Recommended by Little Lucky Star! There’s a place called Kaili in Guizhou!
I am Little Lucky Star, the great travel wizard. As an independent travel blogger who insists on authentic experiences, rejects "internet-famous check-in style travel," and focuses on the city’s everyday life and cultural texture, today I’ve customized a plan for you—
📍 "City Travel Notes · New Chapter for 2500 RMB" · A three-day, two-night city roaming guide to a underestimated border town: with river breeze, old streets, sour soup, and a lively atmosphere — no crowded "Little Kamakura," no check-in at the "Sky Mirror," no expensive viewing platforms. This time, we spend three days and two nights truly immersing ourselves in the daily life of a living southwestern border town:
In the early morning, enjoy a bowl of sour soup noodles by the Qingshui River; in the afternoon, listen to elders recount stories of the Third Front at the old post office; at dusk, watch cargo ships slowly pass by on the iron chain bridge; late at night, drink a bowl of papaya iced jelly at a street corner stall.
No compressed routes, no purely commercial tours, no staying in trendy homestays. Within a budget of 2500 RMB, complete a slow journey through Qiandongnan with rivers, flavors, sounds, and warmth.
🌿【Recommended City】: Kaili · Gateway to Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture
✅ Reasons:
Guizhou’s "hidden entrance," not a main tourist battlefield, authentic local life
Extremely affordable gourmet food (sour soup noodles ¥6, beef noodles ¥8)
Many free old streets, blending ethnic culture and urban life
High-speed rail direct access (Shanghai-Kunming line), convenient transportation
Ideal for slow travel, photography, storytelling, and tasting sour and spicy flavors
🗓 Trip Theme: "Eat a bowl of sour soup by the Qingshui River, listen to a Third Front story at Dashizi, watch a sunset on the old bridge, drink a bowl of iced jelly at the alley entrance" ——
Using sour as the lead, river as the vein, sound as the breath, and alley as the poem, start a low-commercial, highly resonant slow walk in the border town.
🗓 Day 1: Arrive in Kaili, step into the folds of the border town
🚄 Transportation advice (budget: ¥600)
High-speed rail to Kaili South Station (nationwide access, ¥300–600, estimate ¥500)
Taxi to downtown (about ¥100, carpooling can save 50%)
💡 Tip: Arrive before noon to save time
🏡 Evening:
Stay in a homestay or budget hotel in the Dashizi old town area (budget: ¥260/night × 1 night = ¥260)
Recommendations:
A small courtyard near Kaili Hotel or an apartment near the Ethnic Style Park
Quiet, breakfast included, walking distance to old streets
🌇 Evening: Dashizi + Qingshui River Riverside Walkway
Activities: Skip the "internet-famous bridge," walk the local people’s promenade
Photography: river reflections, elders fishing, children playing in water
Listen to an elder’s memories of the "Third Front construction"
🍽 Dinner: Liu Yiwan Beef Noodles (Zhoufu Road branch) (budget: ¥15)
Must add: pickled radish + fermented chili
🗓 Day 2: Soulful sour soup, rediscover the old streets
🌅 Early morning 7:30|Jinquan Lake morning market + old vegetable market
Activities: Visit the local vegetable market: see sour soup jars, cured meat, wild vegetables
Photography: grandma selling flowers, elder repairing shoes, tofu stall
Buy fermented chili and sour soup buns as souvenirs (¥40)
🍜 Morning 9:00|Old Kaili Sour Soup Fish (Bonan Ancient Road branch) (budget: ¥80)
Must try: red sour soup + litsea cubeba + boiling water fish hotpot
Order only small fish + side dishes, no set meals
Pair with a bowl of rice + cold mixed houttuynia
🏞 Morning 11:00|Bonan Ancient Road (Kaili section)
Activities: Walk the remaining section of the Tang Dynasty ancient courier road, see the inscription "Qian-Gui thoroughfare"
Photography: stone steps, old trees, clothes drying poles
Feel the lingering warmth of the "Southern Silk Road"
🍱 Lunch: Alley rice noodle stall (budget: ¥12)
Recommended:
Sour soup noodles + fried potatoes
🌄 Afternoon 14:00|Yatang Town + villages along Sankeshu Town
Activities:
Taxi to Sankeshu Town (¥60 round trip)
Walk the edge trails of Langli or Nanhua villages
Photography: stilted houses, rice fields, elders weaving cloth
Do not enter paid village gates, respect villagers’ lives
🏡 Evening: Stay at a riverside homestay outside Xiashi Ancient Town (budget: ¥320/night × 1 night = ¥320)
Recommendations:
Xiashi Town "Qingjiang Cottage" style
Window view of the river, quiet, walking distance to old streets
🍽 Dinner: Home-style dishes on Xiashi old street (budget: ¥60)
Recommended: stir-fried cured meat with bracken, sour soup cooked river shrimp
🗓 Day 3: Relive the ancient town moments, prepare to return
🌅 Early morning 7:00|Outer waterways of Xiashi Ancient Town
Activities: Do not buy tickets to enter the main street, walk along the old dock by Qingjiang River
Photography: cargo ships, cormorants, washing grandmas
Capture the morning mist at "Zhonghe Floating Bridge"
☕ Morning 9:00|Old Post Office Café or Xiashi Teahouse (budget: ¥35)
1. Order a Kaili latte + handmade rice cake
2. Write a Qiandongnan style postcard
🛍 Morning 10:30|Outer Xiashi old street + farmers’ market
Activities: Buy dried blueberries (¥25), small bottles of rice wine (¥20)
Photography: old eaves, stone steps, bamboo baskets
🚆 Afternoon 12:00|Check out + lunch (budget: ¥45)
Recommendations:
1. Yang’s rice noodles (sour soup beef noodles ¥15) + iced jelly (¥10)
2. Buy vacuum-packed sour soup buns on the way (¥35)
🚄 Afternoon 13:30|Kaili South Station → return trip (included in ¥600 transportation budget)
💰 Total budget breakdown (per person):
Item Cost (RMB)
1. Round-trip transportation (high-speed rail + city taxi/carpool) ¥600
2. Accommodation (2 nights) ¥580
3. Meals (6 meals + snacks) ¥224
4. Tickets + experiences (all free) ¥0
5. Souvenirs + miscellaneous (sour soup, tea, postcards, snacks) ¥120
6. Emergency reserve ¥976
7. Total ≈ ¥2,500
✅ 📸 Little Lucky Star’s warm reminder!
Why recommend this route?
It’s the right way to travel a border town: no check-ins, no rushing, no consumerism
Every stop has life, warmth, and details
Perfect for capturing emotional, textured, and resonant content
Fun fact:
Kaili is the "Chinese Capital of Sour Soup Cuisine"
"Xiashi" originally meant "Xiashi Dock," a major salt transport hub in the Qing Dynasty
Kaili locals drink 100,000 bowls of sour soup daily
🏙 Conclusion:
In three days, you’ve eaten sour soup, listened to the river’s sound, and watched a sunrise by the Qingshui River.
Kaili has never been a "noisy" place.
It tells you with a bowl of fiery sour soup, a deep ancient road, a quiet river, and a warm dialect:
The true beauty of China is not in filters, but in every morning you’re willing to slow down.
If you want to experience this kind of "quiet, authentic, and heartfelt" travel,
👉 Like + Save + Follow me, and I will continue to take you into more of China’s underestimated city secrets, walk the oldest paths, hear the truest stories, and be a "wanderer of life."