritage Site in July 2017.

If you take a tour there, it's not hard to see the place's cultural value. Historically, Kulangsu was the home of many overseas Chinese, who brought back western aesthetics and music.

The island trained more than 200 of China's well known pianists. "We match two criteria for a World Heritage Site. First, it is an embodiment of cultural exchange between China and the outside world. We can see the merge of cultures in the lives of our people, in every street corner,” said Zheng Guozhen, vice chairman of the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage, who is the chief consultant to Kulangsu’s application for the UN World Heritage Site.

"The second criterion we matched is that we preserved distinguished examples of unique Kulangsu culture in our buildings and decorations,” said Zheng. 

The uniqueness is a mixture of eastern and western architectural elements. "Since Kulangsu became a World Heritage Site, many old buildings will from now on be treated as national-level cultural relics. This means the current maintenance standards will be raised,” said Wang Weishan, deputy director of the Kulangsu Administrative Committee.

This place has been a huge tourist attraction in China, as it welcomes over 12 million travelers every year. With rapid commercialization, many local homes have been turned into bars, restaurants and souvenir stores. "Too many tourists would definitely post a burden to the island. We used to have a lot of daily tourists. Since we are now a World Heritage Site we will gradually shrink that volume,” said Wang.

The administrators wants to keep daily visitor volume to the island at around 50 thousand. That is less than half of 5 years ago. Becoming World Heritage Site is not the finish line but a new beginning for protecting local culture. As tourists come for a feast for both the stomach and the eyes, it is important too, to make sure the local sound of the piano last for centuries.