Kaili South Railway Station

Station name and what to look for

Match the Chinese characters on your ticket to the characters above. English translations of Chinese station names vary between booking sites, but the Chinese name is the same everywhere.

About the station

Kaili South is the railhead for the Miao and Dong villages of south-east Guizhou — Xijiang Qianhu, the largest Miao village in China, is about an hour away, and the Dong village of Zhaoxing is further south.

This is one of the most rewarding regions in China for travellers who want village life rather than monuments, and the high-speed line has made it genuinely accessible in the last decade.

The station is modern and small by high-speed standards, and the surrounding landscape is steeply terraced.

Getting to and from Kaili

Buses and shuttles connect the station to Kaili city and to the Xijiang direction. For the villages, most travellers arrange a car or use the regional shuttle services.

Xijiang Qianhu requires an entrance ticket and is a substantial walk inside the village, which is built up a hillside.

What catches travellers out here

• The villages are spread across a large area and public transport between them is thin. A car and driver for a couple of days is the practical approach.
• Xijiang is heavily visited in summer and around the Sisters’ Meal Festival. It is still worth it, but book accommodation ahead.

Other station guides in Guizhou

Before you travel

Tickets are issued against your passport and there is no paper ticket to collect for most domestic services. Read the booking guide if this is your first Chinese train, or the seat class guide if you are choosing between a hard sleeper and a soft sleeper. For the station itself, the general station guide explains how gates and boarding work at any Chinese station.