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.
The old ferry stopped working sometime last year, now you will have to go quite far west to the new ferry, which is a long slog (and a little difficult to find) unless you catch a ride with a local driver (try to hail any vehicle along the road - we managed to hitch a ride with some forestry van for 10Y from the old crossing to the new).
There is no fixed time-table for the 'ferry', it is operated by a few local guys who go home when they think no-one is coming anymore.
Daju does make a very nice stop, but as of last year they try to collect the mountain fee as well as the Lijiang old town fee also at the northern park entrance (when returning from Daju to Lijiang), amounting to a whopping 220Y or so. However, the mountain fee is not payable if you do not get off the bus inside the park area and technically the Lijiang fee should not be required if you do not stop in Lijiang, but continue on to, let's say, Xiaguan. Some people have avoided paying the fees by claiming to be locals (works less well for westerners).
The totally rushed (and a bit pointless) version of TLG would be to hire a car to take you Naxi Family Guesthouse and walk from there to Halfway GH, have lunch there and walk down to the road and onto Walnut Grove. There seem to be vehicles for hire at the guesthouses, who then could take you either back to Qiaotou or to the ferry to Daju.
However, my recommendation would be to stay on night at Naxi Family GH (few people do, even though it has the nicest afternoon views of the mountains), next morning to Halfway GH for lunch and continue on a bit to one of the smaller GH along the higher trail for another night. Halfway GH has become big business in the last decade and has lost its attraction.
Beatrix Metford, the wife of a British officer, wrote in her 1935 book "Where China Meets Burma":
"About ten years ago the British Government purchased a six-acre plot and started to build a consulate. It was a lovely site, just outside the west gate, with extensive views of the hills and mountains. The house was to be a stone building, comfortable but plain. It was bigger and more costly proposition than was realized. There were no workmen, no masons or carpenters, who had even seen a European house, so they all had to be trained, and when they were trained they struck for higher wages, and so it went on. [...] All tools, all fittings had to be carried by mule or coolie from Bhamo. At last, after eight years' work and vast expenditure, far beyond the original estimate, the consulate was finished and occupied.
It is a very plain house, painfully plain, with it smooth stone walls, its tin roof, its brown woodwork. But inside it is a bit of England. It is most beautifully fitted up and well furnished — a veritable oasis in the desert of mud and wood houses of the borderland. And in its spacious gardens, surrounded by a high stone wall, one can hardly realize one is in China..."
When I first found the building a few years back, the road it was on was called Huanxilu, the western ring road, which illustrates that for a long time its location was on the western outskirts of Tengchong. Today, Tengchong has sprawled beyond it. At that time it was still possible to climb up onto the second floor, where like in any proper English house there were also fireplaces, but everything else had been stripped out.
Two years ago we spoke to a Chinese guy there who seemed to have a certain interest in the building and he told us that the building had been the headquarters of the Japanese, which would not be totally surprising if it was the best-built and best-furnished place in town.
If one travels down to Lianghe, the next county town towards the Burmese border, there is the restored tusi yamen, where some iron-cast window parts still say 'Glasgow' on it if I remember correctly.
For those who want to find Shicheng on a map: 24.803N 102.58E.
There is a bus #33 from Kunming to Haikou, but it is not very frequent. Better to take one of the minibusses that run from the corner of Chunhui Lu 春晖路 and Renmin Xilu (this is just a little east of the big flyover). The fare to Haikou is Y8. From Haikou a tuk-tuk to Shicheng is 10Y, as the article says it is about 3km along a not-too-interesting road.
The bus to Haikou also passes the Xihua Wetlands mentioned in a previous post and Guanyinshan 观音山, a Bai village with a large Guanyin temple on a rocky outcrop overlooking Dianchi.
I found a route plan here www.kmbus.com.cn/line_ssyq_68.html with the stop to get off probably 西华街, but I thought the bus to Haikou does not start at the Xiaoximen bus depot, but further down on Renmin Xilu.
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: Daju Town
发布者The old ferry stopped working sometime last year, now you will have to go quite far west to the new ferry, which is a long slog (and a little difficult to find) unless you catch a ride with a local driver (try to hail any vehicle along the road - we managed to hitch a ride with some forestry van for 10Y from the old crossing to the new).
There is no fixed time-table for the 'ferry', it is operated by a few local guys who go home when they think no-one is coming anymore.
Daju does make a very nice stop, but as of last year they try to collect the mountain fee as well as the Lijiang old town fee also at the northern park entrance (when returning from Daju to Lijiang), amounting to a whopping 220Y or so. However, the mountain fee is not payable if you do not get off the bus inside the park area and technically the Lijiang fee should not be required if you do not stop in Lijiang, but continue on to, let's say, Xiaguan. Some people have avoided paying the fees by claiming to be locals (works less well for westerners).
The totally rushed (and a bit pointless) version of TLG would be to hire a car to take you Naxi Family Guesthouse and walk from there to Halfway GH, have lunch there and walk down to the road and onto Walnut Grove. There seem to be vehicles for hire at the guesthouses, who then could take you either back to Qiaotou or to the ferry to Daju.
However, my recommendation would be to stay on night at Naxi Family GH (few people do, even though it has the nicest afternoon views of the mountains), next morning to Halfway GH for lunch and continue on a bit to one of the smaller GH along the higher trail for another night. Halfway GH has become big business in the last decade and has lost its attraction.
Forgotten British consulate getting Chinese facelift
发布者Beatrix Metford, the wife of a British officer, wrote in her 1935 book "Where China Meets Burma":
"About ten years ago the British Government purchased a six-acre plot and started to build a consulate. It was a lovely site, just outside the west gate, with extensive views of the hills and mountains. The house was to be a stone building, comfortable but plain. It was bigger and more costly proposition than was realized. There were no workmen, no masons or carpenters, who had even seen a European house, so they all had to be trained, and when they were trained they struck for higher wages, and so it went on. [...] All tools, all fittings had to be carried by mule or coolie from Bhamo. At last, after eight years' work and vast expenditure, far beyond the original estimate, the consulate was finished and occupied.
It is a very plain house, painfully plain, with it smooth stone walls, its tin roof, its brown woodwork. But inside it is a bit of England. It is most beautifully fitted up and well furnished — a veritable oasis in the desert of mud and wood houses of the borderland. And in its spacious gardens, surrounded by a high stone wall, one can hardly realize one is in China..."
When I first found the building a few years back, the road it was on was called Huanxilu, the western ring road, which illustrates that for a long time its location was on the western outskirts of Tengchong. Today, Tengchong has sprawled beyond it. At that time it was still possible to climb up onto the second floor, where like in any proper English house there were also fireplaces, but everything else had been stripped out.
Two years ago we spoke to a Chinese guy there who seemed to have a certain interest in the building and he told us that the building had been the headquarters of the Japanese, which would not be totally surprising if it was the best-built and best-furnished place in town.
If one travels down to Lianghe, the next county town towards the Burmese border, there is the restored tusi yamen, where some iron-cast window parts still say 'Glasgow' on it if I remember correctly.
Getting Away: Shicheng
发布者For those who want to find Shicheng on a map: 24.803N 102.58E.
There is a bus #33 from Kunming to Haikou, but it is not very frequent. Better to take one of the minibusses that run from the corner of Chunhui Lu 春晖路 and Renmin Xilu (this is just a little east of the big flyover). The fare to Haikou is Y8. From Haikou a tuk-tuk to Shicheng is 10Y, as the article says it is about 3km along a not-too-interesting road.
The bus to Haikou also passes the Xihua Wetlands mentioned in a previous post and Guanyinshan 观音山, a Bai village with a large Guanyin temple on a rocky outcrop overlooking Dianchi.
Around Town: Xihua Wetlands Park
发布者I think bus #33 goes from Renmin Xilu to Haikou.
I found a route plan here www.kmbus.com.cn/line_ssyq_68.html with the stop to get off probably 西华街, but I thought the bus to Haikou does not start at the Xiaoximen bus depot, but further down on Renmin Xilu.