Getting to Yangshuo:
Trains to Guilin and transfers from there

Last Updated
13th Mar, 2009

Trains are often the most affordable way to travel around China. It is often possible to travel to the next destination overnight for less than a flight (though not always) and you get to save on a night's accommodation too. There are many trains into the Guilin train stations (and it is worth noting that there are two for inter-city travellers) and this page is intended to give you some details about these as well as how to manage the last stage to Yangshuo.

Trains into Guilin Train Stations

Guilin main station

Guilin North station

Train # From At
1628 Nanning 00:14  
K157 Beijing West 00:54  
K158 Zhanjiang 00:56  
K150 Zhanjiang 02:57  
2513 Yueyang 05:02  
1561 Wuchang 05:33  
1557 Nanchang 06:27  
K36/K37 Guangzhou 06:37  
1627 Zhengzhou 08:09  
N801 Guilin North 08:17  
2055 Guilin North 08:48  
2411/2414 Zhangjiajie 08:48  
K21 Beijing West 11:58  
2056 Kunming 12:04  
K149 Wuxi 12:54  
N802 Nanning 13:22  
K198 Nanning 14:01  
T5 Beijing West 14:30  
T6 Nanning 14:58  
N803 Guilin North 16:01  
K197 Shanghai 16:32  
K316/K317 Nanning 17:18  
K35/K38 Liuzhou 18:01  
2412/2413 Guilin North 19:23  
1558 Nanning 21:10  
N804 Nanning 21:27  
1562 Zhanjiang 22:34  
K315/K318 Xi'an 23:46  
Train # From At
1628 Nanning 00:31  
K157 Beijing West 00:35  
K158 Zhanjiang 01:13  
K156 Kunming 02:47  
2513 Yueyang 04:43  
1561 Wuchang 05:16  
K337 Zhengzhou 05:36  
1557 Nanchang 06:09  
1627 Zhengzhou 07:46  
2411/2414 Zhangjiajie 09:13  
2514 Guilin 09:38  
2056 Kunming 12:28  
K155 Nanjing North 13:19  
N802 Nanning 14:08  
K182 Kunming 15:54  
6137 Yongzhou 16:42  
K338 Kunming 18:49  
K181 Shanghai 18:51  
K22 Guilin 19:41  
1558 Nanning 21:34  
N804 Nanning 21:51  
1562 Zhanjiang 22:51  

Getting From a Guilin Train Station to Yangshuo

Private transfer

You could try to take a taxi from your Guilin station straight to Yangshuo. Many taxi drivers will not accept such a run. It is therefore better to pre-arrange a pick-up with your hotel in Yansghuo, or a Yangshuo travel service. These work with drivers who do that run regularly.

Local buses

Local buses leave from outside Guilin main station (not Guilin Bei or Guilin North station). These leave when full. Often touts will try to get you on these buses. If they succeed you can be sure that you will be overcharged. Ignore all touts; it is obvious which buses go to Yangshuo. The price should be a maximum of 14 yuan per person, including all bags etc.

These buses stop along the way and therefore take longer than the alternative below. Once in Yansghuo they should drop you at the bus station. They will often try to convince foreigners to get off earlier as they can earn money from the waiting touts.

The Express bus service operates from the bus station which is only a 10 minute walk from the main train station in Guilin. Buy a ticket in the main ticket hall or, more conveniently, at the samll kiosk inside the waiting hall on the right-hand wall. Buses generally leave from Bay 2. There are no shenanigans with these buses.

Li River Cruise

One final option is to take a Li River Cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo. These leave from docks south of Guilin every morning at 09:30. You would therefore need to be sure of arriving in time to transfer down (allow at least one hour) or plan for an overnight stay in Guilin.

Send us your experience

Do you have an interesting story? Send it to us and we will add it to our website