Location: Shenzhen
Travel note: First time trying Xiamen BRT. After a three-hour bus ride from the tulou back to Xiamen city, I saw heavy traffic on Sunday night. I was mentally prepared to miss the high-speed train back to Shenzhen and stay another night in Xiamen. Luckily, I took the BRT. Most of Xiamen's BRT runs on elevated roads with dedicated lanes, so it's very fast. Each station has staff managing order, and dwell times are well-controlled. The K1 line from Shoumatou Station to Xiamen North Station, nearly 30 stops, took less than 50 minutes (crossing the sea bridge from the lower left to the top on the map, 3.5 RMB). During peak hours, buses are frequent, with arrivals under a minute, and there are multiple lines. All major hubs—airport, ferry terminals, train stations, and high-speed rail stations—have stops. I even had plenty of time to grab a McChicken Deluxe at McDonald's for dinner before my train leisurely departed. However, Xiamen BRT has room for improvement: token sales are still manual (frequent riders can buy cards), and security is just a simple table where staff casually open or pat bags, feeling more symbolic and prone to causing congestion. Anyway, I made it…
