I Rode China’s Most Scenic High-Speed Train in Yangshuo Twice… for This View

I Rode China’s Most Scenic High-Speed Train in Yangshuo Twice… for This View

Good morning, welcome to my channel! Greetings from Yangshuo at 4 a.m. Why? Because I signed up for one of those sunrise tours. Turns out, they oversold the bus and left one poor soul without a seat… Looking around, it seems like the bus is packed mostly with foreigners. And guess what? We hit a traffic jam… at 4 o’clock in the morning… The parking lot is already overflowing with cars and buses. Free bread and water. I heard them talking about vodka. Were they speaking Russian? Anyway, this is Xianggong Mountain—one of the most famous sunrise spots in Yangshuo. It’s already past 5 AM. We are definitely late. Just look at this crowd in front of me. Normally, it’s just a 10-minute climb up here… …but right now, I can’t even squeeze past the person ahead of me. Finally—found a spot that isn’t shoulder-to-shoulder with people. And wow, lucky today—the sunrise over the sea of clouds would be absolutely stunning. But man, there are so many people. I can barely even move right now. Looks like someone had bad luck today. A drone crashed. Still, everyone’s waiting in anticipation for that perfect sunrise moment. The view almost looks unreal—like a painting come to life. That’s the Li River down there, hidden under the clouds. You can even spot tiny boats gliding along—it’s like ants on a watercolor. And then, the moment we’ve all been waiting for—the sun breaks through, and the crowd actually cheers. Once some people start leaving, I finally manage to squeeze my way up to the top deck. Of course, the pros had already claimed the best spots hours ago with their tripods. And the drone footage? Even more unreal. The whole scene looks like a traditional Chinese ink painting. Some folks are already heading back down now that they’ve got their shots. But plenty of people are still clinging to the observation deck. As the sun gets higher, the mist on the river thickens—nature turning on the smoke machine. Yep, the clouds are definitely rolling in. The sun’s blazing now, so I decide to start heading back down. Much quieter here than the chaos of this morning. Meanwhile, the shuttle bus guys are still raking in business. Shuttling tourists off to their next photo op. Time for breakfast. Ordered a bowl of rice noodles which looked good. And surprise—there’s even a coffee shop up here. Didn’t expect that. After a short break, it’s time to figure out how to get to the train station. If you take the regular route from here to Yangshuo Railway Station, you’ve got to go all the way back through Yangshuo town first. That detour takes more than two hours But I discovered a shortcut: if I can just cross the Li River to Xingping Town on the other side, it’s way quicker. So I hopped in a ride-hailing car heading for the pier. The shape of the mountains here is so unique… We’re almost driving right on the edge of a cliff. But soon enough, we make it down to the riverside. On the opposite bank is Xingping Ancient Town. What a coincidence! I actually ran into the cruise ship I took yesterday. Yep, yesterday I sailed this boat from Guilin to Yangshuo. And honestly, it was a great experience. Here’s the ferry ticket office. Tickets are just 5 yuan (~0.7 USD) Welcome aboard today’s “luxury liner.” It felt like it only took a minute or two to reach the other side. The waterway here is buzzing with boats of every kind. From here, it’s just a short walk to Xingping Town. I feel like this place is a bit too commercialized. And the traffic? Absolute chaos. What the…?! That thing just jumped out at me—I nearly had a heart attack. I decided to have lunch first. I just randomly walked into a rice noodle shop. It is said that the locals eat rice noodles for three meals a day. To be honest… today’s bowl doesn’t taste as good as the one I had this morning. Finished lunch, but outside? Yep, traffic’s still a mess. This is Xingping Bus Station. From here, you can take a bus to Yangshuo Railway Station for just 5 yuan. But after seeing that traffic jam, I immediately gave up that idea. Finally got another ride-hailing car. Meanwhile, the opposite road has basically turned into a parking lot. And now a giant dark cloud is rolling in. Rain is coming. Welcome to Yangshuo Railway Station. A train station surrounded by mountains. It’s peak tourist season right now, with summer vacation in full swing. And sure enough—heavy rain starts pouring down. We were lucky though—just a few minutes later and we would’ve been soaked. Gotta admit, the weather forecast nailed it. But almost magically, the rain stopped the moment we stepped onto the platform. There are still water droplets trickling down the train windows. The internet vs. reality moment—let’s see which one wins. This is the view that blew up online—and honestly, it really is that amazing in person. What do you think? The scenery along the way is just gorgeous. In just 14 minutes, the train arrives at Gongcheng Station, where I’ll hop off. It’s not raining yet, but those dark clouds are definitely closing in. The scenery up there must be pretty good. There are a lot of people trying to get customers at the exit. Like almost every train station in China, this one comes with a giant square out front. Honestly, I’d never even heard of this place until today. Anyway, time to head back to Yangshuo. By Chinese standards, this train station is tiny… And yep, the rain finally starts coming down again. In just a few minutes, it’s pouring buckets. But the good news? Over in the direction of Yangshuo, the skies are clearing. Let’s see what the scenery is like on the other side. After passing through this tunnel, the views open up again—and it’s stunning. Back at Yangshuo Station! And just like that, Yangshuo is sunny again—like the rain never even happened. Barely an hour later, and the ground is almost completely dry. Next plan: rent an e-bike and head to a “secret base.” Apparently renting here even comes with a VIP fast lane. Renting an e-bike in Yangshuo is super easy—about 30 yuan (~4.2 USD) a day. My destination’s only about 5 kilometers away—just a 13-minute ride. Now on my left is the railway track Lots of houses are being built on the right. There aren’t many cars on this road, and the scenery in the distance is so nice. Now, we’ll leave the main road and turn into a place called Chong Village. And there it is—the viaduct in the distance, with a high-speed train racing across. That’s today’s target. This isn’t some tourist attraction—it’s literally where locals live. As you can see, the road conditions though… terrible. Probably from ongoing construction. And now—time to start climbing. Before heading to the main spot, I decided to check out the dam nearby. This is the Happiness Source Reservoir—yes, that’s really its name. It’s the same place we just saw from the train. Though honestly, from down here the view isn’t nearly as jaw-dropping. A high-speed train is passing through the viaduct. Okay, time to turn back and head to the real destination. Thankfully there are signs everywhere—no need to bother with navigation apps. And yep, more climbing. My poor e-bike motor is a little bit struggling, so I start zig-zagging in S-shapes… The car tried to continue but was stopped. The slope ahead is so steep that everyone parks their e-bikes here and goes on foot. So from this point, it’s all climbing with leg power. Even a motorbike tried to make it up… and failed miserably. It’s not easy to turn around on such a steep road. If only this thing had more horsepower, it’d be cruising uphill like a champ. We’re now almost level with the railway tracks—getting close to the spot. Another train is passing by. “After walking these steep roads, life will be smooth sailing.” But wait—there’s a typo. Maybe they left it on purpose? By the way, they don’t actually sell tickets here. To enter, you have to buy a coffee. So, for 38 yuan—about $5.30—you get a coffee and… This epic view. The place is called “Mountain and Water Train”—a name that couldn’t be more fitting. Yangshuo and Guilin are world-famous for their mountains and rivers. Watching a high-speed train slice through this scenery is a surreal experience. If only the weather weren’t so ridiculously hot… Gotta say though, some locals here are business geniuses—who else would turn a hillside into a café with train views? Apparently this used to be nothing more than an orchard. Even the villagers living nearby hardly ever came up here. Looks like this chicken here just flew back from Europe—still jet-lagged. Nowadays though, this spot has basically turned into a full-on tourist attraction. If you want the perfect combo of trains and breathtaking scenery, this is hands down one of the best places in China. These slower trains all make a stop at Yangshuo Station. More passing trains. Various types of high-speed trains flash by. From the earliest EMU sets to the latest CR400 “Fuxing” series—you see it all. It’s like standing inside a live museum of China’s high-speed rail history. Over on the opposite mountain, there’s even a random hole in the rock. Looks like I won’t be getting that perfect sunset shot today. Maybe that’s what travel is like. You can’t expect everything to go perfectly. And that’s what makes each trip unique. That’s all for the video. Thank you very much for watching! Have a nice trip!

Today in Yangshuo, I rode what might just be one of the most scenic high-speed trains in all of China.

Timestamp:
0:00 Intro
0:50 Stunning sunrise over a sea of clouds at Xianggong Mountain
9:38 Taking a unique route to reach the train station
15:21 Riding the high-speed train round trip from Yangshuo
24:37 Renting an e-bike to explore a hidden spot
30:17 “Mountain & River Train” — possibly one of the best railway viewpoints in China

▶ I use automatic translation of subtitles, so please excuse me if some look a little weird.