Day 13: Kunming to Guilin, Friday 3rd October 2025
Kunming South Railway Station
16°, cloudy in Kunming, 33°, sunny in Guilin
NZ$1 = Y4
Y1=NZ$0.25
Up at 6am, too early for the hotel breakfast so left at 6:30am, walked 15 minutes to Huancheng Rd metro, then on line 1 south to Kunming South Station, arriving at 8am. Headed out to the front of the station for some photos then in through security and ticket check and up to the concourse. Got some supplies and breakfast, waited and got on the G410 for Guilin at 8:55am and left at 9:12am. This train runs from Kunming through to Hong Kong which takes 8 hours.
The train headed back on the same line we had arrived into Kunming on from Chongqing until Guiyang, where we took a right turn and headed south east to Guilin. An uneventful trip through more of the same rolling countryside and Karst Mountains we had seen before.
Arrived in Guilin West Station on time at 1:40pm, though the ticket check etc and out of the station, into the heat of 33°. This was a big change in the weather from the previous 12 days which were pleasantly warm; now it was hot and humid. Caught a Didi ( after waiting in the Didi pickup area for 20 minutes waiting for our car to get to the front of the scrum/queue ). There is no metro system in Guilin yet and the station is on the northwest edge of the city, so a bit of a drive to the hotel, but still only cost Y35
Arrived at our hotel at 2:30pm and checked in ( Holiday Inn Express Guilin City Center, 2 nights, $400 incl breakfast ). We were now in the middle of the Golden Week holiday time, so we paid more for the hotel than normal, and we were booked into this same hotel when we return to Guilin in a few days time and for that booking the rate was $155/night.
Up to our room ( 416 ) to drop bags then out for a walk at 2:45pm.
We walked to the pedestrian street ( Zhengyang St ) just east of the hotel then south through the shops and tourists. We got an icecream ( osmanthus flavoured ) then to Shanhu Lake to see pagodas, then west along the north edge on the lake and then north past hotels etc. Went down into an underground Chinese mall which was under a large plaza next to our hotel; the market mainly had clothes and shoes. Then back up to the street and north again through along Wenhuangong Street ( a street with lots of tea shops and coffee shops ), then east back to the pedestrian street again. Walked north this time, down into an underpass under a main road ( Jiefang East Road ), which turned into underground mall. Liz went to H&M, then we walked back under the road to Zhengyang St, back down pedestrian street and back to hotel at 4:15pm. Surprisingly we could not find a convenience store/7Eleven anywherenear the hotel.
Rested for a bit.
Out at 6pm to walk to pagodas on Shanhu Lake at sunset. It was now very busy on the pedestrian street, and as we were walking along we got stopped by a man who wanted to talk to us. He was an English teacher at a middle school in Guilin and had 15 of his students with him, asked if we could talk to them. So we chatted to them for a while in English, they asked us questions about our trip, where we were from etc. and wanted lots of photos. Students in China learn English from primary school age, but like most people learning foreign languages, they don’t get a lot of chances to talk to fluent speakers. This wasn’t the first or last time on the trip where we had people want to practice their English with us.
Once we pulled ourselves away from the students ( now running late to get sunset photos ) we pushed through the crowd to the south and of the street and across to the edge of Shanhu Lake. It was very busy on the walkways beside the lake, with lots of people taking photos, but we found a spot ( after some friendly locals made a space for us ) and watched the action and the sunset ( and took some photos ).
Back to the pedestrian street, found a restaurant that wasn’t too busy ( lots of choices of restaurants in this area ) and ordered dinner ( Y96 for rice noodle dish, pork stir fry and 2 x 500ml beers ). Very nice meal.
Back to hotel at 8:30pm, after grabbing a Luckin coffee on the way.
Zoomable Map ( pin is located on our hotel location )