I rode this train today and thought it might be of interest to some of you planning to travel from Kunming to the SE of Yunnan, for example to Jianshui, Yuanyang, and Hekou (Vietnam border.) Up until the beginning of this month (May, 2013) the only public transport to that part of Yunnan has been by bus. But there is now limited train service, which presents another option.
There is one train a day in each direction between the main Kunming station to Mengzi Bei Zhan 蒙自北站, which is a few kilometers north of Mengzi. Mengzi is a regional bus hub, and you can easily catch a bus there to Hekou, Yuanyang County, or other remote parts of SE Yunnan.
I rode the train from Jianshui up to Kunming, on my way back from Vietnam. Hard seat 硬座 only (no soft seat or sleepers.) It was full but not packed, by which I mean all seats were full in the cars near mine, but people were not standing in the aisles. My trip cost 43.50 Yuan, and I bought the ticket through an agent in Jianshui which added 5 Yuan. I think the ticket for the whole way (between Kunming and Mengzi) costs about 50 Yuan.
The Jianshui Station 建水战 is several kilometers out of the city, along muddy, unpaved roads. I saw shuttle buses and shared vans available for 5 Yuan or less. A taxi to the main part of town costs 15 Yuan; and that's the way I got from Jianshui to the station because it was raining hard.
The train number for the Kunming to Mengzi direction is K9652, departing Kunming at 8:42am and arriving in Mengzi at 12:37pm. Going north from Mengzi to Kunming, it's train number K9654. Also only one train a day. It left Mengzi at about 9 a.m. I got on in Jianshui at about 9:45. Arrived Kunming a few minutes late at about 1:20 p.m.
Edited: 7 years ago



