Atlas of China
Yunnan by train: Kunming, Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-La
Up the old tea road from the Stone Forest to Dali’s lake and three pagodas, Lijiang’s canal town under the Jade Dragon, and the plateau at Shangri-La.
- Days
- 97.5 seeing, 1.5 travelling
- Stays
- 4Kunming · Dali · Lijiang · Shangri-La
- Trains and flights
- ¥259per person, planner's figures
- Distance
- 518 kmbetween the stays
- Best time
- March to May for the flowers and clear mountains, September to November for the harvest colours
Yunnan climbs from Kunming’s eternal spring to the Tibetan plateau in a few hundred kilometres, and the railway now runs the whole way. Kunming has the Stone Forest, a karst labyrinth an hour out of town. Dali sits between Erhai Lake and the Cangshan range, with its three pagodas and Bai villages. Lijiang is the Naxi canal town below the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, and Shangri-La, at 3,200 m, has the great Songzanlin monastery and yak pastures. Each stage is about two hours by train.
Day by day
Laid out by the atlas's trip planner from the stops below, with the trains and flights in its tables; open it on the map to change the days, the order or the stops.
Day 1 · Kunming
Day 2 · Dali
- Stone Forest continued
- High-speed train Kunming → Dali, 1 h 55 min (D8652, 55 a day); about 2 hours door to door, ¥109. Compare ways
Day 3 · Dali
Day 4 · Dali
- Dali Old Town & Erhai Lake continued
Day 5 · Lijiang
- High-speed train Dali → Lijiang, 1 h 36 min (C323, 7 a day); about 2 hours door to door, ¥80. Compare ways
- Lijiang Old Town
Day 6 · Lijiang
- Lijiang Old Town continued
Day 7 · Lijiang
Day 8 · Shangri-La
- High-speed train Lijiang → Shangri-La, 1 h 10 min (C87, 10 a day); about 1½ hours door to door, ¥70. Compare ways
- Shangri-La & Songzanlin Monastery
Day 9 · Shangri-La
- Shangri-La & Songzanlin Monastery continued
Why this order
South to north climbs gently, which helps with altitude at Shangri-La, and every leg is a direct train, so there is no day lost to the road.
When to go
March to May for the flowers and clear mountains, September to November for the harvest colours; summer is the rainy season.
Good to know
- Lijiang’s old town charges a maintenance fee that also covers the snow mountain park; keep the receipt.
- Shangri-La is high: sleep in Lijiang first and give the first afternoon there to the old town, not the monastery steps.
- Fly home from Shangri-La or Lijiang rather than returning to Kunming; both have daily flights to the big cities.
Before you go
- Visas and visa-free entry Can I visit China without a visa?
- Paying for things How do I pay for things in China without a Chinese bank account?
- Internet and apps Will Google and my other apps work in China?
- Trains and 12306 How do I book train tickets in China with a foreign passport?
- Book popular sights early Which sights in China need booking in advance, and how?
- When to go When is the best time to visit China?
On the map
The map opens with these 6 stops in a trip; "Plan my days" lays out the same days and lets you move stops, change the days each gets, or choose where you arrive and leave.
Other trips
- Sichuan in a week: Chengdu, Leshan, Mount Emei and Dujiangyan 7 days · Chengdu, Leshan, Emeishan and Dujiangyan
- Two weeks in China: Beijing, Xi’an, Chengdu, Guilin and Shanghai 14 days · Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu, Leshan, Guilin and Shanghai
Written for the atlas and last checked October 2026. Days and legs come from the trip planner: the fastest practical way between stays from the 12306 timetable for 2026-10-28 or 2026-11-11 and the airlines' schedules for 2026-10-28, with about 20 minutes to board a train and 2½ hours of airport time for a flight, and standard-class fares where the timetable has them. Entry rules, tickets and opening arrangements change: confirm with official sources before you travel.