Points of interest along the line include UNESCO World Heritage Sites Huangshan and the ancient villages of Hongcun and Xidi of southern Anhui as well as China's porcelain capital, Jingdezhen.

From Huangshan, also known as Tunxi, the railway runs due west through Xiuning, Yuting, and Qimen before entering into Jiangxi Province and proceeding south to Jingdezhen, Leping, Wannian and Guixi.

[1] Work began in September 1958 and July 1961 but in each instance was halted after a short time due economic dislocations caused by the Great Leap Forward.

[2] The remaining project engineers were divided by political infighting incited by the Gang of Four's Anti-Confucius, Anti-Lin Biao campaign of the Cultural Revolution.

In October 1976, after the Gang of Four was ousted, the reconstituted Anhui Provincial Party Committee organized 200 recalcitrant members of the rebel faction for three months of political study and self-criticism, and adjusted the leadership personnel of the construction effort.

[2] After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee in 1978, which affirmed the course of Chinese economic reform, construction on the Wan'gan Line was pursued with renewed vigor.

[2] In October 2013, the Ministry of Land Resources approved a plan to expand capacity of the Wuhu to Xuancheng section of the Wan'gan railway to accommodate trains at speeds of up to 250 km/h (160 mph).