Kunming to Guilin

Some of my best memories I have from my 2 cycling journeys from Kunming to Guilin. There are many road leading to Guilin. Most people visit Guilin by bus or train. From Kunming the train journey takes 22 hours and the trains pass either Nanning or Guiyang. Most people see nothing what is in between these two cities.

That is why cycling is in between the two cities is great. Most of the roads are virtually not or seldom explored by travelers but it doesn't mean it is therefore not interesting. Contrary, I would say.

On this page you will find an introduction about two routes I have cycled, I call them the Northern and the Southern Routes.

The Stone Forest

On your way from Kunming to Guilin, the Stone Forest is one of the must see attractions in Yunnan, if not in China too. The Stone Forest is located about 85 km east of Yunnan's capital Kunming.

Although the reports from travelers are mixed, I personally thing the Stone Forest is worth a visit. The main problem is that if you join one of the many tours, you will only see the park while the area is much bigger.

If you travel by bicycle, the Stone Forest is a good stopover. The nearby town of Shilin has plenty of accommodation available. And yes, the park is nice but you find easily around the park areas as spectacular as in the park, as the photo above shows,

Here is much more about the Stone Forest

The Northern Route

The Northern Route starts in Kunming and follows its way top the famous Stone Forest. From there it's a 3 day ride to Xingyi which is the border town of Yunnan and Guizhou.

Xingyi is the first major town in Guizhou. Xingyi will never win the price as the nicest town in China. That said, it's a good moment to have a break for a day rest. There's nothing much to see in the town but there's nice markets. It's 3 days cycling from the Stone Forest on reasonable quiet roads once you have left the Stone Forest behind.

If you decide to follow the following described road, Xingyi your starting point. In case you are coming from the Huangguoshu falls and willing to go south, you may consider not even come to Xingyi but get some accommodation in Dingxiao, the junction of the road from the north and the road from Xingyi to Anlong.

Kunming to Guilin: Huangguoshu waterfalls, in dry season

Here you have two choices. The first one leads you north to Anshun and the Huangguoshu waterfall, after which you can continue to Guiyang, Kaili and further east to Zhaoxing, Sangjiang, Longsheng and ultimately to Guilin. This page describes the route in north Guizhou

Alternatively you can choose another, more remote road that will lead through south Guizhou. This is my prefered route, not because of what you will see on the way but because of the friendship you will find on the way.

The route through South Guizhou

The Southern Route

If you decide to do the Southern Route you have choices too. As you see, from Kunming to Guilin offers plenty of options. Starting in Kunming you can visit the Stone Forest and from there going south to Tonghai and Jianshui. A better option is to follow the Dian Lake on the east side. It takes a few days to Tonghai. South of Tonghai.

From here you follow the directions to Baisha and further to Hechi and Guilin. It's maybe not the most spectacular route but if you have the time, it surely pays off. The road from Jianshui first leads to Kaiyuan and from there it will take you a few days to Baishe.

If Vietnam is on your schedule, follow directions to Geiju and cycle from there in 2 days to the Vietnamese border at Cao Lai.

This route is described in details on our Southern Kunming to Guilin Route page

Longsheng, Sanjiang and Zhaoxing

Longsheng, Sanjiang and Zhaoxing are located in the north east of Guizhou. The three towns are usually visited with Guilin or Yangshuo as a base. Many cyclists come from Yangshuo, it's a two days bicycle ride. Longsheng is located about 100km north of Guilin, Sanjiang another 100km west of Longsheng and Zhaoxing again 100km west of Sanjiang.

Kunming to Guilin: The Wind and Rain Bridge Chengyang Chiao near Sanjiang

There are two ways if you come from the west: Guiyang which is several days further west of Zhaoxing and Libo which is several days south of Zhaoxing. To make the story complete, you can also make a loop. Either a long loop with all three towns included and the through Libo back to Hechi, Yizhou and Yangshuo or the shorter loop where you cycle from Sanjiang south to Rong An and choose the road east back to Guilin (a very nice road) or going further south to Liuzhou and from there make new plans.

Longsheng, Sanjiang and Zhaoxing

Question

Is it worth to cycle from Kunming to Guilin? I did the journey three times, on three different roads. To me these three journeys had some of the highlights of all my journeys in two years traveling and bicycling in China.

Back to the top of Kunming to Guilin

Back to the main Yunnan page

See also the cycling in Guangxi page

Back to Cycling in China

Back to the Bicycle Adventures.com homepage