Xiamen

Certified tea master whose family has grown Tieguanyin (Iron Goddess) oolong tea for four generations. She can take you beyond the tourist tea houses to a genuine gongfu tea session in a Qing-era teahouse where the tea is literally grown by her uncle.

Music school graduate who leads the most interesting Gulangyu tours — not the checklist route, but the one that takes you inside piano museums during rehearsal hours, to the hidden rooftop cafés with sea views, and tells you which colonial villa was built for which concubine (seriously).

Born in Siming District, she knows which seafood restaurant locals actually eat at (not the one your hotel recommends), where to find the best oyster omelette at 3am after clubbing, and why you should never order milk tea at certain bubble tea chains. The friendliest food guide in Xiamen.