Xiamen University Visit: 2026 Booking Lottery and Campus Route
You can no longer just walk into Xiamen University. Since January 2026 visitors apply online up to three days ahead, a lottery runs at 16:00 the day before, and results come out at 20:00. If you win, you enter during a fixed window, which on term-time weekdays is only an hour long. Foreign visitors book with a passport and use the manual check lane at the visitor centre. It is worth the effort if you like architecture. The Siming campus runs along Xiamen Island's south shore between the Wulao Peaks and the sea, with Furong Lake at its centre and red-brick, green-tiled "Kah Kee style" buildings all round, and it is a working university of more than 45,000 students. Nanputuo Temple shares its wall, and the wider plan is in the Xiamen travel guide.
How the 2026 booking works
The official channels are the WeChat account 厦门大学访客预约系统 and the mini-program 参观厦大. The university's January 2026 notice set these rules:
- Booking opens at midnight, three calendar days ahead.
- Next-day applications close at 16:00. The lottery runs then, and results are published at 20:00.
- Term-time weekdays: 2,000 visitors a day in three windows, 10:30 to 11:30, 13:00 to 14:00 and 16:30 to 17:30.
- Weekends and the winter and summer vacations: 8,000 a day, in windows of 08:30 to 12:00, 13:00 to 16:00 and 16:30 to 17:30.
- Public holidays: 15,000 a day in five two-hour windows between 08:00 and 18:00.
Local reporting in May 2026 put vacation weekday limits higher, and the university says it adjusts quotas as needed, so go by the number the system shows for your date.
At the gate, the lead booker normally scans a Chinese second-generation ID card and companions pass straight after. If you have a passport or other document, or are the guardian of a child under eight, go to the manual check lane at the visitor centre with the original document. Electronic copies may not be accepted. Travel agencies may not book for you and groups are turned away. Anyone caught bulk-grabbing slots is barred for 180 days.
If you lose the lottery, apply for another window or day while slots remain. Otherwise, climb the Wulao Peaks behind Nanputuo, which look straight down on the campus.
A route through the campus
With a one-hour weekday window you have time only for the centre, so plan ahead. With a longer weekend window, this loop takes two to three hours:
- Enter near Nanputuo and walk to Furong Lake, the centre of campus, ringed by teaching buildings and lawns. It is the photograph most visitors come for, and it is busy at weekends.
- Climb toward the Jiannan Auditorium. The Jiannan building group on the ridge above the sea went up in the 1950s with money from Lee Kong Chian. Below it, Shangxian Field, completed in 1954, uses the slope to carve 25 tiers of seating in a half-moon around the running track. Its name means "first-quarter moon field", after that shape.
- Walk through the Furong Tunnel, the pedestrian tunnel whose walls were long covered with student murals and graffiti. Under the 2026 rules you may not add graffiti or hold long photo sessions inside. Treat it as a walk-through.
- Leave on the Baicheng side, where the beach and the start of Huandao Road are just outside.
Libraries, dormitories and anywhere marked closed are off limits. The lakes and reservoirs are no-swimming, no-fishing zones, and the hills behind campus are closed to unauthorised walkers. Exams, graduations and campus events can close areas at short notice.
Who built it and why it looks like this
Tan Kah Kee (Chen Jiageng) was a rubber magnate from nearby Jimei who made his fortune in Singapore. He pledged the founding money in 1919. The university held its opening ceremony on 6 April 1921 in borrowed space at Tan's Jimei School, with fewer than twenty staff and 98 students, and it was the first university in modern China founded by an overseas Chinese. The motto Tan chose, "strive for self-improvement and stop only at perfection", is still on the badge.
Big names came early. In 1926 Lin Yutang became head of humanities and brought in Lu Xun, the historian Gu Jiegang and others. Lu Xun taught here from autumn 1926 to early 1927, and the campus keeps memorial rooms for him; check whether they are open on the day. Tan handed the university to the national government in 1937. During the war it moved inland to Changting in western Fujian, and it returned to Xiamen in 1946.
The look of the campus comes from Tan and his son-in-law Lee Kong Chian, who paid for much of the early building. Granite bases, red brick, Western colonnades and sweeping Minnan roofs with green tiles were combined into the style now named after Tan, and the early buildings are protected at national level.
Getting there
Metro Line 1 ends at Zhenhai Road station, a walk of ten to fifteen minutes from the Nanputuo side of campus. Many city buses stop at the Xiamen University stops along Siming South Road. Hulishan Fortress is a short walk east from the Baicheng gate along the coast.
Frequently asked questions
Can foreigners visit Xiamen University?
Yes. Book through the official system with your passport details, then go to the manual check lane at the visitor centre with the original passport.
How far ahead do I need to book?
Booking opens at midnight three days before your visit. For the next day, apply before 16:00 and check the result at 20:00.
How long should I allow on campus?
Two to three hours for Furong Lake, Jiannan and Shangxian Field. A one-hour weekday window covers only the central lake area.
What should I pair it with?
Nanputuo Temple next door in the morning, then Baicheng beach and the coast road. Keep Gulangyu for a separate day.