Yinchuan is another of China's vast, spread-out cities, with its main bus and train stations at opposite ends, some 12km apart. The train station is in the western part of town, known as Xincheng (New City), while the bus station is in the east - Laocheng (Old City). Xincheng is beginning to develop in size and does now contain a few hotels; Laocheng, however, bisected from east to west by its main street, Jiefang Jie , is undoubtedly the centre of things and is certainly the best place to stay.

Yinchuan's new airport lies 20km east of Xincheng. Airport buses connect with the CAAC office on Minzu Jie, a little north of Jiefang Jie. Long-distance buses from Xi'an, Lanzhou and Baotou via Linhe, use the Nanmen bus station in the south of Laocheng. The train station is located in the remote end of Xincheng, far to the west of town, serving Lanzhou in the west, and Beijing (via Inner Mongolia) in the east. Bus #1 and private minibuses run from the train station (the stop is in the left part of the station square as you come out) into Xincheng and on to the bus station in Laocheng. Most of the hotels lie in the vicinity of this route - in Xincheng you should get off at Tiedong Lu, while in Laocheng you can get off along Jiefang Jie. A taxi from the train station to Laocheng will cost about ¥25.