FAQs
17 FAQs
- JEAN-man in Mandarin Chinese; KEEN-man in the local dialect. Both are widely used. You can use either one!
- A1: 3 days to rush around on a scooter/in a car to see many of the suggested highlights;
A2: 5 days to see many of the suggested highlights using bicycle/bus;
A3: 7 days to see most of the highlights in a relaxed fashion, and soak up the atmosphere. - Each season has its advantages:
The fall (mid-Oct. to mid-Dec.) has the most comfortable and stable weather, with daytime temps around 25 degrees C, and little chance of rain.
The winter (mid-Dec. to Feb.) is the time to see the enormous flocks of migrating cormorants.
In the spring (March through May), there's lots of birdsong to hear and flowering trees to see. You might be lucky enough to experience some atmospheric mist and fog…hopefully it won't delay your travel plans arriving or departing!
In the summer (June through mid-Oct.), enjoy the cool breezes coming off the sea, and jump in for a refreshing swim. - Yes! There are many beautiful, empty, clean white sandy beaches. All free. Swimming is allowed at all of them, but safety first! Due to strong ocean currents, there's only one government-designated swimming beach: Houhu Beach near Houhu Village. It has showers and toilets, plus lifeguards on duty from mid-June through August.
- No! But depending where you are, you might hear occasional gunshots from nearby military training fields.
- Local Kinmen people don't expect travelers to speak Chinese, so it's OK if you don't. However, most local people aren't very confident with English, so online translations, miming and smiling might well come in handy! Kinmen's a great place to use any Mandarin Chinese you have…
- Well, actually there are two islands to visit: the main island of Kinmen (just called Kinmen by locals), and Lieyu. Lieyu is the official name of the smaller island—it's usually called Little Kinmen or 小金門 (Xiǎo Jīnmén) by locals. And starting from March 2019, another island had been opened for visitors : Dadan Island (大膽島 Dàdǎn Dǎo).
The main island is possible to bicycle around, but it would take most of a day, and you wouldn't see many of the main attractions. You'd only want to do this if you were an avid cyclist, and you wanted to get in the miles.
On the other hand, it's a great idea to bicycle around Little Kinmen. In fact, that's the best way to see it. There's a dedicated cycle path around the island, and it takes about 3 hours to do it, assuming short rest breaks. Plan a bit more time for longer stops.
The 3rd "new" island, Dadan, is small (less than 1 km from one end to the other), and unpopulated. Several times during the Chinese Civil War in the 1950s and '60s, it was a conflict battlefront between the People's Liberation Army and the Republic of China Armed Forces. Between Little Kinmen and Xiamen, China, it's only 4,400 meters (14,400 feet) from Mainland China. After the renovations on the island are done, you'll be able to visit it by ferry from Little Kinmen. It takes about 4 hours to walk around it, and you can see many military relics such as locally famous "political warfare walls" with slogans written on them in Chinese. - You can either take a bus or a taxi. The bus costs NT$12. A taxi costs about NT$250. Both the bus stop and taxi rank are just outside the terminal building exit door.
From the Kinmen airport to the bus station at Jincheng, Kinmen's main town, it's a single bus ride. It takes between 15 and 25 min, depending on which route you take. (See below for the two different routes.) Kinmen buses follow a fixed schedule, and they're always on time! You can pay the NT$12 fare with cash, or by swiping a Kaohsiung I-Pass card or an Easy Card (悠遊卡Yōuyóu kǎ). The Easy Card is available to buy and add value to at any convenience store. (There's a store just by the airport arrivals area exit. The non-refundable card itself costs NT$100. It's empty—you need to add value onto it before using it. ) Swipe the card twice, upon both boarding and getting off the bus.
From Kinmen Airport to Jincheng by bus:
Bus number 3 arrives at the airport bus stop at about 10-15 min past every hour, between and including 7am and 8pm. It's a 25-min bus ride to the Jincheng Bus Station, the last stop. Be careful, as bus number 3 also goes to Shanwai from the airport. There is a digital sign at the front of the bus which displays the destination in both Chinese and English. As you board, feel free to double check with the driver by saying the name of your destination!
Bus number Blue 1 (藍一) arrives at the airport bus stop at about 40 min past every hour, between and including 7am and 5pm. It's a 15-min bus ride to Jincheng Bus Station, the last stop. - You can either take a bus or a taxi. The bus costs NT$12. A taxi to Shanwai, Kinmen's 2nd largest town, costs about NT$250. Both the bus stop and taxi rank are just outside the terminal building exit door.
From the Kinmen airport to the bus station at Shanwai, it's a single bus ride. It takes about 10 minutes. Kinmen buses follow a fixed schedule, and they're always on time! You can pay the NT$12 fare with cash, or by swiping an Easy Card (悠遊卡Yōuyóu kǎ), available to buy and add value to at any convenience store. (There's a store just by the airport arrivals area exit. The non-refundable card itself costs NT$100. It's empty—you need to add value onto it before using it.) Swipe the card twice, upon both boarding and getting off the bus.
From Kinmen Airport to Shanwai by bus:
Bus number 3 arrives at the airport bus stop at 25 past every hour, between and including 7am and 8pm. It's a 10-min bus ride to the Shanwai Bus Station, the last stop. Be careful, as bus number 3 also goes to Jincheng from the airport. There is a digital sign at the front of the bus which displays the destination in both Chinese and English. As you board, feel free to double check with the driver by saying the name of your destination! - You can take either a taxi (about NT$300) or the bus (NT$24). The bus involves a transfer, riding two different buses.
From Kinmen Airport to Shamei by bus:
First take bus number 3 to Shanwai Bus Station (see above). Then switch to an 18, 18A or 27 bus.
The number 18 bus leaves Shanwai Bus Station at 06:00, 06:35, 07:10, 07:40, 0:8:40, 10:00, 11:10, 12:40, 14:00, 15:20, 16:00, 16:25, 17:40, 18:30 and 19:20. It's a 25-min ride to the Shamei Bus Station.
The number 18A bus leaves Shanwai Bus Station at 08:05, 09:20, 10:40, 11:30, 12:00, 13:20, 15:05, 15:40, 16:40, 17:10 and 18:00. It's a 30-min ride to the Shamei Bus Station.
The number 27 bus leaves Shanwai Bus Station at 08:30, 11:10, 14:20 and 17:05. It's a 40-min ride to the Shamei Bus Station.