The Guiguang HSR takes a more direct route between its terminal cities, and crosses exceptionally difficult and mountainous terrain, which made construction very costly. The project cost an estimated 85.8 billion RMB (US$12.5 billion), although this figure was later revised to 94.6 billion RMB (US$13.8 billion). The line runs from
Guangzhou through
Foshan,
Sanshui and
Zhaoqing in the densely populated Pearl River Delta and then crosses the
Lingnan mountain range via
Huaiji into
Guangxi. It continues in a northwesterly direction through
Hezhou and
Zhongxiang to the famed scenic cities of
Yangshuo and
Guilin and then on to
Sanjiang. The line enters Guizhou at
Congjiang near the southeast tip of the province and passes
Rongjiang,
Sandu,
Duyun, and
Longli on to
Guiyang in the center of the province. This line traverses 270 tunnels and 510 valleys across the
karst landscape. Bridges and tunnels account for 83% of the line's total length, including 92% in Guizhou. A total of 238 tunnels, totaling , were built along route including nine tunnels over in length. The longest tunnel, through the Yan Mountain in Rongjiang, is . ==Stations==