For most of the year, the Silk Road Express (丝路梦享号) is a creature of the Northwest — Xining to Dunhuang, Kashgar, the poplar forests of autumn. But between November and January the train that defined China's northwest luxury rail quietly moves south, into the rainforests of Xishuangbanna, the heritage metre-gauge tracks of southern Yunnan, and the karst border country of Guangxi. The operator calls the programme the Winter Carnival (冬季嘉年华) — and for 2026/27 it has grown from a single seasonal escape into a five-journey portfolio.
Why the Silk Road Express winters in the south
The train's conventional operating season runs from late April to late September, when the Northwest is at its most scenic. In the off-season, the operator has long pointed the train toward Yunnan — a tradition formalised this year into a structured winter series. The economics are obvious: the same 38-room, 80-guest train that sells six-figure Xinjiang suites in summer becomes an accessible winter escape, with standard rooms from roughly RMB 26,666 per person (RMB 23,999 at early-bird rates) and the train itself doing the long-haul work while guests sleep.
The five journeys of the 2026/27 Winter Carnival
Diannan Impression (滇南印象) · 4 days · 27 Nov
Chengdu → Xishuangbanna → Shiping → Kunming. A full day of rainforest trekking with indigenous guides in Xishuangbanna, then the century-old railway heritage of Shiping — the railway museum, the old town, and a vintage metre-gauge ride along the shores of Yilong Lake. The flagship of the winter programme.
Canger Tea (苍洱茶语) · 4 days · 30 Nov & 6 Dec
Kunming → Xishuangbanna → Dali → Kunming. A closed-loop Yunnan circuit pairing rainforest scenery with Dali's Cangshan-Erhai culture and tea traditions.
Dianyue Trail (滇越寻踪) · 4 days · 3 & 9 Dec
Kunming → Xishuangbanna → Hekou → Kunming. Traces the heritage Yunnan-Vietnam railway to the border town of Hekou — December is also the season of the winter cherry blossom along the frontier.
Qian-Gui Frontier (黔贵秘境) · 4 days · 12, 15 & 18 Dec
Kunming → Xingyi → Chongzuo → Shenzhen, forward and reverse. Karst peaks of southwest Guizhou and the Detian/Chongzuo border country of Guangxi, in the tradition of the train's 2024 Qiangui journey.
Cloudrail Escape (云轨纯享) · 2 days · 25 Nov, 22 Dec & 11 Jan
Xining–Chengdu, Shenzhen–Shanghai and Shanghai–Xi'an. The train itself is the destination — short two-day escapes with dinner, cocktail hour and a night aboard, from roughly RMB 13,500 per person (RMB 12,150 early-bird).
The heritage angle: a railway written in metre-gauge
The most distinctive thread running through the winter series is the Yunnan-Vietnam railway heritage. The 1910 metre-gauge line — China's first cross-border rail link — left southern Yunnan with a unique layer-cake of French colonial stations, steam-era engineering and the red "metre-gauge trains" that still run the surviving sections today. On the Diannan Impression journey, guests board a vintage carriage at Shiping for a slow ride along Yilong Lake, visit the Shiping Railway Museum with its restored Baldwin locomotive, and finish with a French long-table banquet on the platform of a century-old station. It is the kind of slow, storied travel the Silk Road Express was built for — just with more camellia and coffee than sand.
Practical notes
The Winter Carnival is an operator-published seasonal programme — dates and fares above are the published reference for 2026/27, priced per person on twin share, with the standard rooms at RMB 26,666 (four-day journeys) and the Palace of Splendour suites at RMB 133,330 per suite. Early-bird rates (roughly 90% of standard) are offered by licensed channels. Fares, departures and itineraries should be confirmed with the operator before booking. China Expresses is a booking partner for the Silk Road Express and can confirm current availability.
See the Winter Collection →Ask About a Departure
Sources: Star Express (星享铁旅) official product pages, the operator's 2026/27 Winter Carnival publications, and licensed channel fare listings (August 2026). Pricing reflects published reference rates and varies by departure; confirm with the operator before booking. Silk Road Express is operated by Star Express (星享铁旅) and featured in the China Expresses curated fleet.