Home / Getting Here / Flights to Xingyi

Flights to Xingyi

Why the plane usually beats the train — and the airport that makes it easy.

The short version. Xingyi has its own airport — Xingyi Wanfenglin Airport (ACX) — which is rare for a city this size and the reason flying in is so easy. It is about 20–30 minutes from both the city and the Wanfenglin valley, and roughly 700 m from Xingyi South high-speed station, so arriving by plane and arriving by train drop you in nearly the same spot. From Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area, this winter's only non-stop flight is Guangzhou → Xingyi; Zhuhai keeps a same-plane service via Tongren three days a week, and Shenzhen has no Xingyi flight this season — from there, the train is now the way in.
Our honest recommendation (updated October 2026): from Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area, take the train. This page used to argue the opposite, and the facts have genuinely changed: the Panzhou–Xingyi high-speed line opened in November 2025, and this winter's flight schedules thinned out at the same time. Guangzhou's non-stop is now the only Greater Bay Area flight left and it lands at 23:40; Zhuhai's same-plane service runs three days a week and lands at 23:10; Shenzhen lost its Xingyi flight altogether. From Shenzhen North station, the train reaches Xingyi South at 15:48 the same day. Flying still makes sense from further afield — Beijing, Shanghai and the other cities with non-stops below — and that is what the rest of this page covers. Checked October 2026.

The airport, in plain terms

Here is the small surprise that works in your favour: Xingyi is a minor city — officially a "fifth-tier" one — that nonetheless has its own airport. That is unusual in China, and it is the single biggest reason flying here is easy. Xingyi Wanfenglin Airport (ACX) puts you 20–30 minutes from both the city and the valley, skipping the transfers and the long overland day entirely.

It also sits about 700 m from Xingyi South railway station 兴义南, so the airport and the high-speed line are effectively next door to each other. Whichever way you come in, you arrive beside the karst country rather than a long way from it.

Which cities fly to Xingyi

For anyone coming through Hong Kong or the Greater Bay Area, this winter the useful one is Guangzhou — the only non-stop, about two hours. Zhuhai has a same-plane service that stops at Tongren on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and Shenzhen has no Xingyi flight this season at all. Xingyi's airport also connects to a number of larger mainland hubs (Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing and more), but the schedule is thin and shifts with the season, so check Trip.com or the airlines for live routes on your exact dates rather than assuming a connection will be there.

If the flight you want is not running on your day, the fallback is the train via Guiyang — see Guiyang to Xingyi and, coming from Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Xingyi for both options side by side.

The one catch: it lands in the evening

Plan around the arrival time, not the flight time. Both Greater Bay Area services land late at night — Guangzhou at 23:40, Zhuhai at 23:10 — and Zhuhai runs only three days a week. That is not a mishap — it is the normal rhythm here. So the realistic shape of a Xingyi trip is arrive at night and check in, two full days to explore (the valley plus Maling River Canyon), then leave on the evening of day three — or day four for a calmer trip. Most visitors who fly arrive after dark and start the next morning.

For how those days actually fit together, see Plan Your Trip.

Booking on a foreign passport

This is less trouble than the internet suggests. Trip.com sells domestic Chinese flights in English and takes foreign cards and passports, for a small booking fee; the airlines' own apps also accept foreign passports. Bring the same passport to the airport — it is your ID for the flight, the way it is for the trains.

Book several days ahead for weekends and Chinese public holidays, when both the flights and the Guiyang rail line fill up.

Scenic-area tickets are a separate matter from flights: those run through Chinese apps with real-name registration. Where we have checked on the ground — Maling River Canyon — a foreign passport number works for the advance booking, and we can make it for you. More on that in Tickets for foreign visitors.

Arriving in the evening

The one genuinely awkward moment is landing after dark: the taxi rank does not speak English, and neither, generally, does the hotel front desk. We meet flights and trains if you would rather not begin the trip that way — and the valley floor is flat and easy, which makes this an unusually simple destination even with small children (Xingyi with a baby or toddler).

Routes, journey times and fares here were checked in October 2026 against Chinese flight and rail schedules — the winter schedules, running to late March 2027. The Xingyi line and the flight roster both change with the season, so check live schedules when you book. Visa and entry rules are a separate question — see Travel Tips.

Chat on WhatsAppEnglish · usually replies within a few hours