Route Library · Day by Day

White Cloud Express Itineraries

Two published programmes: the 11-day Yunnan-Guangxi Southwest Loop, transcribed below day by day from the operator's own site (verified October 2026), and the 18-day North and South Xinjiang panorama, summarised here in five phases with its full day-by-day plan on the 2027 itinerary page. Nothing on this page is invented: where the operator has not published a stage, we say so.

The journeys at a glance

Journey	Spine	Season	Departures	Source
Yun Yu Xingjiang (Xinjiang Panorama), 18 days	Guangzhou, Chongqing, Urumqi, Altay, Ili, Kuqa, Kashgar, Pamir, Korla, Golmud	May to September 2027	7 departures, May 18 to Sep 14, 2027	Full day-by-day on the 2027 page
First-departure edition, 18 days	The same Xinjiang spine, opening season	Autumn 2026	Sep 7, 2026 (sailed)	Operator 2026 release
Yunjian Mijing (Southwest Loop), 11 days	Guangzhou, Chongzuo, Kunming, Baoshan/Tengchong, Lijiang, Shangri-La	Sep to Dec 2026	7 departures, Sep 19 to Dec 18, 2026	Operator site, full day-by-day below
Southwest short edition, 9 days	The same loop without the Lijiang and Shangri-La sector	Winter	Dec 26, 2026 / Jan 6, 2027	Licensed channels

Journey 1 · Yunjian Mijing, the Southwest Loop, 11 days

From RMB 49,880 per person (four-berth Yayun room) or RMB 59,880 (three-berth Lanyue suite), seven departures from September 19 to December 18, 2026. The published plan carries two choice systems: a Tengchong choice day (Line A village craft, Line B mountain walk) and, for Days 7 to 9, a Shangri-La plateau version (average elevation about 3,280 m) or a Lijiang non-plateau version. The table below follows the plateau version.

Day	Route & highlights	Overnight
1	Board the White Cloud Express at Guangzhou; welcome ceremony and cultural salon; dinner on board as the train runs south	On board
2	Chongzuo: the Detian Transnational Waterfalls with coffee at the viewing terrace in the morning; bamboo-rafting through the karst of Mingshi Pastoral in the afternoon	Longzhou Guantang Resort, or upgrade to LUX* Chongzuo
3	A free morning at the resort; a Zhuang wedding ceremony and the sugarcane-sea banquet in Longzhou at midday, sugarcane cutting in the fields; board for Kunming	On board
4	Kunming Old Street and Daguan Pavilion in the afternoon; board for Baoshan	On board
5	Baoshan (Tengchong): the Old School of the horse caravans, the Tea Sea at sunset from a glass tea room, and a camellia-oil banquet at Hemu Camellia Village	Wyndham Grand Tengchong Hot Spring, or upgrade to The Lost Stone Villas & Spa
6	Tengchong choice day. Line A: Jietou Village and the six-hundred-year paper-making craft, then Qiluo Old Town with horse-caravan tea. Line B: a 3 km forest walk on Gaoligongshan with a woodland kitchen lunch, then Qiluo Old Town with horse-caravan tea	As Day 5
7	Rail to Lijiang at midday, then by road up to Shangri-La (average elevation about 3,280 m). Non-plateau version: remain in Lijiang; Jade Dragon Snow Mountain can still involve altitude	Hotel Indigo Diqing Moonlight City, or upgrade to Songtsam Lingka
8	Shangri-La: Pudacuo National Park in the morning; Dukezong Old Town and its giant prayer wheel in the afternoon	As Day 7
9	Tiger Leaping Gorge: a 6 km gorge walk (2 to 3 hours) or the shuttle to the viewing platform; board the train at Lijiang for Guangzhou	On board
10	A full day aboard as the train crosses Yunnan and Guangxi; on-board activities and shared journey recollections	On board
11	Arrive Guangzhou; breakfast on board; journey ends	–

A note on departures. The operator's site currently lists November 24 and December 22, 2026 as guaranteed departures for this journey. The December 22 date does not appear in the seven-date calendar first published for the season, so confirm the live calendar, and your own departure, in writing before paying a deposit.

Journey 2 · the 18-Day Xinjiang Panorama in five phases

Seven departures in 2027 (May 18, Jun 6, Jun 26, Jul 16, Aug 5, Aug 24 on the Tianshan Brocade edition from RMB 98,880; Sep 14 on the Golden-Wind Panorama edition from RMB 108,880). The operator's plan divides the eighteen days into five phases, with a choice of line inside the Altay and Ili-Kuqa segments: only one line may be taken per segment.

Days	Phase & highlights	Overnight
1 to 3	Board at Guangzhou with a welcome ceremony and live performance; Chongqing's Three Gorges Museum, a hotpot dinner and the Raffles City sky deck; a rail day through the Hexi Corridor with on-board salons	On board
4 to 7	Urumqi: the regional museum and the Grand Bazaar. Altay Line A: the Ahe scenic highway to Hemu, a Kanas lake cruise and the Three Bays with a cold-water fish feast. Line B: Heavenly Lake, the Kazakh village of Chonghuer and Baihaba. Board for Yining	Hemu and Kanas hotels, then on board
8 to 11	Sayram Lake. Ili-Kuqa Line A: Nalati and the Duku crossing to Bayanbulak, then the Kiziliya canyon. Line B: Kalajun and Kuerdening on the Brocade edition; the Tianshan flower sea and Nalati on the Golden-Wind edition. Line C (+RMB 6,000): the Yizhao highway, a private sunset boat on Jade Lake and the Xiata trail. Board for Kashgar	Lake and grassland hotels, then on board
12 to 16	The Karakoram highway to White Sand Lake and Tashkurgan with a Tajik family visit; Karakul Lake; a roast-lamb banquet in Kashgar, then the old town and the Id Kah Mosque; Bosten Lake at Korla; the Qarhan Salt Lake and its salt bridge at Golmud	Tashkurgan and Kashgar hotels, then on board
17 to 18	Two rail days east through Golmud and Chongqing to Guangzhou; the journey ends on arrival	On board

Reference hotels named by the operator include the Hemu Holiday Hotel, a high-end guesthouse inside the Kanas scenic area, Hotel Indigo at Sayram Lake and Nalati, the Holiday Inn Resort at Bayanbulak, the Snow Crown or Wanda Meihua at Tashkurgan, and the Universal Harbour or Radisson in Kashgar; each is "or same class", and the actual property may change. The full card-by-card plan, meal by meal, is on the 2027 itinerary page.

Also listed · the 9-day Southwest short edition

Licensed channels list a nine-day edition of the Southwest Loop from RMB 39,880 per person, departing December 26, 2026 and January 6, 2027. It follows the same Guangzhou-Chongzuo-Kunming-Tengchong spine and returns on board after the Tengchong sector, without the Lijiang and Shangri-La days. This listing comes from channel publications rather than the operator's own site, so treat it as the shape of the product and confirm dates, price and inclusions with the operator in writing before booking.

Reading the tables

One line per segment. Where a day offers A/B or A/B/C lines, guests take exactly one line per segment; the lines cannot be mixed. Route C on the Yili-Kuqa leg carries a supplement of RMB 6,000 per person.

Hotels are "or same class". The properties named above are the operator's references; the actual hotel may be substituted at an equivalent standard. Upgrade options named on this page come from the operator's own itinerary pages.

Railway command. Departure dates, stopping patterns, routing and timing are subject to the final commands of the railway authorities; the operator undertakes to give seven days' notice of changes. Touring order may be adjusted without reducing the service standard.

Altitude and fitness. The plateau version of the Southwest Loop stays at about 3,280 m for two nights; the Day 6 Line B walk covers about 3 km with 100 to 300 m of ascent, and the Tiger Leaping Gorge walk about 6 km. Choose the non-plateau version where altitude is a concern, and read the operator's separate non-plateau handbook.

Duku Highway and border permits. On the Xinjiang panorama, the Bayanbulak section of the Duku Highway is not open to foreign passports and substitute routing applies; the Pamir sectors require an electronic border permit arranged by the operator. See the Duku Highway guide and confirm your routing in writing before paying a deposit.

What the fares include. Train accommodation as the fixed lodging throughout, hotel nights as listed, all meals in the published plan, entrance tickets and necessary shuttles, ground transport, local guides, a tour escort, train butlers and a licensed medic on board.