Wender·Vista
Xiamen
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tilePeople's Republic of China
on the Fujian coast, across the strait from Taiwan

Xiamen

— — a port city that still sounds like piano practice.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A subtropical port on the south coast of Fujian, looking out across the Taiwan Strait. The old foreign concessions on Gulangyu still set the tone — a small island a short ferry ride from the modern waterfront, where cars are forbidden and the lanes carry the sound of someone, somewhere, practising the piano. The studio chose Xiamen for the way the colonial verandahs and the tea-house light hold each other. from the studio

from the studio
Xiamen
— bring it home

Xiamen, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Xiamen

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Xiamen is a coastal sub-provincial city in southern Fujian, set on an island and the adjacent mainland across from Kinmen and Taiwan. It was one of the first treaty ports opened to foreign trade in 1842 under the Treaty of Nanking, and one of China's earliest Special Economic Zones in 1980. The historic settlement on neighbouring Gulangyu was inscribed by UNESCO in 2017 for its 931 surviving foreign and Chinese buildings. The city's population is roughly 5.3 million.

— the air

The climate is humid subtropical, moderated by the South China Sea. Summers run hot and wet, with typhoon season peaking from July through September; winters are mild, with January averages near 12°C. The light off the harbour is soft most mornings, sharpening after midday. Gulangyu's lanes hold their own microclimate — narrow, shaded by banyan and frangipani, opening without warning onto views across the Lujiang channel back to the high-rise skyline of Siming district.

— the visit

Gulangyu, the small island opposite the city centre, is reached by passenger ferry from the Dongdu international terminal; the crossing takes about twenty minutes. Cars and bicycles are not permitted on the island, so the 2 km² is walked. The Piano Museum at Shuzhuang Garden holds more than a hundred historic instruments donated by collector Hu Youyi. On the mainland, the late-Ming Nanputuo Temple sits at the foot of Wulao peak, beside the campus of Xiamen University.

— informed by Wikipedia — Gulangyu
— where
People's Republic of China · Xiamen, Fujian
— position
24.4798° N · 118.0894° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
1 km W
Gulangyu
UNESCO island settlement
5 km S
Nanputuo Temple
Ming-era Buddhist temple
5 km S
Xiamen University
historic campus
10 km E
Kinmen
Taiwanese island group
N
Xiamen
Gulangyu
Nanputuo Temple
Xiamen University
Kinmen
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Xiamen — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Xiamen sits on the south coast of Fujian province in southeastern China, across a narrow strait from the Taiwanese island of Kinmen, about 700 km southwest of Shanghai.

Gulangyu was inscribed in 2017 as a historic international settlement, recognised for 931 surviving buildings that blend Southern Fujian, colonial European, Japanese, and early modernist architecture from the treaty-port era after 1842.

The small island has an unusually dense piano-owning population dating to its missionary-school era, and houses the Gulangyu Piano Museum with more than a hundred historic instruments donated by collector Hu Youyi.

October through December is the most settled window — warm, dry, and past typhoon season, which peaks July through September. January averages near 12°C and is mild but cooler.

Visitors take a passenger ferry from the Dongdu international terminal on Xiamen Island; the crossing is roughly twenty minutes. Cars and bicycles are not permitted on Gulangyu, so the island is walked.

A late-Ming Buddhist temple at the foot of Wulao peak, beside Xiamen University. It remains an active monastery and one of the most visited religious sites on the southern Fujian coast.

— about the piece in your home

It has been a meaningful gift for customers from the Minnan-speaking diaspora. Gulangyu and the Xiamen waterfront are recognised on sight by anyone who grew up there. A Small or Medium with a handwritten studio note carries well.

The piece sits well in Coastal-modern, Japandi, and warm Minimalist rooms. The stained-glass treatment reads as quiet colour rather than ornament, so it does not crowd a space.

Above a standard three-seat sofa, a single Large reads cleanly; for a longer wall, a 4-tile Mural extends the harbour view; for a statement wall, the 9-tile Mural.

Yes. For wet or steamy rooms, choose the Dura Satin or Matte finish — both are scratch-resistant and hold up to humidity, with no sheen on the Matte.

A soft microfibre cloth with water is enough. The colour lives in the ceramic surface beneath a thin protective finish, so it will not lift with normal cleaning.

Yes. Every piece in the WenderVista atlas is original to Wender Studios in Knoxville, Tennessee. The work is curated by Reid Wender and hand-finished in-house, with no licensing.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.