Atlas of China
Xiamen 厦门Xiàmén
Satay noodles, a car-free island of villas and the campuses Tan Kah Kee built
About Xiamen
Xiamen grew on an island at the mouth of the Jiulong River: the 1842 Treaty of Nanjing opened it, then known in English as Amoy, to British trade, and in 1980 it became one of China's first four special economic zones. A short ferry ride away, the villas and car-free lanes of Gulangyu Island joined the World Heritage list in 2017. The Singapore-based philanthropist Tan Kah Kee founded Xiamen University in 1921 and began Jimei School Village, and Hulishan Fort keeps a 19th-century Krupp gun.
What to eat in Xiamen
- Shacha noodles (沙茶面)
- Sea worm jelly (土笋冻)
Featured places in Xiamen
-
Gulangyu Island 鼓浪屿
A car-free island of old villas, banyan trees and drifting piano music
Listed sites in Xiamen
15 sites in Xiamen are on the official lists. Those with a page of their own link to it; the rest open as cards on the map.
- Xiamen Botanical Gardens 厦门园林植物园 5A scenic area
A large botanical garden founded in 1960 on Wanshi Hill, close to central Xiamen, covering 4.91 km² and holding more than 9,000 plant species. - Aoyuan and the Tomb of Tan Kah Kee 鳌园 4A scenic area · National heritage site
A walled memorial garden on the Jimei waterfront holding the tomb of Tan Kah Kee (1874–1961), the Singapore-based businessman and philanthropist who founded the Jimei schools and Xiamen University; he began building the tomb in 1955 and was buried here in 1961. - Beichen Mountain 北辰山 4A scenic area · on the map
A hill park of about 12 km² in Wuxian town, Tong'an, best known for the Twelve Dragon Pools, a chain of waterfalls and clear pools of different sizes running down a valley from near the top of the hill. - Fantawild Dreamland Xiamen 厦门方特梦幻王国 4A scenic area · on the map
A theme park in Tong'an District opened in 2013 by the Huaqiang Fantawild group, covering about 40 hectares. - Huihe Stone Culture Park 惠和石文化园 4A scenic area · on the map
A park in Huli District devoted to stone carving, with a stone-culture gallery, a stone carving museum, a treasure gallery and a hall of 'stone shadow carving', a southern Fujian craft listed as intangible heritage, plus space for workshops and folk performances. - Hulishan Fort 胡里山炮台 4A scenic area · National heritage site
A coastal fort on the south-eastern tip of Xiamen Island, completed in 1896 in a mix of European and Chinese styles, with granite ramparts, underground passages, barracks, magazines, lookout posts and a moat. - Laoyuanzi Folk Culture Park 老院子民俗文化风情园 4A scenic area · on the map
A commercial culture park opened in 2015 near Xiamen North Railway Station, with a folk-culture area built in southern Fujian style. - Riyue Valley Hot Spring Resort 日月谷温泉 4A scenic area · on the map
A hot-spring resort at the foot of Tianzhu Mountain in Haicang, with indoor and outdoor thermal pools in gardens styled after South-East Asia, leisure facilities and a hotel. - Tianzhu Mountain Forest Park 天竺山森林公园 4A scenic area · on the map
Forested hills in Dongfu, Haicang, on Xiamen's western mainland edge, with lakes and valleys, a bamboo garden of more than 200 kinds of bamboo and around 60 cultural spots, including small Buddhist and Taoist temples such as Longmen Temple and Zhenji Temple. - Xiamen Chengyi Nature Exploration Museum 厦门诚毅自然探索馆 4A scenic area · on the map
An indoor family museum in Jimei, opened as the Chengyi Discovery Center with exhibits on space, aviation and navigation, which reopened on 3 July 2026 after a refit as a natural-history centre. - Xiamen Garden Expo Park 厦门园林博览苑 4A scenic area · on the map
The site of the 6th China International Garden and Flower Expo in 2007, built on Xinglin Bay in Jimei by cutting channels through the bay's central islands to form nine islands joined by 16 bridges. - Xiamen Lingling International Circus City 灵玲国际马戏城 4A scenic area · on the map
A circus-themed resort in Xinglin, Jimei, with a large circus theatre seating about 10,000, an 'animal kingdom' zoo area, a hotel and play areas for children. - Early Buildings of Jimei School Village and Xiamen University 集美学村和厦门大学早期建筑 National heritage site · on the map
Thirty-one school and university buildings put up between the 1920s and the 1950s with money from Tan Kah Kee, in the 'Jiageng style' that combines Western and Chinese elements. - Qingjiao and Baijiao Ciji Palaces 青、白礁慈济宫 National heritage site
Twin founding temples of Baosheng Dadi, the deified Song-dynasty physician Wu Tao, about 3 km apart on either side of the Xiamen–Zhangzhou boundary: the 'east palace' in Qingjiao village, Haicang District, Xiamen, and the 'west palace' in Baijiao village, Jiaomei town, Longhai District, Zhangzhou. - Site of the Xiamen Prison Break 厦门破狱斗争旧址 National heritage site · on the map
The former Siming county jail on Siming South Road, where on 25 May 1930 an armed Communist team led by Tao Zhu broke in and freed more than 40 imprisoned party members and supporters without loss.
Getting to Xiamen
Train, flight and driving times from the cities most visitors come from, with stations, fares and how many run a day; each opens the full comparison.
- Fuzhou 福州 high-speed train 56 min, 137 a day, from ¥126; one nonstop flight a day, 50 min in the air
- Wuyishan 武夷山 high-speed train 2 h 41 min, 17 a day, from ¥255; one nonstop flight a day, 1 h 10 min in the air
- Shangrao 上饶 high-speed train 2 h 42 min, 31 a day, from ¥291
- Hong Kong 香港 high-speed train 3 h 49 min, 4 a day, from ¥373; 2 nonstop flights a day, 1 h 30 min in the air
- Guangzhou 广州 high-speed train 3 h 24 min, 21 a day, from ¥303; 6 nonstop flights a day, 1 h 40 min in the air
- Jinhua 金华 high-speed train 3 h 28 min, 8 a day, from ¥390
- Changsha 长沙 high-speed train 6 h 16 min, 9 a day, from ¥425; 8 nonstop flights a day, 1 h 40 min in the air
- Hangzhou 杭州 high-speed train 4 h 15 min, 40 a day, from ¥479; 7 nonstop flights a day, 1 h 40 min in the air
- Wuhan 武汉 high-speed train 6 h 55 min, 9 a day, from ¥379; 8 nonstop flights a day, 1 h 45 min in the air
- Shanghai 上海 high-speed train 5 h 3 min, 23 a day, from ¥566; 26 nonstop flights a day, 2 h in the air
- Nanjing 南京 high-speed train 5 h 40 min, 14 a day, from ¥519; 11 nonstop flights a day, 1 h 55 min in the air
- Haikou 海口 no direct train; 5 nonstop flights a day, 2 h 15 min in the air
- Sanya 三亚 no direct train; 2 nonstop flights a day, 2 h 30 min in the air
- Qingdao 青岛 high-speed train 12 h 8 min, 1 a day, from ¥936; 6 nonstop flights a day, 2 h 45 min in the air
Trips with Xiamen
- Fujian: Xiamen, the tulou roundhouses and the Wuyi Mountains 5 days · Xiamen and Wuyishan
On the map
Open Xiamen on the illustrated map to see its outline, its places and listed sites together, and to add them to a trip.
Open Xiamen on the map