With 26 ethnic minorities, Yunnan has the largest number of ethnic groups of any province in all of China, earning it the title of “The Colorful Yunnan - a Tourism Paradise in China”.
Yunnan is located at the border area of the southwest of China, with Guizhou and Guangxi Provinces to the east, Sichuan Province to the north, Tibet at the northwest border, and Laos, Vietnam and Burma countries at the south and western borders. Boasting comfortable weather, stunning natural splendors and amazing cultural charm among its many ethnic minorities, “Colorful Yunnan” offers a rich combination of unique experiences that create an irresistible attraction to world travelers.
So, how do you get to Yunnan and travel within this fabulous land? You’ve got a lot options to choose from! Frequent direct flights, high-speed trains and traditional trains and coaches, make travel throughout Yunnan a hassle-free experience for travelers from all over the world.
Here’s a quick summary of travel in Yunnan by Train.
Arrival to and Departure from Yunnan.
The most popular option for arriving or departing Yunnan is high speed trains. Check the detailed information about cities connecting with Yunnan and the shifts of trains at below.
Trains, both bullet trains and traditional trains, cover most cities in China. There are high-speed trains to Kunming from Beijing (10 hours), Shanghai (10 hours), Guangdong (six hours),Guiyang (two hours) and Chengdu (five hours).
The railway from Kunming, China, to Bangkok, Thailand, which is under construction, will be completed soon. The whole journey costs only 350 RMB, a trip of about 873 kilometers (542 miles), from Kunming and Yuxi to the border between China and Laos at Mohan Port, and then into Laos, to Vientiane, the capital of Laos, to Thailand, and finally to Bangkok, the capital of Thailand.
Besides the high-speed trains, there are also traditional trains from many domestic cities. Routes include Kunming-Dali, Kunming-Qujing, Kunming-Lijiang, Kunming-Chuxiong, Kunming-Puzhehei, Kunming-Mile; Dali-Lijiang, Dali-Chuxiong, Dali-Mile and Dali-Puzhehei.
There are usually five daily K trains from Kunming Railway Station to Hekou, from where you can enter Vietnam through the immigration port with a valid passport and visa.
The network of trains provides an excellent medium of transportation for exploring Yunnan.
Here are some tips for train travel:
A valid ID is required for booking the train tickets in China. That includes:
Passengers from Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and Taiwan Province need to have a Mainland Travel Permit
Foreign Passengers need a valid passport.
Visitors from abroad can purchase tickets at railway stations or by using the 12306 App. Tickets are open for sale about 30 days before departure. But during busy periods, such as Chinese New Year, summer holidays and festival times, it may be hard to get tickets. So, it is recommended to book tickets as early as possible.
For the normal trains, there are hard seats, hard sleepers, soft sleepers and VIP category. For the bullet train seats you can choose among second class, the first class and business class.
Tags:Plan Your Trip, Getting Around, Travel by train