Long Distance Train Travel - China

My experience is with the train from Guangzhou Railway Station, Guangzhou, to Kunming.

This journey can take between 16 and 26 hours depending on the train you get and how much money you want to spend. The 16 hour train cost me 328CYN, the 26 hour train was 190CYN, but with no beds, so the 16 hour train may seem like a lot more money but you are technically paying for your travel and accommodation for the night too.

The train had 19 carriages, with rooms/cabins that sleep 6 (3-high bunk beds on either wall). You can pay more for the bottom bunk bed with has room to sit up and a table, or less for the middle and top bunks. The very top bunk is a bit of a climb, I’m 5”4’ and it was a bit of a struggle up and down, but all part of the fun for me. Once in your bed, you get a thin mattress, a pillow and a warm duvet. There is air-conditioning in every cabin so you won’t be hot, for me it was a perfectly comfortable temperature when under the thick duvet.

The lights in the cabins get turned off at 10:30pm, and turned on around 7am. I would bring ear plugs and an eye mask, unless you are a particularly heavy sleeper. I shared a cabin with three men, 2 women and a baby, and there is no door to the main corridor… so there was quite a lot of noise before 10pm and after 7am. There are windows in each cabin, and just outside the cabin 2 fold-down seats next to a window, with a table and plug socket.

There is not much storage in these cabins, only really under the bottom bunks. I was lucky that no one else in my cabin had big bags, or they knew where else to put their big bags (they were all local), so I just shoved my 65L backpack under the beds… With a bit of a squeeze. There is extra storage up with the top bunks for smaller backpacks, water etc.

There are toilets at the end of each carriage - typical Chinese squat toilets* - and a few extra sinks outside for brushing teeth or washing fruit (one woman had a whole bucket of fruit and was there for about an hour). There is also a station for hot water, so I would suggest buying the 6CYN pot-noodle-type meals from the station, as they are super filling and convenient.

*There is not likely to be toilet roll. Stock up and take your own!

I worked on cruise ships for 2 years before this trip, so the constant movement in the cabin was soothing and put me to sleep very quickly, but if you’re not sure you’ll enjoy 16-16 hours of constant rocking around, invest in some travel sickness tablets.

The views are absolutely beautiful. You’ll go through quite a few tunnels as it’s very hilly but between these tunnels there is so much to see! From farm land to tiny villages to industrial work, you can see it all and get a glimpse of rural Chinese life while you speed past at 180KMPH.

All in all you’re in for a comfortable and easy ride!