Gulangyu Ferry Tickets: How to Book, and Why 15 Days Ahead Matters

Oct 1, 2026·6 min read

On this page

• What Gulangyu is, and why the ferry is the whole entry fee
• How far ahead to book, and when tickets drop
• How visitors from abroad book
• Which pier you leave from, and which one you land at
• What costs extra once you are on the island
• Refunds and changes
• Three things that catch people out
• Half a day or a full day?
• Where a guided tour fits
• FAQ
• How far in advance can I book Gulangyu ferry tickets?
• Do I need a passport to buy a Gulangyu ferry ticket?
• Is the return ferry included?
• Is there an entry ticket for the island itself?
• Check dates and availability

Gulangyu is a small island across the strait from Xiamen, with no bridge or tunnel for visitors. The ferry is the only way in — and the only entry fee, since the island charges no gate ticket. The harder part is that this crossing sells out in peak season.

The booking window is also shorter than most travellers assume. Since 1 February 2026, the Xiamen–Gulangyu tourist ferry routes open reservations 15 days ahead, counting the day of travel, with tickets for a given day released at 9:00 AM. Work backwards and it becomes concrete: to be on the island on 5 October, the earliest you can book is 9:00 AM on 21 September. Every day you wait, you lose a day of choice.

This guide covers how visitors from abroad book, which pier to use, what else costs money, and how to shape half a day or a full one.

What Gulangyu is, and why the ferry is the whole entry fee

Gulangyu is compact — narrow lanes, colonial-era villas and waterfront — and you see it on foot. The sights first-timers come for sit close together: Longtou Road, the island's main lane; Sunlight Rock; and Shuzhuang Garden. Only the individual sights charge separately, so a day walking the lanes, the villa quarter and the shoreline costs nothing beyond the ferry.

The island runs a daily visitor cap of 50,000 people, which is why tickets are so hard to get on public holidays.

How far ahead to book, and when tickets drop

The 15-day pre-sale period, including the day of travel, has applied since 1 February 2026 — it was 10 days before that. Any guide telling you to "book 3 days ahead" is describing the old rule and will leave you too late.

One caveat: the official notice states the 15-day window but does not spell out the release hour. 9:00 AM is the figure reported consistently across booking guides, not something the announcement confirms. Check the app on the day.

How visitors from abroad book

Tickets run through two official channels, both Chinese-language services:

1. The official mini-program inside WeChat or Alipay — the main entry point, and the one with the official waitlist feature.
2. The Xiamen Ferry Company's WeChat account, which shares the same inventory.

• Booking is real-name, one ticket per person, tied to one ID document. You scan that same document to pass the gate at the pier, so book with the passport you are travelling on and carry it that day. If you are booking on a foreign passport, sort it out well before you reach the pier rather than at the gate.
• One account can hold at most 10 unused tickets at a time — enough for a family group.
• Enter every passenger's document details before the 9:00 AM sale, so you can tick them and go the moment tickets drop. Those saved seconds matter.
• Prices: tourist tickets run ¥35–¥80 depending on vessel type; the route is the same. Xiamen residents travel on a separate resident ticket at ¥8.
• Children under 6 years old, or under 1.2 m tall, travel free — a maximum of two per adult.

Both channels are Chinese interfaces, so have a translation app open or ask your hotel to help with the first booking.

Which pier you leave from, and which one you land at

• Daytime boats leave from the Cruise Center Xiagu Wharf at Dongdu, and can land at either Sanqiutian or Neicuo'ao.
• From the evening on, boats leave from Hall 2 of the Xiamen Ferry Terminal, opposite Zhongshan Road, and go to Sanqiutian only.

For a first visit, pick Sanqiutian: Longtou Road, Sunlight Rock and Shuzhuang Garden are all within a 5–10 minute walk of the pier, and it runs until late at night. Neicuo'ao is quieter, but adds roughly 20 minutes to reach the core of the island.

You scan your ID document to pass the gate, so arrive 45–60 minutes before departure.

The return trip is included: one free crossing within 20 days, any vessel, any departure. Go out through Sanqiutian and back via Neicuo'ao, or the other way round.

What costs extra once you are on the island

The ferry is the entry fee; the headliner sights are priced separately.

Sight	Ticket
Sunlight Rock	¥50
Shuzhuang Garden	¥30
Organ Museum	¥30
Haoyue Garden	¥10
Letter-carving Museum	¥5

A combined ticket is quoted at ¥90–¥100; bundles are adjusted yearly, so the price shown on the day is the one that counts. The lanes and waterfront cost nothing extra.

Refunds and changes

The rules tightened on 1 September 2026 for individual tickets:

• Cancel or change within 30 minutes of payment, and more than 4 hours before departure — no fee.
• Once the sailing has passed, changing to a same-day sailing costs 20%; changing to a non-same-day sailing costs 30%.
• A ticket that has already been changed cannot be refunded.

Three things that catch people out

1. Do not plan around the on-site window. Officially there is a counter at the pier, but travellers report it is effectively empty of tickets on public holidays. Treat it as a fallback, not a strategy.
2. Do not use scalpers or third-party "grabber" services. Entry is real-name with an ID scan at the gate, so marked-up and fake tickets do not get through.
3. Do not give up if the 9:00 AM sale is gone. The official platform runs a waitlist: choose your sailing and queue, and returned tickets are assigned automatically in order. Most returns surface around midday and on the evening before travel, so checking then can beat the morning scramble.

Half a day or a full day?

Half a day covers the essentials — Longtou Road, Sunlight Rock and Shuzhuang Garden, all walkable from Sanqiutian. A full day adds the Organ Museum, Haoyue Garden and the quieter Neicuo'ao side. Either way, take an early sailing; with a 50,000-person daily cap, midday is the busiest stretch.

Keep it to a day bag. You are on foot from the pier to the sights, so leave larger luggage at your hotel in Xiamen.

Where a guided tour fits

What the system will not bend on: real-name booking, one document per person, released 15 days ahead. A guided day absorbs the booking fiddliness — the Chinese-language channels, the timed 9:00 AM release, the pier rules — plus a guide on the ground for the villas and the old settlement.

The one thing a tour cannot fix is a sold-out day, because entry is issued against your own document. Then check the listing part by part — ferry ticket, transfers, guide — and see which of the three are actually included before you book.

FAQ

How far in advance can I book Gulangyu ferry tickets?

15 days, counting the day of travel. Tickets are released each day at 9:00 AM for the 15th day out, so 21 September is the earliest you can book for 5 October.

Do I need a passport to buy a Gulangyu ferry ticket?

Tickets are sold by real name, one document per person, and you scan that document at the gate. Book with the passport you are travelling on and carry it on the day.

Is the return ferry included?

Yes. The ticket includes one free return crossing, valid for 20 days, on any vessel and any departure.

Is there an entry ticket for the island itself?

No. The ferry is your entry fee. Sunlight Rock, Shuzhuang Garden and the museums charge separately; the lanes and the waterfront are free.