Getting Around Anshun
Anshun is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Guizhou province, near the Huangguoshu Waterfall. It sits on major rail and road corridors, which makes it reasonably easy to reach and to use as a base for exploring the surrounding karst scenery, caves, and Ming-era villages. Within the city itself, getting around is straightforward: local buses and taxis cover the urban area, and the main practical challenge for visitors is connecting between the different bus and rail stations on the edges of town.
Rail: Two Stations, Two Very Different Roles
Anshun has two railway stations, and knowing which one you want matters.
- Anshun Railway Station sits on Zhonghua Road and dates from 1960. It serves the older, conventional Guiyang–Kunming line, part of the Shanghai–Kunming railway. Trains here are slower, and most non-high-speed services heading east stop in Guiyang. These conventional trains are gradually being phased out in favour of high-speed services.
- Anshun West Railway Station is the station you want for high-speed travel. It is a stop on the Shanghai–Kunming high-speed railway and also one of two terminals on the Anshun–Liupanshui intercity railway.
For visitors, the high-speed option is usually the most convenient. The Guiyang–Kunming high-speed section puts Anshun roughly an hour and a half to just over two hours from Kunming South, and the line continues east through Guiyang and on toward the provincial capitals of Hangzhou, Nanchang, and Changsha. Stopping in Anshun on the way to see Huangguoshu Waterfall is a common and practical itinerary.
One caveat worth planning around: sleeper reservations from Anshun can be hard to secure. If you need a sleeper, it is often easier to arrange it in Guiyang at the ticket office a few hundred metres north of the train station on Zhonghua Nanlu.
Metro and Trams
The source material describes no metro or tram network in Anshun. Getting around the city relies on buses, taxis, and walking rather than rail-based urban transit.
Buses and Long-Distance Coaches
Local city buses are the cheapest way to move around, at ¥1 per ride. A few routes are especially useful for visitors:
- Bus 1 loops around town from the train station, up Tashan Donglu, and past the Hongshan Binguan.
- Bus 2 connects the train station with the north bus station.
- Bus 16 runs from Zhonghua Nanlu (opposite the Xixiushan Binguan) to the east bus station.
For longer trips, Anshun has several bus stations, and which one you use depends on your destination:
- North bus station (客车北站) — serves Zhijin town, the gateway for Zhijin Cave.
- East bus station (东客运站) — located east of the centre, this is where almost every other long-distance bus now departs. Reach it on Bus 16 for ¥1, or by taxi for roughly ¥25–30.
From the east bus station, useful destinations for travellers include Guiyang, Huangguoshu, the Longgong (Dragon Palace) Caves, Pingba, Yunfeng, Shuicheng, Weining, and a sleeper service to Kunming. Services to Guiyang and Huangguoshu are the most frequent, running roughly every twenty minutes through the day.
Anshun is also well connected by road to the wider region: the G60 Shanghai–Kunming Expressway and National Highway 320 both run through the city. Frequent buses link Guiyang and Anshun, and buses to Anshun leave from every one of Guiyang's stations. If you are arriving from Xingyi or Weining, any Guiyang-bound bus will generally let you off in Anshun if you tell the driver.
Taxis and Ride-Hailing
Taxis are plentiful and inexpensive. The flagfall is ¥6, which makes short hops around the city easy to justify, especially when carrying luggage or heading to a bus station. A taxi to the east bus station, for example, costs around ¥25–30. Ride-hailing apps are widely used across Chinese cities and are a convenient alternative, though the source material does not detail specific operators in Anshun.
Walking
The central city is compact enough that walking works well for short errands and sightseeing in the core, including the Ming dynasty Confucian temple, Anshun Wenmiao, which sits within the city. That said, the city's useful transport hubs are spread out — the east bus station in particular lies well outside the centre — so walking is best treated as a way to cover the immediate downtown area rather than a way to link stations. Note also that Anshun has frequent rain and high humidity year-round, so carrying rain gear is sensible.
Getting In from the Airport
Anshun Huangguoshu Airport is located in the city and is a dual-use facility handling both civilian and military air services. Its destinations include Chongqing, Guangzhou, and Beijing's Daxing Airport.
In practice, however, most travellers do not fly into Anshun directly. The common approach is to use Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport and take a coach between there and Anshun. Guiyang is Anshun's neighbouring provincial capital to the east, and the bus link between the two cities is frequent and straightforward, which makes this the most reliable route into Anshun by air for most visitors.
Practical Summary
- Arriving by high-speed rail: use Anshun West station.
- Arriving by conventional rail: use Anshun Railway Station on Zhonghua Road.
- Arriving by air: most travellers fly into Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport and take a coach to Anshun.
- Getting around town: city buses at ¥1, taxis from ¥6, and walking in the compact centre.
- Leaving for regional sights: the east bus station handles most long-distance departures; the north bus station serves Zhijin.
- Buying tickets: pay cash or use standard local payment methods on buses; buy coach tickets at the relevant bus station and rail tickets at the station or in Guiyang for sleeper reservations.