Time to get your hemp pants ready. A new high-speed rail from Shanghai to Kunming is opening next month, shortening the current 40-hour train ride to Yunnan, China's hippie capital, to just nine hours. The new train will zip through Hangzhou, Yiwu, Nanchang, Changsha, and Guizhou, completing the 2,300 kilometers at speeds up to 350km/h. A ticket from Shanghai to Kunming is expected to set you back 700-750RMB.
Once in Yunnan province, travel around the region and its mountainous areas becomes a bit trickier - think minibus driving through mountain roads. But if you're up for adventure, and some jaw-droppingly beautiful hikes, Kunming is the gateway to exotic destinations in and near Yunnan such as Lijiang, Shaxi, Tiger Leaping Gorge, Shangri-La and Tibet.
Kunming is also expected to become an international transportation hub of southwestern China, connecting China to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Singapore, via the planned Kunming-Singapore Railway, which started construction in 2014. China is currently the world leader in high-speed rail, with over 20,000 kilometers of track laid already. That number is expected to double by 2030.
More from Time Out Shanghai
From woodworking to pottery: 4 craft classes to try
Yikes: Winter has come to Shanghai 10 days early