Transfer and transfer hotel in Xiamen, China
When you’re flying with Xiamen airlines, you can use their perks on your transfers. From lounge passes for a short transfer, to a free hotel with longer transfers. We’ll explain you how to get these perks, but also the things you need to know before entering China.
Transfer in Xiamen between 6-24 hours?
Claim a free night in the transfer hotel of Xiamen Airlines.
When you exit customs at Xiamen Airport, turn right and follow the signs for the transfer desk to get your perks in Xiamen.
To get a hotel, present your boarding pass at the desk and request a hotel room. They will arrange the accommodation for you.
Located just behind the elevators is a luggage storage facility. We stored our check-in luggage there for the night for fee of 1 or 2 euros to avoid lugging it around the city.
Transport to and from the hotel
A shuttle bus from the airport will transport you to the hotel. You will have to arrange transport back to the airport yourself. You can pre-book a taxi for the next day at the bus waiting area, they will be waiting at the arranged time in front of the hotel. While you will need to pay for the taxi back to the airport, it is pretty cheap!
Things you need to know before travelling to China.
Getting and using cash in China can be challenging. For our stay we download Alipay and linked our credit card beforehand. You can pay everywhere with Alipay without having to use the internet.
Internet access in China differs from what we are used to. You will not be able to access Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Google Maps, and Google Translate unless you have a good working VPN.
We recommend downloading Chinese Traditional to Dutch or English language packs in Google Translate, so you will still be able to get around. Most Chinese do not speak English, but Google translate will get you far enough.
For offline navigation, I often use the Maps.me app to download maps. But you can also download maps in google and not use the internet. Marko bought some internet access, but for a short stay, you can manage without it if you download these tools beforehand.
Apps to download before entering China.
Alipay
Alipay is an widely used app in China to pay. Since using cash is not that common in China anymore, at most places you can (only) pay with Alipay.
You can easily link your creditcard in Alipay and for us it worked even better without internet.
Google Translate
Even though you won’t be able to use Google Translate online, you can download languages before you travel to China.
We noticed that translating worked best with Chinese traditional. Make sure to also download English and Dutch or German.
Maps.me
We always download maps.me and the maps of the location we are travelling to. You can also use google maps and download Xiamen, but we noticed that Maps.me usually works a bit better. Whatever app you use, make sure to download the map of Xiamen before you travel to China.