How to Get to Xiamen

By Jian Shuo Wang on 2007-04-19 23:42 · Xiamen

I need you help to provide me some info because we are planning to do back packing there. We will depart from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok and then to Xiamen. My question is how much is the airlines/train/bus cost from Xiamen to Beijing or Shanghai? Which one is nearer from Xiamen; Beijing or Shanghai?

If we want to go to Great Wall, is it advisable if we go by ourselves or better we take tour package. Hope you can help because we are girls and this is our first time traveling to China by ourselves.

What a co-incident! I am packing for my trip to Xiamen tomorrow morning (early flight again in Hong Qiao Airport), and let me answer this Xiamen related question.

Price

It is highly suggested that you take flight instead of bus or train. Xiamen is in the mountain area, and bus or train takes too long time (correct me if I am wrong here).

Air ticket from Xiamen to Shanghai is 960 RMB (standard price), and usually you can get lower price like 380 RMB, or lower. On CTRIP.COM, the lowest price they offer is 290 RMB.

From Xiamen to Beijing by air is 1710 RMB and the cheapest flights I saw on ctrip.com is 940 RMB.

Xiamen to Beijing?

Definitely Beijing is farther than Shanghai to Xiamen.

I don’t have a suggestion for whether to take a tour or by yourself. If you are on a budget travel, try the buses near the Tiananmen Square in Beijing. They directly brings you to the Great Wall. Or you can join a tour for a better experience. (Well. Not necessarily better. It depends on which tour you roll in).

P.S. Want to know more about Xiamen, check out my previous trip to Xiamen:

Xiamen - Tiny Beautiful City

20 Comments
May a train ride from Shanghai or Beijing will be interesting. Can consider that...
— DC · 2007-04-20 10:14
Thanks Jianshuo for your info.

A few more questions, how much is the train price from shanghai to beijing? can i take the bullet train and how much is the price?

Thanks
— Noorfariah Jaafar · 2007-04-20 10:19
About the Great Wall: I was there in 1999 and visited the Simatai part of the wall. I highly recommend the place for its magnificent view and authentic feel. Prepare for climbing the wall as parts of it in Simatai are really steep and narrow. See more in Simatai
— JunioR · 2007-04-20 19:47
hello, Quanzhou,near to XiaMen, is my hometown. If you want to go to BeiJing from XiaMen, I suggest that you take train from FuZhou to XiaMen. As I know, the train speed just high up recently.

so, you can take train from FuZhou to BeiJing. It is about 400RMB.
— goodhawk · 2007-04-20 23:56
There is a train from Xiamen to Beijing. Leaves Xiamen at 21:08 （the departure time may have changed by now.... I took it last year) and Arrives in Beijing 07:00. Soft Sleeper is about 600 RMB or more. Train is K305/K308
— Fujianren · 2007-04-21 00:15
Sorry I forgot to add that it arrives in Beijing 07:00 on the 3rd day
— Fujianren · 2007-04-21 00:17
Noorfariah Jaafar: You might want to go to Quanzhou that is reasonable close to Xiamen. It was a very busy port-city in the past, and there were a lot of merchants from all over the world. There is a very ancient mosque in the city center that is among the oldest mosque in China. There was a sizeable Moslem population in Quanzhou before. The mosque,Qingjing mosque, is located on Tushan Street. Built in 1009, it's design is said to be based on a mosque in Damascus, Syria. The entrance gate is the most well-preserved part of the compound. It is 20 metres high and in the centre of the vaulted ceiling is an architectural design called a "caisson".
— Fujianren · 2007-04-21 02:56
Hah, I've been blocked from posting my comments!
— Jianfeng · 2007-04-21 18:56
Fujianren, thanks for the info. IS Quanzhou is the same city of Guangzhou? Because when i look at the map i can't find Quanzhou? And how to go there from Xiamen and how many hours? Since we are Moslem, it was great that we can visit the ancient mosque which i plan to visit at Beijing.

Dear Goodhawk:

Waht is the different if we take train from Fuzhou to Beijing and Xiamen to Beijing? Is it different train or different in terms of price, travel time etc..

In between journey, what are the province/place of interest that we should stop over? We've been thinking to stop over at Shanghai on the way back from Beijing.
— Noorfariah Jaafar · 2007-04-22 18:39
Noorfariah Jaafar:

I refer you to the following site that tells you more of Quanzhou. It is a city to the north of Xiamen, in the province of Fujian. From Xiamen, you can take a long-distance bus there which takes about 2 hours.

http://www.muslimwikipedia.com/mw/index.php/Quanzhou

This site also mentions the Qingjing mosque. The Chinese Moslems looking after the mosque do not speak English at all. You probably need to get a Chinese tour guide. The place is not very big.
— Fujianren · 2007-04-22 19:55
The long distance buses in and out of Xiamen to majoy cities such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Wenzhou, Hangzhou ect are very convinient and iinexpensive compare to Air Travel if you are not in a hurry. For instance, bus to Shenzhen is about 130-160rmb depending on which coach you are taking. The time taken is about 6 hours.

Air travel from Shenzhen to Xiamen without discount is about 960rmb, and during low season, you may get up to 60% discount. However, CITRIP is not the only booking agency and 290rmb for one way from Shenzhen to Xiamen is very rare.

I have driven from Xiamen to Shanghai, it takes about 10-11 hours depending on the number of stops I make. If I am in a hurry, I can do it in 9 hours. The bus trip may take abit longer, but not by much.
— Choi LEE · 2007-05-04 12:29
i want to know xiamen near cityguong zhou or not
— pimnara · 2007-05-09 17:10
i want to know xiamen near cityguong zhou or not
— pimnara · 2007-05-09 17:10
Hello Jianshuo and all

I was so glad to find this site! Would be grateful if anybody has experience to share please?

We need to be at Xiamen on 23 Dec, and then to Guilin on 28 Dec. However, we are not sure whether to depart from Beijing or Shanghai (as we are flying from the UK and stopping over at either Beijing or Shanghai). I looked up CTRIP which was really good. I would like to stop at Beijing but it's cheaper to fly from Shanghai. But then I have to transit from Pudong to Hongqiao before flying to Xiamen!

Also, the journey from Xiamen to Guilin is also quite expensive. Do you know if there are other agencies available??

many thanks, any help is appreciated.

Becky L
— Becky L · 2008-08-22 05:53
I want to know the best and cheaper way of transport from hong kong to xiamen? What is the approximate time of travel?
— Levy · 2008-08-30 05:51
@Levy, the normal way should be by air, but I am sure there will be train connecting the two cities. However, the problem is, Xiamen is at the coastal line with mountains surrounding it. Also, Xiamen itself is an island, that you need to find other ways to get to it, not train. I suggest you to use airlines, although it is not cheap.
— Jian Shuo Wang · 2008-08-30 11:35
I need your help..

how to get Xiamen from Kuala Lumpur? do we have to transit and where to transit?

thanks
— Linda Nie · 2009-11-14 13:37
what is train and bus prices from Guangzhou to xiamen
— obeng james · 2010-06-06 21:05
what is bus and train fare from Guangzhou to xiamen
— james · 2010-06-06 21:40
How to travel from Pudong to Xiamen? Is it connected by Train or Bus?
— jai · 2011-06-15 21:45