Sit on the Right side of the plane for the best views on flights from Xiamen to Amsterdam. The right side wins overall because the Xiamen departure offers a genuinely spectacular coastal and island view that is hard to match. The Amsterdam arrival on the left is excellent, but the polder landscape is visible from both sides. The Xiamen harbor and Gulangyu Island view on the right at takeoff is the single most distinctive moment of the flight.

During takeoff from Gaoqi (XMN), sit on the Right side for the best views. Xiamen Gaoqi sits on the coast, and departures typically head northeast over the Taiwan Strait. The right side gives you Xiamen Island itself, the dense urban core, and the harbor with its distinctive causeway connecting the island to the mainland. You also get a clear look at Gulangyu Island just offshore. Notable sights include: Xiamen Island urban core, Gulangyu Island, Xiamen Harbor causeway, Taiwan Strait coastline.

When landing at Schiphol (AMS), sit on the Left side for the best views. Schiphol's most common landing approach from the east or southeast uses runways oriented roughly east-west. On the left side during final approach you get Amsterdam's canal ring and city center, the IJ waterway, and the distinctive patchwork of Dutch polder farmland — flat green and brown rectangles divided by drainage ditches — which is one of the most visually striking landscapes in Europe from the air. Notable sights include: Amsterdam canal ring and city center, IJ waterway, Dutch polder farmland grid, Westpoort harbor industrial area.

The flight from Gaoqi (XMN) to Schiphol (AMS) takes Approximately 12 to 13 hours nonstop.

The route tracks northeast from Xiamen across eastern China, passing over or near Beijing, then crosses into Mongolia and Siberia over the vast Gobi Desert and Mongolian steppe. It continues across the West Siberian Plain and the Ural Mountains — a low but clearly visible ridge marking the Europe-Asia boundary — then descends over the North European Plain through Russia, Belarus, Poland, and Germany before crossing into the Netherlands. The Urals and the transition from Siberian taiga to European farmland are the most visually notable midpoint features.