Atlas of China
Kunming to Jianshui 昆明 – 建水
Door to door, the high-speed train comes out ahead: about 2 hours against about 3 hours by road, counting about 20 minutes to board a train and 2½ hours of airport time for a flight. A standard-class seat is ¥51. The stations are in or near the city centres, which is what tips it.
| Way | Time | Door to door | Fare | A day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High-speed trainKunming South 昆明南 → Jianshui 建水 | 1 h 46 minC559, fastest | 2 hours | ¥51standard class | 707:53–18:36 |
| By road190 km | 2 h 50 min | 3 hours |
By train
7 direct high-speed trains a day run from Kunming South to Jianshui, between 07:53 and 18:36. The fastest, C559, takes 1 h 46 min, and a standard-class seat is ¥51. Coming back, 7 trains a day, the fastest 1 h 52 min (C9518, 09:02 to 20:56).
Jianshui: No G or D trains: C-series trains from Kunming and Kunming South take about 1¾–2 hours.
By air
No nonstop flights.
By road
190 km by road, about 2 h 50 min of driving: routed on OpenStreetMap, with speeds calibrated on measured trips.
At the other end
Featured places around Jianshui in Honghe.
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Yuanyang Rice Terraces 元阳梯田
Thousands of flooded paddies mirroring the sunrise across southern Yunnan's hills
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Jianshui Ancient Town 建水古城
A Ming gate tower, a great Confucian temple and grilled tofu on the way to Yuanyang
Around Kunming: Chengjiang Fossil Site & Fuxian Lake, Green Lake Park, Western Hills & Dragon Gate.
On the map
Open either city on the illustrated map, or put both in a trip and let the planner lay out the days and the legs between them, with the same tables these numbers come from.
Book
About Kunming · Honghe, with Jianshui · Where Kunming reaches in a day · All routes
Trains are every direct train on 2026-10-28 or 2026-11-11 in the 12306 timetable, with standard-class fares; one weekday, so weekend and holiday services differ, and the fastest train may not run every day. Flights are the airlines' schedules for 2026-10-28, plus routes Wikipedia lists for small airports. Drives are routed on OpenStreetMap roads (extract of 2026-10-21) where the pair was routed, else estimated from the distance. Door-to-door times add about 20 minutes to board a train and 2½ hours of airport time to a flight. How to book is in the guide to trains and 12306; the rail times are open data on the data page.