The new road from Dali to Lijiang is still not complete. However, a 45 km portion of the road has been completed from Heqing, Dali to the Lijiang Airport to Guan Yin Valley and to Lijiang City. The total drive time is now 3.5 hours from Dali to Lijiang.
Thanks for the updates.
Any updates on the new road and travel time? Please do not mention anything about Golden Week as we all know that drive time is chaotic during this period.
#214 highway from Dali to Lijiang is still not open. It seems to be complete, just details remaining.
@mike
How long is it taking to drive from Dali to LiJiang now?
It took us about 4 hours in traffic. Not just the time involved but dangerous situations for yourself and pedestrians, countless tight turns on a narrow road, the dust and dirt through crappy towns and rough road in certain sections.
Won't go again until the new road is complete.
Geogramatt
(203 posts) •
Work on the new Dali-Lijiang Expressway (大丽高速) is almost completely finished, and last minute touches are now being taken care of. According to recent news reports, it's possible that the expressway will open for business before the end of the year.
However, don't be surprised if buses don't start taking it just yet. It is usually the case that when new expressways open in China, only private vehicles are allowed at first, and buses must file for permission separately.
I just returned from a visit to Shuang Lang on the eastern bank of Erhai Lake. I was there just 1 year ago and this place has change dramatically in this last year. I saw some cars and trucks using the new highway near this area although it is still not open. The Shuang Lang Toll Gate is just 100 meters from the main road into Shuang Lang. The toll Gate still needs at least 6 months of work to be completed but the most significant changes are inside Shuang Lang Old Town which is one of the Historical and Cultural Towns of Yunnan. The town is only about 3 km long and there is a building frenzy going on. New hotels are popping up everywhere along the only road in town. Shuang Lang is also about 400 meters from NanZhao Island and the ferry is located here so there are many tourists coming in by boat from the Dali and Xia Guan ports. With the toll gate so near I suspect many tourists will drive in directly BUT no space has been cleared for parking so the only road in town will be even more congested than it already is. Anyone who has been to Shuang Lang before will be sorely disappointed now because the wonder of this Old Town is fading quickly.
Welcome to Auto World: everything dissolves in concrete.
Sad to hear this news HFCAMPO.
The race to get rich without any planing is going to backfire big time.
As for the new road being open is there somewhere to verify ?? a website?? phone #?
