Alumina microfibers with porous structures were prepared through hydrothermal reaction, and then used to modify the surface of carbon paste electrode (CPE). After modification with alumina microfibers, the electrochemical activity of CPE was found to be greatly improved. On the surface of alumina microfibers-modified CPE, the oxidation peak current of salvianolic acid B, a main bioactive compound in Danshen with anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects, was remarkably increased compared with that on the bare CPE surface. The influences of pH value, amount of alumina microfibers and accumulation time were studied. Based on the strong signal amplification effects of alumina microfibers, a novel electrochemical method was developed for the detection of salvianolic acid B. The linear range was from 5 ${mu}gL^{-1}$ to 0.3 mg $L^{-1}$, and the detection limit was 2 ${mu}gL^{-1}$ (2.78 nM) after 1-min accumulation. The new method was successfully used to detect salvianolic acid B in ShuangDan oral liquid samples, and the recovery was over the range from 97.4% to 102.9%.