How to Get to Yunnan from Mainland China

China’s southwest province Yunnan, literary “South to the clouds” in Chinese, Yunnan is a place bond with exotic cultures and beautiful tales. It takes pride in its rich natural and cultural resources. The most attractive of which is the folklore and culture of the area’s 25 ethnic minority groups. Tourists can get to Kunming by plane, train or highways. Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan, is also the transportation hub of Yunnan province.

Get to Yunnan by Train

The cheapest way to Yunnan would be by train from other cities of China, though it is not as convenient as travelling by air. Yunnan are mainly connected with Chengdu, Nanning and Guiyang through Chengdu-Kunming railway, Nanning-Kunming railway, and Guizhou-Kunming railway. Kunming railway station, located at the intersection of these railways, is an important transportation gateway of Yunnan province. At the end of 2016, Yunnan high-speed railway was officially opened, which greatly facilitates the travel of tourists. At present, bullet train lines basically cover most cities in the southwest, central, east, north and pearl river delta regions as well as many regions in the province.

Beijing to Yunnan by Train

Beijing, the capital of China, is the major gateway and first stop for foreign tourists to travel in China. You can experience the old culture of China through visiting the cities of Beijing. Regularly there are 6 trains running from Beijing to Kunming, including normal speed trains and high-speed trains. From every Friday to next Monday, there is one additional high-speed train available. The schedules are listed as follow for your reference.

Shanghai to Yunnan by Train

Shanghai, a booming megalopolis mixing East and West, ancient and modern. It is an international metropolis with a blend of rich history and fashionable modernity. At present, there are 7 trains running from Shanghai to Kunming, including normal speed trains and high-speed trains. The schedules are listed as follow for your reference.

Guangzhou to Yunnan by Train

Being one of the three most important cities of China, Guangzhou is always the economic, political and cultural center of the southern region. It is a city with the glory of traditional revolution in the modern history of China. There are 20 trains running from Shanghai to Kunming, including normal speed trains and high-speed trains. The schedules are listed as follow for your reference.

Chengdu to Yunnan by Train

As the homeland of giant pandas, Chengdu is one of the historic cities in China, with a long history of over 3,000 years. It enjoys the title of “the land of abundance”, not only for its abundant grain products, but also for its rich tourism resources. At present, there are 7 trains running from Chengdu to Kunming, including normal speed trains and high-speed trains. The schedules are listed as follow for your reference.

Get to Yunnan by Plane

Taking a flight to Yunnan is the most convenient way. Currently Yunnan Province has 15 airports in its major tourist cities, such as Kunming, Lijiang, Dali, Shangri-La, and Jinghong (Xishuangbanna), making these cities easily reached from the main cities in China. There are many flights connecting Kunming and other provincial cities in Yunnan.

Kunming Changshui International Airport is the largest airport in Yunnan, serving both domestic and international flights. It offers direct flights to and from major cities in Yunnan, China, and Southeast Asia. Lijiang Sanyi International Airport connects with 8 large cities in China: Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanjing, and Hangzhou. Dali Airport offers nonstop flights to two more cities than Lijiang Airport: Changsha and Zhengzhou. Diqing Shangri-La Airportoffers direct flights to/from three cities: Lhasa, Chongqing, and Guangzhou. Xishuangbanna Airport has 3 airline routes: to/from Shanghai, Chengdu, and Chongqing.

Beijing to Yunnan by Plane

There are more than 19 flights flying from Beijing to Kunming, 4 flights from Beijing to Lijiang, 1 flight with stop from Beijing to Shangrila(at the off-season), 4 flights with 1 stop from Beijing to Xishuangbanna. Please refer to below info on the details.

Beijing-Kunming Flights

Beijing-Lijiang Flights

Beijing-Shangrila Flights

Beijing-Xishuangbanna Flights

Shanghai to Yunnan by Plane

There are more than 21 flights flying from Shanghai to Kunming, 4 flights(1 without stop and 3 with stop) from Shanghai to Lijiang, 1 flight with stop from Beijing to Shangrila(at the off-season), 2 flights with 1 stop from Beijing to Xishuangbanna. Please refer to below info on the details.

Shanghai-Kunming Flights

Shanghai-Lijiang Flights

Shanghai-Shangrila Flights

Shanghai-Xishuangbanna Flights

Guangzhou to Yunnan by Plane

There are more than 22 flights flying from Guangzhou to Kunming, 5 flights(2 without stop and 3 with stop) from Guangzhou to Lijiang, 1 flight with 1 stop from Guangzhou to Xishuangbanna. No flight connects Guangzhou with Shagnrila. Please refer to below info on the details.

Guangzhou-Kunming Flights

Guangzhou-Lijiang Flights

Guangzhou-Xishuangbanna Flights

Chengdu to Yunnan by Plane

There are more than 20 flights flying from Chengdu to Kunming, 8 flights(6 without stop and 2 with stop) from Chengdu to Lijiang, 2 flights from Chengdu to Shagnrila and 2 flights from Chengdu to Xishuangbanna. Please refer to below info on the details.

Chengdu-Kunming Flights

Chengdu-Lijiang Flights

Chengdu-Shangrila Flights

Chengdu- Xishuangbanna Flights

Get to Yunnan by Highways

Neighboring Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and Tibet, Yunnan has a developed highway network stretching to the major cities in Yunnan. The highways in Yunnan province center on Kunming, with 7 national roads (G108, G213, G214, G320, G321, G323, G326), 61 provincial roads, connecting it with domestic and foreign cities. It even neighbors Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand.

To travel to Yunnan, many tourists will choose to travel by coach. In general, there are more coaches connecting Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangxi and other places to Kunming. Kunming is the largest passenger transit center in Yunnan province, from which many buses travel both to and from the province. Kunming has five major bus passenger stations, namely east, west, south, north and northwest.

East Bus Passenger Station(东部客运站)
Address: In the junction of Hongqiao Road and Zhaoqing Road of Panlong District
Telephone: 0878-63833680
Line Direction:
1. All area under administration of Wenshan;
2.Giejiu City, Kaiyuan City, Mengzi County, Maitreya County, Luxi County, Hekou County, Pingbian County, Jinping County;
3. Luliang County, Shizong County, Luoping County of Qujing;
4. Shilin County, Yiliang County of Kunming;

West Bus Passenger Station(西部汽车客运站)
Address: No.18, Yining Road of Xishan Road
Telephone: 0878-68182746
Line Direction:
1. All area under administration of Dali prefecture;
2. All area under adminstrtion of Baoshan City:
3. All area under adminstrtion of Dehong;
4. All area under adminstrtion of Linchang City;
5. All area under adminstrtion of Nujiang;
6. All area under adminstrtion of Diqing;
7. Yulong County, Yongsheng County, Ninglang County of Lijiang;
8. Jingdong County (belongs to Puer City);
9. Shangyun Town (belongs to Lancang County, Pu’er City)

South Bus Passenger Station(南部汽车客运站)
Address: No.7, Shangbo Street of Guandu District
Telephone: 0878-67361683
Line Direction:
1. All area under administration of Pu’er City(exceptShangyun Town and Jingdong County);
2. All area under administration of Xishuangbanna;
3. All area under administration ofYuxi City(except Yimen County);
4. Jianshui County, Shiping County, Yuanyang County, Green County, Honghe County;
5. Jinning County (belong to Kunming City);
6. Parts of the international buses.

North Bus Passenger Station (北部汽车客运站)
Address: In Fengyuan Road of Panlong District
Telephone: 0878-68373009
Line Direction:
1. All area under administration of Qujing City (Except Luliang County, Shizong County, Luoping County, with the exception of Luoping County);
2. All area under administration of Zhaotong City;
3. Songming County, Luquan County, Dongchuan District of Kunming.

Northwest Bus Passenger Station(西北部汽车客运站)
Address: In the junction of Xiaotun Road and Chenjiaying Road
Telephone: 0878-68265359
Line Direction:
1. All area under administration of Chuxiong prefecture;
2. Yimen County (belonging to Yuxi City);
3. Anning City, Fumin County, Luquan County of Kuming;
4. Huaping County (belongings to Lijiang City);
5. Panzhihua City (belongings to Sichuan Province).

Major highways connecting Yunnan and other places are shown as follows:

Kunming-Mangu(Bangkok) Highway

The route starts from Kunming and end at Bangkok, Thailand. The stops include Mengla, Mohan (border), Boten(Lao’s border), Houeixay, Namtha, etc.

National Highway 108

With the total length of 278km, it gets into Yunnan from Panzhihua(攀枝花) in Sichuan province via Yongren(永仁), Yuanmou(元谋), Wuding(武定).

National Highway 213

With the total length of 1581 km, it gets into Xishuangbanna of Yunnan from Yibin(宜宾) in Sichuan province via Zhaotong, Kunming, Yuxi, Simao. Among them, expressway is available at the part from Kunming to Yuxi.

National Highway 214

With the total length of 1418 km, the highway stretches from the south to the north getting into Tibet via Xishuangbanna, Lincang, Dali, Lijiang, Diqing. Among them, expressway is available at the part from Dali to Lijiang.

National Highway 320

With the total length of 1030 km, the highway stretches from the east to the west getting into Ruili(瑞丽) via Qujing, Kunming, Chuxiong, Dali, Baoshan, Luxi. Among them, expressway is available at the part from Qujing-Kunming-Dali. 

National highway 323

With the total length of 928 km, it gets into Yunnan from Baise(百色) in Guangxi province via Yanshan(砚山), Kaiyuan(开远), Jianshui(建水), Yuanjiang(元江), Puer(普洱) and Lincang(临沧).

Transportation in Yunnan:

Yunnan Travel by Air

• Airlines in Yunnan
• Flights to Yunnan
• Airport Transfer
• International Flights to Yunnan
• Airports in Yunnan

Rail Transport in Yunnan

• High-speed Rail in Yunnan
• Railway Stations in Yunnan
• Railways in Yunnan
• Trains to Yunnan
• Trans Asia Railway
• Metro in Yunnan

Roads in Yunnan

• Bridges in Yunnan
• Freeways in Yunnan
• Highways in Yunnan
• Roads to Yunnan
• Trans-Asia Roads
• National Roads in Yunnan