Getting from Kunming Changshui International Airport to the city

The metro is in the building

• Kunming Metro Line 6 terminates at Airport Centre station, and that station is on level B2 of the terminal itself. You do not leave the building to reach it.
• Line 6 runs from Tangzixiang at the city end, and interchanges with Lines 2, 3 and 4. Whichever part of Kunming you are staying in, it is Line 6 plus one change.
• Airport arrivals are on level B1, so the metro is one floor down from where your bags arrive.

The coach, twice

• The Airport Express runs two different kinds of service, and they leave from two different places.
• City routes board on level B1, between doors 3 and 4.
• Long distance routes leave from a coach station 200 metres west of door 4 on level B1 - this is the one that takes you out of Kunming entirely, to other towns in Yunnan.
• The airport's own warning is worth repeating: routes, stops, times and prices get adjusted, and the platform itself is the authority on what is running today.

Taxis and ride hailing

• The taxi rank is on level B1, directly opposite door 3.
• Journeys within Kunming's administrative area are metered, and the airport states there is no return-empty surcharge on them. That is the fact to have in mind if a driver suggests a fixed price.
• Ride hailing works differently here. The cars are parked in a remote electronic holding yard, and once a driver accepts it takes them about 7 to 10 minutes to reach the pick-up point.
• That pick-up point is level B3, zone H, space 01. From arrivals on B1, follow the ride hailing signs and take the escalator down.

Where you have actually landed

• Changshui is a long way out, north-east of the city, and it replaced the old Wujiaba airport that used to sit almost in town.
• Kunming sits at about 1,900 metres. If you are carrying on to Shangri-La, Lijiang or Tibet, this is where the altitude starts, not where it ends.
• This is the gateway for Yunnan and for a good share of the flights to Southeast Asia, so the long distance coach station is busier than you would expect at an airport.