Forums > Travel Yunnan > Traveling overland from Yunnan to Thailand

Hi. What's the best way to go from Lijiang to Chiang Mai over land?

-I have a U.S. Passport
-I'm on a low budget
-I don't have a lot of time, since my Chinese visa expires on Oct. 29 or 30* (5 or 6 days from this posting).

And I can't leave until Monday.

So I have to get from Lijiang to the border within a two or three* day span.

[*I entered on Aug. 31 with "60 days", but I dont know whether that's 60 days inclusive or not. What day do I need to be out by? The 29th or the 30th? And what happens if I "overstay" by one day?]

Anyway, the most questionable part of the journey is the beginning, from Lijiang to the Laos border. Since theres apparently no train, I'll have to take a bus... Where should I book it?

The thing I'm worried about is making connections in time. For instance, if I get to Xishuangbanna but it's too late to continue that day (i.e. there are no more buses onward), then I'll have to stay the night, and that could make me "late" and overstay my visa.

So I'm looking for a pretty detailed itinerary, including departure times, locations, prices, and an explanation of HOW to go about buying the various tickets.

Please only post information if you know for certain that it's up to date. I hear these things change from year to year.

Xie xie very much!

Forums > Travel Yunnan > Just how rainy/cloudy is Lijiang?

Hello/ni hao! I've been offered an English-teaching job in Lijiang. I can start pretty much whenever I want to, and I'm thinking about heading over there now. (right now I'm in the USA). But I'm worried about the weather.

I've been checking the forecasts for Lijiang every day, and it's nothing but rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, and more rain. It looks like a winter in Seattle, just a little warmer.

My main reason for picking this spot to teach, is the scenic beauty, and the ability to go exploring the mountains and wilderness. But I'm worried that I won't even be able to see the mountains through the thick clouds.

So my question is this: Just how rainy and cloudy is it? When the forecast says "rain", does that mean it rains ALL DAY, or does it mean that there's just a PERIOD of rain, which much of the rest of the day being sunny?

How cloudy is it? Can I expect to go the whole month of August without seeing the sun more than once or twice? Like I said before, I'm getting a picture of the place being like Seattle in the wintertime, and that does NOT seem like fun.

So tell me about the weather. How often will I be able to see the sun, during August/September?

Thanks!

Danny