Getting around Xiamen, and paying for it

Do this at home, not at the airport

Daily life in China runs on two apps, Alipay and WeChat Pay. Cash still works in shops, but change is often a problem and some things, bus fares for one, are built around a phone.

1. Download Alipay. Register with your own phone number, verify with your passport, and add a Visa or Mastercard.
2. Inside Alipay, search for the transit code (乘车码) and switch on Xiamen. This is not the same as the payment code you show in shops.
3. Download DiDi, or use the DiDi mini-app inside Alipay. Add the same card.
4. Install a translation app with an offline Chinese pack, and a map that works in China.

Payments under ¥200 are generally free of charge. Above that, a fee of around 3% may be added, on top of whatever your bank charges for foreign transactions. Reported limits are US$5,000 per payment and US$50,000 a year, far more than a holiday needs.

Carry a few hundred yuan in small notes anyway. One visitor from Malaysia found that a few small vendors would only take WeChat, which she could not use, and paid cash. It is also the fallback when a phone battery dies.

Ride-hailing and taxis

This is how most visitors move, and for good reason. The places you will go are close together: Nanputuo Temple, the university, Shapowei, Zhongshan Road and the ferry terminals are all a short ride from one another, and fares are low.

DiDi shows the price before you book, tracks the route and removes the need to explain an address. Type or paste the destination in Chinese if you can; hotel staff will write it for you.

Street taxis are metered and fine on normal trips. The complaints we see are about short hops from the airport and the stations, where drivers sometimes refuse or ask for a top-up. Apps do not have that problem.

The slow spots are the bridges and tunnels on and off the island at rush hour, and anywhere near Zengcuo'an or Zhongshan Road on a holiday evening.

The metro

Fares start at ¥2 and rise with distance. Machines at every station sell single tickets and take cash and mobile payment. Lines 4 and 6 began free trial running in September 2026 on the mainland side and are of little use to visitors yet.

Line 1 has one stretch worth riding for its own sake. Between Gaoqi and Jimei School Village the train runs on a causeway across open water. Sit on the right-hand side heading north.

The metro does not reach the airport terminals, the university gate or the seafront. For those you are back to a car or a bus.

Buses and the BRT

City buses go everywhere and cost very little. They are slow, the stop announcements are in Mandarin, and the driver's scanner reads only the transit code. A foreign visitor who tried her normal Alipay code on the airport bus found it would not work; the driver let her sit down and sort it out. Set it up beforehand and it is painless.

The BRT is a bus network on its own elevated road, so it does not get stuck in traffic. Line 1 runs from the First Wharf, near the old town, to Xiamen North station. Stations are up a flight of stairs.

Walking

The old town between Zhongshan Road and the Eighth Market is best on foot. So is the stretch from Nanputuo Temple through Shapowei to the start of the seafront. Gulangyu is walking only.

One practical warning: map apps in Xiamen like to route pedestrians through the back lanes of old neighbourhoods. It is usually shorter and occasionally ends in someone's courtyard. If the blue line dives into an alley, stay on the main road.

Bicycles and scooters

The seafront along Huandao Road has a dedicated cycling lane and is the one place where a bike is the right tool. Shared bikes unlock through Alipay. They are heavy, and people who tried to ride them the length of the coast gave up halfway. For anything over a few kilometres, rent a proper bike or an electric one from a shop in Zengcuo'an. Details are in our Huandao Road guide.

Shared electric scooters are another matter. Riding zones on the island are restricted, the boundaries are not obvious, and visitors report fines for crossing them. We would not use them.

Ferries

The boat to Gulangyu has its own rules and its own article: see Gulangyu ferry tickets.

Trains out of the city

Most high-speed services leave from Xiamen North, on the mainland side. It is 35 to 45 minutes from the centre by car, or about an hour on Line 1 from the old town. The older Xiamen station is on the island. They are 23 km apart, so read your ticket. Our page on getting to Xiamen lists journey times.

A few things that catch people out

• Hotels booked through Chinese platforms sometimes cannot register foreign guests. Filter for properties that accept them, or book through an international site.
• Your passport is your ID for trains, the ferry and several free sights. Carry the original.
• App verification is far easier with a working mobile number and data from the moment you land.
• Drivers rarely speak English. A screenshot of the Chinese address solves it.

Quick answers

Keep planning

• Airport to city
• How to get to Xiamen
• Gulangyu ferry tickets
• Huandao Road and Zengcuo'an
• Jimei School Village
• Xiamen travel guide