Standing at the gate with a 昆明/Kunming sign, we got a direct ride in 20 minutes by a guy going all the way to Guiyang

Standing at the gate with a 昆明/Kunming sign, we got a direct ride in 20 minutes by a guy going all the way to Guiyang

Great spot to get out of Kunming going east, lots of traffic and not fenced off. We got a ride to Shilin gas station by a guy going to Luxi

Hitching with a friend, took us half an hour to get a ride south by standing at the exit

Waited for nearly three hours in the wet trying to go south after being dropped off here, I ended up booking the hostel in town and tried to call a taxi, but when that didn’t work some bikers started talking to me and took me there

You can walk onto the station from the northern bridge, there’s a hole in the fence that leads you to the highway right before the station. Many cars are going west, took me a while to get south

Not that much traffic, perhaps because it was a Saturday. Probably worth getting dropped off in Mengzi if going to the border at Hekou

Just stood at the highway entrance with a 河口 sign and got a ride relatively quickly. Mengzi railway station isn’t too far if you fail to get a ride and need to get out of China asap

Not sure, but I ended up paying for the ride from here (5 Euro). He commercial driver took me right to the border. There are some checkpoint on the way. They will ask you some questions and tell you that you kinda need to cross if you go further. I'm not sure if it's legally allowed to hh across those checkpoints (they are further south, before the city), but taking the commercial ride which was arranged by my last drier who took me for free, was a good idea. The border was open at 6pm (chinese time) and should be open till 10pm. Chinese side is very modern and quick, Vietnam is rather slow but works too. I really enjoyed this trip across China and can recommend it to anyone (as long as you're not bothered by the police and politics, don't close your eyes too much and always be aware of the background you're moving in)!! Good luck!

Literally got dropped my taxi and offered a guy a cig. He asked where I want to go and it turned out that he is a mini van driver. He had a spare seat and offered to take me for a few Euros. I rejected the offer, trying to explain that I hh. He ended up taking me for free, even though I was not sure if he goes to the border or not. He dropped me at some reststop, where (idk tbh) some friends (?) waited for me. I ended up paying 5 Euro for the last 40 or so km. He brought me directly to the border gate which was nice. At the end I think it would be possible to go for free.

Zero traffic, don't wait here. I ended up taking my second taxi of the day - which took more then 45min to find via AMap taxi search (all services). I added 150% to the ride fare and even then it took forever. Literally no other traffic.

After failing at the toll station below I came here by taxi. You can cross the side through a tunnel. As usual people are very much interested in you. Some ignore and some are very helpful. A father and son ended up taking me towards Mile after less then 10min. It shows: Reststops are the way to go!

Horrible spot. I ended up taking a small bus from Kunming to Lunan/Stone Forst. They will drop you a less than 1km from here. The toll station has staffed by the most annoying chinese people ever. Not only was I told that I cannot stand behaind the barrier, but not even in front (which is 100% legal). Well, they called the police and 10 of them spawned, telling me I don't have a visa and will get deported (my country has 30days visa free). 60min wasted. I ended up standing below the bridge, but it cars are minimal and go too fast. At the end I took a taxi to the rest stop lil up from this location.

The Dali sign payed off! It’s hot and most cars seemingly aren’t going further than Panzhihua, but you will get a ride into Yunnan eventually.

Good but most cars seem to be going north towards Xichang. A Panzhihua sign might help get you further south towards Yunnan

As of June 2026 the fence is open on the north-western side, if you need to get out for the night or want to walk onto the station

Best for going north but south will work, ideally have the character 南 on your side if that’s where you’re going.

Good gas station before the fork between Meishan/Leshan and Ya’an, seemingly more traffic to the formers but I got a ride fairly quickly after I added the mention 雅安 (Yǎ’ān) to my sign. There’s also a toll gate here so you could probably ask them if you can walk onto the gas station or just wait at the booth

Somewhat awkward to stand there because it’s huge and traffic is coming from three different directions, and there’s a truck weighing thing on the far side so it might create some congestion. I waited between that platform and the lanes regular cars use. Good for anything south-west of Chengdu

Immediately got a ride from standing at the exit with a 成都 (Chengdu) sign

Just stood at the highway entrance with a 河口 sign and got a ride relatively quickly. Mengzi railway station isn’t too far if you fail to get a ride and need to get out of China asap

Not sure, but I ended up paying for the ride from here (5 Euro). He commercial driver took me right to the border. There are some checkpoint on the way. They will ask you some questions and tell you that you kinda need to cross if you go further. I'm not sure if it's legally allowed to hh across those checkpoints (they are further south, before the city), but taking the commercial ride which was arranged by my last drier who took me for free, was a good idea. The border was open at 6pm (chinese time) and should be open till 10pm. Chinese side is very modern and quick, Vietnam is rather slow but works too. I really enjoyed this trip across China and can recommend it to anyone (as long as you're not bothered by the police and politics, don't close your eyes too much and always be aware of the background you're moving in)!! Good luck!

Had a sign for Wuhan (武汉), a truck driver going all the way to Henan stopped for me and gave me a ride to the last gas station before Wuhan, dinner, and recorded me saying “China number one” for his douyin

Big station and a lot of traffic - but as usual the police is not a big fan of it. I had to wait for two team leaders to come, had a 1h discussion only for them to take to the next reststop. They tried to tell me that hh is not allowed in China - just stand your ground. You can take the Metro Line 3 to the closest station and then taxi to the road left to it. From there you can hop the fence and sneak past the police. Don't worry, they will come anyways.

First couple I asked took me for 6h. They had a very comfy car and invited me to Hotpot with their friends + free accommodation. Pengzhou is a big hub for fruit and veg import/export. I had a look around the market. After getting few rides in China: 1. Don‘t use a sign - just wave 2. Talking with translation apps works good 3. The chinese are incredibly hospitable

Big toll station. Had a discussion with the police if I could stand there. Usually it‘s fine but those guys were annoying. After getting cleared I walked behind the toll gate (usually work better) but then the staff harassed me. After 30mins of discussion they understood and allowed it too. Pro Tip: Don‘t reject rides in China. They will tell you that they won‘t go towards your direction but they do. Don‘t use a sign, just wave at them. Medium traffic on a workday morning.

NO A HITCH Busses to China leave from here. You can‘t hitch the border. The last bus of the day goes at 6pm (THIS MIGHT CHANGE). It costs 5000 and tickets can be bought with card. Crossing was easy and took 2-3h (+3h time difference). Be ready to take out all metals from your bag. Good luck!

Took less than 10min to catch a ride. He demanded money at the end. At the spot there is a restaurant and a bus stop. We just stood on the highway to catch all the traffic. Be there early, more cars will go to China.

tried to hitch a ride to china, only had to wait about 5 minutes to get a lift, I think they got the destination wrong though because I was dropped off at some weird camp where they made me do a bunch of work and beat me up a lot

Can't cross border now as a pedestrian!! (as of sept 2025) Need to book a bus from China to Zharkent. 8€ and took like 3-4 hours all together (waiting for the bus to fill up and crossing the border)

Hitchhiked the Pamir Highway. It's very possible but slow and cold (early october). It took me only 5 days from Sary-Tash to Dushanbe. I didn't do much sightseeing/detours etc. Some locals and some European overlanders. After Murghab plenty of trucks from China driving to Dushanbe but they drive ~20km/h because how bad the roads are. Don't expect to make much progress in a day. Plenty of guesthouses even in small villages, iOverlander offline map is handy for that^^

Trafic flow is low, but atleast every truck driving here goes to Murgab or to the Chinese border. In our case a truck driver drove to the Chinese border! But since the pamir highway and the road is so shit, be prepared to drive for 14 hours to the China border! At one point our truck driver got tired and we had to drive the truck ourselves for over 6 hours. Good spot, got here by shared taxi which was 50 somoni from Khorog.

After 3,5 hours got only a 10km ride. After trying to hitch from the other spot we surrendered. If you plan to hitch in China anywhere else then the Tibetan areas (where locals will pick you up in no time) your best best will be truckers

First time trying to hitch in china. Only taxis stopped asking for money. I was told by locals that there's no way ill get a ride, i decided to surrender and after 4 hours of no luck i took the train to Xishuangbanna.

Best spot to get north from LPB Cars need to slow down because of the roundabout and bad road conditions. Many trucks would go all the way to China

Good to start from here, than use highway in way down deep to China. Cheers 2015

Coming from China, right behind the border post, many trucks are stoping for rest or gas refill. Easy to get a lift to Osh here, but be aware of the border opening times (It has a lunch break of several hours where everything stands still). Some small shops and restaurants are there to stock up on food while waiting.

Towards Zharkent. After crossing the border, just walk 15 minutes until you come to the end of tow. Traffic is very low. Unlike in China. make the money issue clear before you get in the car.

I agree, easy to walk there from the old town. Pingyao is a small town, so not much traffic, but this is China and hitchhiking is easy even with little traffic.

U can see to hitchhiking spot.This is the one i did which make sense to let people know at least u can get ride from here.try to pop on a but to while this place is a branch of high way entrance which you can try west kunming toll gate ,get there you will easily get a ride passing those place when you get dali usually it is the city downtown.most people trying to see the old town ,go with No.8 bus to get the old town. Good luck to all the hitchhikers in china . mail me if you like to 940161762@qq.com BB