Lijiang Transportation

There has been an airport build, so that more tourists can reach this wonderful region in China. Well I am not ver yhappy with all the crowds of tourists falling onto Lijiang but I can understand, that many people like to see this overwhelmingly beautiful landscape.

Lijiang can be reached by airplane form Kunming.

Inside the town, the best way to linger around is by foot.

The best way to go to suburbs including Yulong Mountain, Lu Gu Lake or Tiger Leaping Gorge is to rent a taxi. There are buses going either of the places, but the buses go like 1 or 2 per day, and there are still a lot of places you will miss travelling by bus.

if it's not peak season, the taxi can be very cheap. Another advantage of renting a taxi is that with a local driver, you will discover a lot of really local stuff.

Lijiang sits on a huge plateau some 2,400 m above sea level. The surrounding area is littered with small villages, often accessible only by path from the main road. There is virtually no traffic on the roads, except the occational cart, bike or a very occasional lorry! The roads around are all yours and well worth exploring.

I set off with a fellow traveller I met over breakfast int he square. We hired bikes from the dealers at the Mao statue just outside the main gate of the old town, but bike hire is also available through many hotels and inns. Our bikes were good quality. Just wander out of the old town, you will find the main square with old Mao very easilly, and the bikes are sitting just waiting for you, around his feet.

Bike hire was not at all expensive and in plentifull supply. We paid around 10 RMB for the day, but I met someone who found a bike for 5 RMB. You will probably need to leave some documentation (they normally ask for a passport) to guarantee that you will return the bike.

Bus from Lijiang to Zhongdian took 6-7 hours. RMB27. It was a mini bus. So, my advise is go to bus station 30 mins earlier, wait for your bus and try to get a good seat in front (more leg room). Otherwise it was ot really fun to squeeze yourself for 6-7 hours along the bumpy road.

There are numerous bus stations in Lijiang which becomes confusing. I was in Lijiang in the summer of 2003 and used 3 different bus stations (perhaps there were as much as 4). This seems like so many bus stations for such a small town, but it is partly caused by construction of some sort.

So take notice of your arrival station, and the station at which you depart because they may be different.

The luxury bus with service to Dali and Kunming has its own station, which requires a short taxi ride from the tourist area of the old and new towns.

YNTAC operates a luxury bush between Lijiang and Kunming. The bus is a Volvo, has air-conditioning and a television with VCD/DVD. They play a few movies on the trip.

The bus is very clean, smoke-free, and you get a meal at a nice hotel in Dali on the way there. The price is 151 yuan, which I think is a good deal considering a regular bus costs about 90 yuan. I took both buses and think the YNTAC luxury bus was well worth the extra money.

There are 3 departures each day. The trip is 11 hours and the bus stops in Dali.

The biggest bus (Volvo) costs RMB 50. Non-smoking. Takes about 4 hours.

Don't fall asleep as the ride includes some of the most spectacular views of the surrounding area.

There are about 3 trips per day. The lastest (on this luxurious bus) is at 2:30pm. Just ask at any bus agent in the old town.

There are 2 other types of bus. They are smaller and allow smoking. They run at more frequent intervals.

The flight ticket from Kunming costs between RMB 340 to RMB 420. Ask a few travel agents.
There is a RMB 50 airport on top of that.

The taxi ride from the airport into Lijiang costs between RMB 60 to RMB 80. The ride takes about 30 minutes.