Lijiang Transportation

Neighboring the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Lijiang is easily reachable since becoming a popular tour destination at the end of the 1990s. Lijiang enjoys a much development transport. Lijiang Airport offers the flights to many other big cities of China. Besides, Lijiang has 4 stations to undertake the short and long distance passengers.
 

A large city neither in size nor in population, Lijiang has about one thousand taxis. A small taxi is CNY6 for the first 3 kilometers (about 1.86 miles) and then CNY1.6 for every additional kilometer (about 0.62 mile). Generally speaking, you can bargain for a reasonable price with the driver if you just travel in the urban area.

Lijiang Airport is located in the south of Lijiang city, 28 km away from downtown. There is an airport shuttle bus service in downtown Lijiang. The airport was opened in July 1995 and has flights to Kunming, Chengdu, Xishuangbanna, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen,Xiamen via Chongqing and Guiyang.It also offers chartered airplane service. There are flights from Kunming to Lijiang every day and are about 30- minute’s flight time. Airport shuttle bus stops at the Blue Sky Hotel (40minutes from the airport/ RMB20) in Shangri-La. Taxi is about RMB80 from the airport to the old town in Shangri-La.

There are more than 10 bus lines running in the city, connecting every corner of the new district, except for the Old Town where no vehicles are allowed to enter. The ticket fare is from CNY0.5 to CNY1. Every morning, the No.7 bus departs from Hongtaiyang Square in the north of the Old Town to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. The fare is about CNY15. Also, No.8 which departs from the Department Store runs a circular route.

 Long-distance Bus

Located at the interface of Yunnan, Sichuan provinces and Tibet, Lijiang has set up a relatively complete highway system extending in all directions. It is easy for visitors to travel between Lijiang and other tourist destinations of Yunnan Province, such as Kunming, Dali and Shangri-La. Additionally, there are regular buses running between Lijiang and Panzhihua of Sichuan Province every day.

There are four main bus stations depart different destinations:

Lijiang transport service center bus station, located in Changshui Road departs the long distance buses to Zhongdian and Deqin, and night buses to Kunming.

Lijiang Guluwan bus station, located in Heilongtan Park in the north of the city (Hongtaiyang Square) sets the buses to Daju, Xiaguan, Zhongdian, Panzhihua, and night buses to Kunming.

Lijiang Gaokuai bus station, sits at the Shangri-la Avenue now only has buses to Kunming available.

Lijiang tourism bus station, located in the Changshui Road beside Naxi Hotel only departs the bus to Kunming and Xiaguan.

From Kunming to Lijiang
Kunming Long Distance Bus Station, Panjiawan Station, Dongxi South Station, Guanshang Square all have buses to Lijiang, around 20-30 buses everyday, and takes between 8 to 10 hours to get there. Regular bus costs CNY120 and Deluxe bus costs CNY150-160. The most luxurious bus there can cost above CNY200.

From Dali to Lijiang
All the long distance bus stations have bus to Lijiang. The trip takes 3.5 to 4 hours. Medium bus costs CNY35-45 and Deluxe bus costs CNY50-60.

From Panzhihua to Lijiang
Every day, there are large bus and medium bus going to Lijiang. The trip takes 10 hours and costs CNY50-76.

From Shangri-la to Lijiang
After the express way has been built, it only takes 3.5 hours to get to Lijiang from Shangri-la. Every day there are buses running between the two cities. The trip costs CNY38-48.

Lijiang East Station, namely the Lijiang Railway Station, is located about 5 kilometers away from the Old Town. Currently, it operates two scheduled trains coming from Kunming every day, and vice versa.

Some hotels in Lijiang City rent bicycles to visitors who would like an unrestricted trip by themselves. Usually, the rent is CNY15 for a day.