Getting from Lijiang Sanyi International Airport to the city

The catch

• The airport coach does not go to the old town. It ends at the Lantian Hotel on Fuhui Road, in the modern part of Lijiang.
• The old town is about 2 km further, which is a 7 to 10 yuan taxi.
• This trips people up constantly, because the coach is sold as going to Lijiang and it does, just not to the part everybody has booked a room in.

The numbers

• The coach is 20 yuan, though one guide reports 25. Carry 25 and you are covered.
• It takes 40 to 45 minutes over the 30 km from the airport.
• From the city it runs 06:30 to 22:00, every 30 minutes, from the Lantian Hotel.
• From the airport it runs to meet flights. There is no published departure list; buses go when arrivals come.

The alternatives

• A shared minibus runs directly into the old town for 50 yuan a head. It seats seven and leaves when it fills. For two people that is 100 yuan against 20 plus 10, so it buys convenience rather than money.
• A taxi direct to the old town is about 80 yuan.
• For a group of three or four the taxi is the sensible choice, and it is the only option that does not involve a change.

On arrival in the old town

• Lijiang old town is pedestrianised. No car reaches most guesthouses.
• Get the address written in Chinese and the nearest gate name before you fly. The lanes are not signposted in a way that helps, and phone maps are unreliable inside the walls.