Atlas of China
Nanjing to Xiamen 南京 – 厦门
Door to door, the high-speed train comes out ahead: about 6 hours against about 4½ hours by flight, counting about 20 minutes to board a train and 2½ hours of airport time for a flight. Fares run ¥519 against about ¥550.
| Way | Time | Door to door | Fare | A day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High-speed trainNanjing South 南京南 → Xiamen North 厦门北 | 5 h 40 minG3331, fastest | 6 hours | ¥519standard class | 1406:04–14:28 |
| FlightNanjing Lukou (NKG) → Xiamen Gaoqi (XMN) | 1 h 55 minin the air | 4½ hours | about ¥550varies by day | 1107:00–20:30 |
By train
14 direct high-speed trains a day run from Nanjing South to Xiamen North, between 06:04 and 14:28. The fastest, G3331, takes 5 h 40 min, and a standard-class seat is ¥519. Coming back, 13 trains a day, the fastest 5 h 49 min (G3028, 07:50 to 15:43).
Xiamen: Gaoqi Airport (XMN) is due to be replaced by the new Xiang'an Airport around the end of 2026.
By air
11 nonstop flights a day from Nanjing Lukou (NKG) to Xiamen Gaoqi (XMN), 1 h 55 min in the air, 07:00 to 20:30, with China Eastern Airlines, XiamenAir and Shenzhen Airlines. 11 fly back. Door to door, with the airports at each end, count about 4½ hours; fares vary by day and are typically about ¥550.
Stops on the way
Cities between the two with direct trains from Nanjing and on to Xiamen, so the trip can be broken there.
- Huangshan City 黄山市 260 km from Nanjing · 1 h 48 min there, 3 h 36 min on
- Quzhou 衢州 340 km from Nanjing · 2 h 29 min there, 3 h 46 min on
- Wuyishan 武夷山 480 km from Nanjing · 4 h 6 min there, 2 h 48 min on
At the other end
Featured places around Xiamen.
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Gulangyu Island 鼓浪屿
A car-free island of old villas, banyan trees and drifting piano music
Around Nanjing: Purple Mountain & Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, Fuzimiao and the Qinhuai River, City Wall of Nanjing.
On the map
Open either city on the illustrated map, or put both in a trip and let the planner lay out the days and the legs between them, with the same tables these numbers come from.
Book
About Nanjing · About Xiamen · Where Nanjing reaches in a day · Where Xiamen reaches in a day · All routes
Trains are every direct train on 2026-10-28 or 2026-11-11 in the 12306 timetable, with standard-class fares; one weekday, so weekend and holiday services differ, and the fastest train may not run every day. Flights are the airlines' schedules for 2026-10-28, plus routes Wikipedia lists for small airports. Drives are routed on OpenStreetMap roads (extract of 2026-10-21) where the pair was routed, else estimated from the distance. Door-to-door times add about 20 minutes to board a train and 2½ hours of airport time to a flight. How to book is in the guide to trains and 12306; the rail times are open data on the data page.