Xiamen Gulangyu Travel Guide

For traveling in Xiamen, how do you take the boat to Gulangyu? Where do you board? No matter where you start from, visitors all take the boat from Dongdu Pier. On Gulangyu Island, choose Sanqiutian Pier. Use the "Yu Jian Xiamen" app to buy official boat tickets; departures are basically from Dongdu Pier. If there are no tickets left for Sanqiutian Pier, you can choose Neicuo'ao Pier as an alternative. Please note, the boat ticket includes a round trip, so you don’t need to worry about the return trip. When buying tickets, pay attention to the scheduled time; boarding is done by scanning your ID card for real-name verification, just like taking a high-speed train. If you miss your boat, don’t panic—you can reschedule, but other trips are non-refundable. The ticket shows the boarding gate number, so be sure to check which gate it is. You can buy tickets at any time; there’s no need to rush, and all times are visible in the app. There is no specified boarding gate for the return trip. Ticket prices are either 35 or 80 yuan. If you buy the 80 yuan ticket, you might return on the 35 yuan boat because the return boats pick up passengers randomly. My personal advice is not to eat too much before going to Gulangyu because some of the island’s delicacies can’t be found elsewhere, such as Shen’s rice rolls, Lin’s oyster omelet, egg-filled buns, Longtou shark fish balls, and family-style seafood meals at Shangyu Seafood. The prices are very reasonable. For the return trip, you can take one of the boats before 6:40 pm, which might let you see the sunset glow. The scenery on both sides will be even better, so you get two benefits at once.