Xiamen

Understand

The core of the city is on Xiamen Island. The mainland suburbs Jimei, Tong'an, Xiang'an, and Haicang, as well as the small island of Gulangyu, are separate, but all these areas are administered as parts of Xiamen.

Until 1840, Western "barbarians" were only allowed to conduct trade in Guangzhou under strict restrictions. After China's defeat in the First Opium War, the British seized Hong Kong, and China was forced to open five treaty ports: Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo, and Shanghai. Gulangyu became a concession administered by foreign powers, hosting consulates and luxurious residences. Today, Gulangyu is just a five-minute ferry ride from the main urban area and remains a picturesque and peaceful (car-free) destination.

During the early days of Cold War, Xiamen was a battlefront between the Communists and Nationalists — propaganda broadcast, frogman infiltration, as well as shelling across Xiamen and the neighbouring island of Kinmen were the norm. The giant slogan that promotes Mainland China's "One Country, Two Systems" policy towards reunification (in contrast of the opposing slogan on Kinmen that advocates the Three Principles of the People) is a remanent from that period of prolonged conflict.

In 1980, Xiamen became one of China’s first Special Economic Zones, aimed at encouraging development and opening up the country. Since then, Xiamen has flourished. It has received more Taiwanese investment than any other Chinese city, partly because both southern Fujian a…

Get in

Xiamen has a major airport and good road and rail connections; it is easily reached from anywhere in China and many places beyond.

Get around

Local public transit is easiest to pay for with the Xiamen public transit mini-app on Alipay or WeChat.

If you are planning on staying in Xiamen for a significant amount of time, you can also get an eKatong (e卡通) stored value card. It can be used in different forms of public transport not only in Xiamen, but also in the neighbouring cities of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou.

The local bus system is very good, but the normal bus routes are listed in Chinese and do not have English on the signs. Signs in the BRT and Metro are bilingual in Chinese and English, while announcements are trilingual in Mandarin, Minnan and English. thumb|BRT on bus-only elevated roads thumb|Metro lines in Xiamen Taxis are cheap, starting at ¥8 (plus ¥3 fuel tax – so ¥11) for the first 3 km. After the first 3 km, the meter charge will go up based on distance. Although the meter may read with a decimal, most taxi drivers will round up. On the other hand, as anywhere in China, tipping is not expected.