There is not daytime bus from Dali to Jinghong, it is just too long at the moment. When I was last in the area about a year ago the highway from Lincang to Lancang was under construction with many services cancelled on that stretch, I have no information if it is finished now.
Anyway, there are day busses to Lincang from Xiaguan's eastern station (near the train station). I have photos of timetables here: www.yunnanexplorer.com/transport/station/dali-east/
This stretch is all on a very good road (expressway or similar) and takes probably six or seven hours via Xiangyun, Nanjian and Yunxian.
As I said, a year ago the next stretch was under construction and busses to Lancang, if the route was not blocked entirely, took some 12 hours. If the road is finished, it should be much, much faster.
The stretch from Lancang to Jinghong is easy again, quite a few busses running, it takes maybe five hours.
Overall, the interest factor along this road is pretty low unless you take some journeys to the side. Menglian is minority-wise the most interesting place, Mengding (in Gengma county) is not so bad either and there are some nice tea hills at Jingmai (south of Lancang).
Flights to HK, particularly one-way ones, are never cheap.
To get a cheap flight, fly to Shenzhen instead, where you can sometimes get flights for under Y500. From Shenzhen you can get direct transport to HK Airport for Y180 if you are in a hurry (bus to border, cross China border controls on foot, then by shared limousine through HK immigration and straight to airport, will take under two hours, they sell the tickets in the Shenzhen arrivals area, impossible to miss), or cheaper if you take local busses.
I am not sure which site has the up-to-date time-table (if any of them).
There is a train-ticket office near Wenhua Xiang (where Salvador's etc is): walk down and cross the pedestrian bridge over the big road (121 dajie), it is on the left hand side as you come down. I thought the trains to Dali now run faster because the first half to Chuxiong has been upgraded. (There are more agencies around town).
I doubt the day train is full, but if you are travelling in a group you are less likely to get seats together unless you book in advance.
Train: several per day, best morning train seems to be: www.huoche.biz/dcL9014-L9015.aspx, leaving just after 8am and arriving just after 2pm. Cost is 30Y. You can find other trains to Dali on this site as well. Bus #8 goes from outside railway station to old town for 1.5Y.
Bus: 100Y for the smaller ones, about 140Y for the big ones. The cheaper ones have a habit of trying to pick up passengers on the way if they are not full, once I had a 2h detour through Anning to find two more passengers. The expensive ones usually drive through, but there is no guarantee. Fastest time realistically 4:30h, but it can also be 7h. The big ones seem to leave every hour, the smaller ones every 15min. The bus station in Kunming is called Xibu Busstation 西部客运站, technically Xizhan refers to a now disused station. Or ask taxi driver to go to Dali Busstation, they will know. Taxi from central KM to Xibu 25-30Y.
The busses all go to Xiaguan (new Dali). The smaller ones arrive at the new express-bus station, while the big express-busses arrive at the old express-bus station. To catch the local bus from the new expressbus station, turn left out of the station and turn into the next one left and walk to bus stop.
Taxi to old town is generally 40Y, but sometimes they try for more, it is not an unfair price.
The photo is taken at Black Dragon Pool 黑龙潭,a few minutes north of the old town. You get there by following the stream up from the northern end (where the big waterwheel is). Best time is in the morning, the peak often clouds over later in the day.
Ticket prices at agencies are unlikely to be (much) cheaper than ctrip.
Yes, Lijiang is touristy. Actually, that is quite an understatement. It is probably one of the most touristy places on this planet. It is also quite a large city with the old town only a very small part of it. If on limited time, there are tour operators that offer day trips to TLG that include a bit of walking rather than just going to the most dramatic spot. Friends of mine did it and quite enjoyed it.
I do not think Yereth managed to crawl out of bed 'looking for the perfect early morning shot': they do not keep the lanterns on until the morning, so it was probably accidental shutter release on the way home after a few beers.
Best time for a good picture at Black Dragon Pool is early morning, after 8:30 the light turns flat even in winter. Plus bring a long lens to shorten the perspective. With your Lijiang 80Y ticket you only get one entrance to the park, but it is easy to see if it will be worthwhile from the outside.
I am not sure if the building still exists, but near the market is/was a two story building where (with a little bribe to a local resident) you could climb on the roof for a shot over the old city towards the mountain: best in the afternoon.
Lijiang is the only place where I hesitate to take photos of the very few remaining locals. They must be feeling like Paris Hilton out in her underwear every time they leave their house. Give them a break.
Otherwise I have found that it is no problem getting a taxi early in the morning from the Kundu area, much easier than later in the day. Around 6am plenty of taxis still show up to take people back from a night out and they always seemed to be happy to take me rather than someone likely to throw up inside their car.
You can all check how much water you are using by looking at your water bill: a cubic meter (=1000l) of water costs 3.45Y, so if your bill comes to more than 10Y per month per person you are using more than 100l per day.
Even on our half-day rationed water in our flat, we still managed to use about 70l per person per day in April/May. We blame the cleaning lady.
August is certainly not the best month to go. Even if it does not rain, the mountains are most of the time shrouded in clouds. Landslides are the biggest risk, particularly if one attempts to cross a recent one.
Properly done, the walk is not difficult and there are some ways to cut out the more boring bits. I would suggest taking a car up to a little teahouse, called something like Sunrise Guesthouse where the trail branches off the dirt road that goes up to some village. (Starting from Qiaotou the walk is first along the road, then up the mentioned dirt road, before it becomes a trail.) The best guesthouse the Naxi Family GH, IMHO, then comes after a not too difficult walk. It has the nicest views in the afternoon (clouds permitting) and is not as crowded as Halfway House. The second day would take you through the 18 bends and the highest point to Halfway GH for lunch (not many people there for lunch, many Koreans seem to arrive after dark, hiking all the way from Qiaotou), and after lunch down to the road at Tina's, from where you could take a car back to Lijiang (the walk is then all along the road).
The coming weekend is particularly good for a visit to Xishan as 三月三 (the third of March in the lunar calendar, this year on March 24th) is the traditional folk festival day 耍西山. It is an occasion for theatrical performances like local opera plays, song and dance and is extremely popular. (If you are looking for solitude, this might be a day to avoid.)
It is rare to find good approximations of western food anywhere in China and their lamb-chops (listed as lamb T-bone steak or so) were the best I have found so far. They came with good fries and the beer was cold. I liked the way that they serve the gloopy 'black-pepper sauce' separately, so one can just skip it. Pleasant and quick service too.
A pleasant modern eatery. The menu claims the chef worked for a large Chinese chain of Thai restaurants, but the Thai aspect of the food is difficult to find.
I gave the 'boneless chicken feet' a miss and had some spicy beef which while not bad was closer to the usual Sichuan fare than anything Thai. A dog under the table quickly lapping up any dropped food complemented the Sichuan experience.
The spring rolls were not bad though and together with a beer the bill came to Y58.
Easily the best bread to be found in Yunnan with friendly and efficient service. I have made detours to Dali just to pick up some bread on the way back to Kunming.
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Getting away: Lijiang
发布者I do not think Yereth managed to crawl out of bed 'looking for the perfect early morning shot': they do not keep the lanterns on until the morning, so it was probably accidental shutter release on the way home after a few beers.
Best time for a good picture at Black Dragon Pool is early morning, after 8:30 the light turns flat even in winter. Plus bring a long lens to shorten the perspective. With your Lijiang 80Y ticket you only get one entrance to the park, but it is easy to see if it will be worthwhile from the outside.
I am not sure if the building still exists, but near the market is/was a two story building where (with a little bribe to a local resident) you could climb on the roof for a shot over the old city towards the mountain: best in the afternoon.
Lijiang is the only place where I hesitate to take photos of the very few remaining locals. They must be feeling like Paris Hilton out in her underwear every time they leave their house. Give them a break.
Riding into Kunming's future
发布者The airport express busses are supposed to be starting at 5am, not sure if it is true though. #1 runs from the old Nanjiang Hotel at Xiaoximen.
en.kunming.cn/index/content/2012-03/05/content_2865380.htm
Otherwise I have found that it is no problem getting a taxi early in the morning from the Kundu area, much easier than later in the day. Around 6am plenty of taxis still show up to take people back from a night out and they always seemed to be happy to take me rather than someone likely to throw up inside their car.
The drought: Good and bad news
发布者You can all check how much water you are using by looking at your water bill: a cubic meter (=1000l) of water costs 3.45Y, so if your bill comes to more than 10Y per month per person you are using more than 100l per day.
Even on our half-day rationed water in our flat, we still managed to use about 70l per person per day in April/May. We blame the cleaning lady.
Getting Away: Trailrunning Tiger Leaping Gorge
发布者August is certainly not the best month to go. Even if it does not rain, the mountains are most of the time shrouded in clouds. Landslides are the biggest risk, particularly if one attempts to cross a recent one.
Properly done, the walk is not difficult and there are some ways to cut out the more boring bits. I would suggest taking a car up to a little teahouse, called something like Sunrise Guesthouse where the trail branches off the dirt road that goes up to some village. (Starting from Qiaotou the walk is first along the road, then up the mentioned dirt road, before it becomes a trail.) The best guesthouse the Naxi Family GH, IMHO, then comes after a not too difficult walk. It has the nicest views in the afternoon (clouds permitting) and is not as crowded as Halfway House. The second day would take you through the 18 bends and the highest point to Halfway GH for lunch (not many people there for lunch, many Koreans seem to arrive after dark, hiking all the way from Qiaotou), and after lunch down to the road at Tina's, from where you could take a car back to Lijiang (the walk is then all along the road).
Getting Away: Xishan
发布者The coming weekend is particularly good for a visit to Xishan as 三月三 (the third of March in the lunar calendar, this year on March 24th) is the traditional folk festival day 耍西山. It is an occasion for theatrical performances like local opera plays, song and dance and is extremely popular. (If you are looking for solitude, this might be a day to avoid.)
To make the most of the weekend, this year the festival is extended to Sunday as well. More info on this year's activities here: yn.yunnan.cn/html/2012-03/16/content_2097736.htm