In short
Let us settle the question everybody searches first: there is no metro at Yinchuan Hedong International Airport, and there is no metro in Yinchuan at all. Replying on the People’s Daily Online message board on 25 August 2025, the municipal development and reform commission said the city fails the thresholds in State Council document No. 52 of 2018 for building a metro, quoting 2024 GDP of RMB 293.953 billion, general public budget revenue of RMB 20.844 billion and an urban resident population of 2.9147 million, and added that conditions for a light-rail line are not ripe either. The only rail the city operates is Yunngui Line 1, a 9.7 kilometre straddle monorail with eight stations opened on 1 September 2017 inside the Yinchuan China Flower Expo Park in Jinfeng district; it never leaves the park, it is a sightseeing ride, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with the airport. That leaves three genuine ways in. The first, and usually the quickest, is the high-speed railway. Hedong Airport railway station sits below ground immediately west of Terminal 3, reachable in about two to five minutes along the indoor link through the ground transport centre, with official accounts putting that link at 68, 80 or 108 metres depending on where they measure. Trains towards Yinchuan station cover 33 kilometres in roughly 20 minutes, with a published full second-class fare of ¥15 and floating pricing that puts most trains between ¥6 and ¥15 on the same day. Two caveats: the train delivers you to Yinchuan railway station rather than the centre, so budget one more leg by taxi or city bus, and although the first departure towards Yinchuan is around 08:03 with the last around 22:42, those figures come from a third-party timetable rather than from 12306, so check your own date. If changing trains sounds like trouble, the second option is the coach: airport bus line 1 runs non-stop from the Terminal 3 arrivals level to the Xigang Aviation Hotel at 87 Shengli North Street in Xingqing district beside Nanmen Square, for ¥20 and about 35 minutes, and it is the only route at the airport end that keeps running until the last arriving flight of the day. Lines 2 and 3 serve Yuehai Xintiandi and Youyuecheng in Jinfeng district for the same ¥20, but both stop early in the evening and run far fewer departures. The third option is a taxi or a ride-hailing car, billed on the meter under Yinchuan’s 2023 tariff: ¥9 for the first 3 kilometres, then ¥1.50 per kilometre for engines under 1.6 litres and ¥1.70 for new-energy cars and cars of 1.6 litres or above, plus a waiting charge, a 50 per cent empty-running surcharge beyond 10 kilometres and a 20 per cent night supplement between 23:00 and 06:00. No official airport-to-centre reference fare or official distance exists, so the ¥50 to ¥90 quoted by third-party travel sites and the 40 minutes from a routing app are reference figures, not published prices.
- Metro service
- None — Yinchuan has no metro at all
- The official basis
- Municipal commission reply, 25 August 2025
- Railway station in the terminal
- Hedong Airport station (HFJ), below ground west of T3, a 2 to 5 minute walk
- To Yinchuan station
- 33 km, about 20 min, ¥6–15 second class
- Trains calling each day
- About 27 per third-party data; check 12306 for your date
- Airport bus fare
- ¥20 per person on all three city lines and the extension
- Line 1 journey time
- About 35 min to the Xigang Aviation Hotel, near Nanmen Square
- Taxi flag fall
- ¥9 for the first 3 km, under the 2023 tariff
- Reference taxi range
- ¥50–90 per third-party travel sites, not an official price
- Enquiry lines
- Airport 0951-96111, coaches 0951-6912480
How to take each option
The high-speed train below Terminal 3: usually the fastest
Time 2 to 5 min walking, 20 min riding, plus waitingFare ¥6–15 second class, published full fare ¥15First 08:03Last 22:42
- After baggage claim, do not head outside to the taxi queue; follow the indoor signs reading high-speed rail or railway station. The station lies directly below ground west of Terminal 3 and the whole route runs inside the building.
- Walk two to five minutes to Hedong Airport station — official descriptions of the link vary between 68, 80 and 108 metres depending on where they measure — then clear security. Inside, an air-rail service island lets you check flight and train information on one screen.
- Buy your ticket at the counter, at a machine or through 12306; a passport works for buying and collecting tickets. Platform 2 serves the up direction towards Yinchuan and platform 1 the down direction towards Wuzhong and Zhongwei South, so check before you wait.
- Board an up-direction service for the run of about 20 minutes over 33 kilometres to Yinchuan station. The published full second-class fare is ¥15, although floating pricing puts different trains on the same day anywhere from ¥6 to ¥15.
- Yinchuan station is the main high-speed station, not the centre: allow another ten or fifteen minutes by taxi or city bus to reach People’s Square or the Gulou area. If Yinchuan station is your actual destination, read the page headed "To Yinchuan railway station" instead.
The 08:03 first departure, service C8208, and the 22:42 last departure, service C8222, come from a third-party timetable updated in October 2026 listing 27 calling services, not from an official 12306 station timetable. The railway publishes a fresh diagram every day, so confirm services for your date.
Airport bus line 1: ¥20 direct to the Xigang Aviation Hotel
Time About 35 minFare ¥20 per personFirst 05:30Last 20:00
- Follow the airport bus signs to the coach bays on the Terminal 3 arrivals level. All five routes leave from the same area, so read the board on the front of the coach before you queue.
- Buy your ticket at the platform kiosk or a self-service machine, or through the Yinchuan Airport Sai Shang Xing WeChat account and app. The fare is ¥20 and children under 1.3 metres travel free, though the free ticket must be issued at a staffed window.
- The coach runs non-stop and takes about 35 minutes to the entrance of the Xigang Aviation Hotel, 87 Shengli North Street in Xingqing district, beside Nanmen Square and roughly a kilometre from Gulou.
- This is the most frequent route and the only one that keeps running at the airport end until the day’s last arrival: towards the airport it runs 05:30 to 20:00, and towards the city it simply tracks arriving flights, with the final two runs labelled "last bus 1" and "last bus 2".
The 05:30 and 20:00 times apply towards the airport, and the 05:30 first departure only took effect on 1 September 2026 when the 07:00 run was withdrawn. In the airport-to-city direction there is no fixed last departure because services follow the landings.
Airport bus lines 2 and 3: better if you are staying in Jinfeng district
Fare ¥20 per person on bothFirst 08:00Last 19:30
- Wait at the same coach bays on the Terminal 3 arrivals level and read the destination board: line 2 goes to Yuehai Xintiandi and line 3 to Youyuecheng, both for ¥20.
- Line 2 finishes at the Beijing Hualian shopping centre at Yuehai Xintiandi, whose south plaza sits at the junction of Zhengyuan North Street and Kangping Road in Jinfeng district, taking about 45 to 50 minutes. It runs 08:00 to 18:00 towards the airport and 09:30 to 19:30 towards the city.
- Line 3 finishes at Youyuecheng, outside apartment block 5 on Lingshui Street in Jinfeng district, about 50 minutes away, but runs only two return trips a day: 08:00 and 14:00 from the city and 12:00 and 17:00 from the airport.
- Both routes finish early in the evening, so do not count on them after dark: at that hour take line 1, which follows the flights, or a taxi.
The published journey time for line 3 is inconsistent: the airport’s May 2025 release said about 50 minutes while its August 2026 release says about 60, and this page uses the earlier figure. Departures move with each flight season, so ring 0951-6912480 first in winter.
Taxis and ride-hailing: metered, and two separate pick-up points
Time About 40 min per routing apps, not officialFare Metered; ¥50–90 third-party reference range
- For a taxi, leave Terminal 3 through door 3 on the ground floor, turn left and walk about 50 metres; the boarding point is across the road beside the transport enforcement post. This wording comes from the traffic police detachment of the Ningxia airport public security bureau.
- Ride-hailing cars board somewhere else: leave through door 3 on the ground floor, walk straight across the ground-floor footbridge and turn right into the ground transport centre. Do not join the taxi queue.
- Show the driver your hotel name and address in Chinese, say clearly that you want the meter rather than a negotiated price, and keep the receipt with the cab number. Yinchuan’s 20 per cent night supplement starts at 23:00.
- Pay what the meter shows plus any expressway and bridge tolls, the usual route into the city being the G85 Yinchuan to Kunming or G20 Qingdao to Yinchuan expressway. Cash and WeChat or Alipay QR codes work, but the airport publishes no dedicated payments page, so carry some cash.
No official airport-to-centre reference fare or official distance exists: the ¥50 to ¥90 and roughly 40 minutes quoted by third-party travel sites are reference values only. For refusal, detours or a driver unwilling to use the meter, call the national transport service hotline on 12328.
Late-night and early-morning arrivals
Arriving late still leaves two genuine options. First, the train: per third-party timetables the last service towards Yinchuan leaves Hedong Airport station around 22:42, and since the railway issues a fresh diagram each day you must confirm it on 12306 for your own date. Second, airport bus line 1, the only route at the airport end that follows the day’s last arrival, with the final two runs labelled "last bus 1" and "last bus 2" and the latest scheduled departure in the 2025 table at 22:30; lines 2 and 3 and the Wuzhong line all finish around 19:30. Miss both and you are down to a taxi or a ride-hailing car, since no metro exists here as a fallback. Between 23:00 and 06:00 taxis add 20 per cent, a trip starting at the airport also attracts the 50 per cent empty-running surcharge beyond 10 kilometres, and expressway tolls sit on top, so expect noticeably more than by day.
Questions travellers ask
Is there a metro at Yinchuan Hedong Airport?
No, and Yinchuan has no metro anywhere. Replying on the People’s Daily Online message board on 25 August 2025, the municipal development and reform commission said the city fails the thresholds in State Council document No. 52 of 2018, citing 2024 GDP of RMB 293.953 billion, general public budget revenue of RMB 20.844 billion and an urban population of 2.9147 million, and that light rail is not viable either. The only rail running is Yunngui Line 1, a 9.7 kilometre, eight-station monorail confined to the Yinchuan China Flower Expo Park: a park ride that never reaches the airport.
What is the fastest way from Yinchuan airport to the city centre?
When the timetable lines up it is the high-speed train: two to five minutes walking to the station below ground west of Terminal 3, then about 20 minutes riding to Yinchuan station, so well under half an hour moving. The catch is that the station delivers you to Yinchuan railway station rather than the centre, leaving one more taxi leg, and only a couple of dozen trains call each day with gaps often over an hour. With heavy bags or a missed departure, the ¥20 line 1 coach reaching the Nanmen Square area in about 35 minutes is frequently easier.
What is the cheapest way into Yinchuan?
A floating second-class fare of about ¥6 to ¥15 on the train to Yinchuan station, against a published full fare of ¥15, is the cheapest ticket you can buy — but it lands you at the railway station. The ¥20 line 1 coach is the cheapest option that actually puts you in town, reaching the Nanmen Square and Gulou area in about 35 minutes. Taxis are metered from ¥9 covering 3 kilometres, with a third-party reference range of ¥50 to ¥90.
How much is the airport bus and how long does it take?
The three city lines to Xigang, Yuehai Xintiandi and Youyuecheng, plus the line 2 extension, all charge a flat ¥20 per person, with children under 1.3 metres travelling free if the ticket is issued at a staffed window; the Wuzhong city terminal line costs ¥35. Published journey times are about 35 minutes on line 1, 45 to 50 on line 2, 50 on line 3 and about 90 minutes on the line 2 extension.
Where exactly is the railway station, and is it easy to find?
It sits below ground immediately west of Terminal 3, opened on 29 December 2019 with the Yinchuan to Wuzhong section of the Yinchuan to Xi’an high-speed line. Follow the indoor high-speed-rail signs through the transfer-centre link for two to five minutes without stepping outside; official accounts give the link as 68, 80 or 108 metres. An air-rail service island lets you look up both flights and trains, and the route is step-free, so heavy luggage is no obstacle.
How much is a taxi from Yinchuan airport to the city centre?
No such official fare exists, and no official distance either. What can be checked is the 2023 tariff: ¥9 covering the first 3 kilometres, then ¥1.50 per kilometre for engines under 1.6 litres or ¥1.70 for new-energy cars and cars of 1.6 litres and above; three minutes of free waiting followed by half a kilometre charged for every further 1.5 minutes; a 50 per cent empty-running surcharge on every kilometre past 10; and 20 per cent added between 23:00 and 06:00. Third-party travel sites quote roughly ¥50 to ¥90 and routing apps about 40 minutes to the People’s Square and Gulou area — neither is official and neither covers tolls or the night supplement.
Can I pay with a foreign card, Alipay or WeChat Pay?
The airport publishes no dedicated payments page, and nothing official confirms taxis accept international plastic. In practice cash, Alipay and WeChat Pay QR codes all work while foreign cards usually do not, so link an international card inside Alipay or WeChat Pay before you fly, or carry some cash. Coaches sell tickets at the platform kiosk, from self-service machines or through the airport’s WeChat account and app, and trains accept passports.
Is there any public transport if I land late at night?
Two things may still be running: the last up-direction train towards Yinchuan, which third-party timetables put around 22:42 but which you must confirm on 12306, and airport bus line 1, which keeps going until the day’s last arrival. Lines 2 and 3 and the Wuzhong service wrap up around 19:30. If neither is an option you are left with a taxi or ride-hailing, because there is no metro here to fall back on.
I have big suitcases — which option is least hassle?
With bulky bags, prefer the ¥20 line 1 coach which runs non-stop into town in about 35 minutes, or take a taxi the whole way. The train is only 20 minutes riding, but you walk the link, clear security, then change again at Yinchuan station for the centre, which means two extra handling sessions. The redeeming feature is that the link is short, indoor and step-free.
Can I travel from Yinchuan East, which looks closer on the map?
No. Yinchuan East is a passing loop on the Yinchuan to Xi’an high-speed line: it handles nothing but overtaking moves, runs no passenger services and has no public-transport connection at all. The Yinchuan Yearbook records that of these stations Yinchuan East is a passing loop and the rest handle passengers, and in a reply to a resident the regional government said that because passenger volumes do not justify the station it is not in the construction plan. Go to Yinchuan station every time.