Atlas of China
Chongqing to Lijiang 重庆 – 丽江
Door to door, the flight comes out ahead: about 4 hours, counting about 20 minutes to board a train and 2½ hours of airport time for a flight.
| Way | Time | Door to door | Fare | A day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Train, one changeat Kunming | 9 h 34 minG2841 + C450 | 10 hours | about ¥576 | |
| FlightChongqing Jiangbei (CKG) → Lijiang Sanyi (LJG) | 1 h 40 minin the air | 4 hours | about ¥440varies by day | 309:35–22:20 |
By train
No direct train runs. The quickest rail route changes at Kunming: G2841 from Chongqing West to Kunming (5 h 10 min), then C450 on to Lijiang (3 h 50 min), 9 h 34 min in all with the wait, about ¥576 in standard class.
Chongqing: Chongqing North is the busiest station; many trains to Guizhou, Yunnan and Yibin use Chongqing West, and Chongqing East opened in 2025.
By air
3 nonstop flights a day from Chongqing Jiangbei (CKG) to Lijiang Sanyi (LJG), 1 h 40 min in the air, 09:35 to 22:20, with Lucky Air, Sichuan Airlines and Capital Airlines. 3 fly back. Door to door, with the airports at each end, count about 4 hours; fares vary by day and are typically about ¥440.
Stops on the way
Cities between the two with direct trains from Chongqing and on to Lijiang, so the trip can be broken there.
- Xichang 西昌 460 km from Chongqing · 6 h 20 min there, 6 h 5 min on
At the other end
Featured places around Lijiang.
-
Lijiang Old Town 丽江古城
Cobbled lanes, rushing canals and Naxi courtyards beneath a snow-capped peak
-
Tiger Leaping Gorge 虎跳峡
A classic two-day trail high above one of the world's deepest gorges
-
Jade Dragon Snow Mountain 玉龙雪山
A glacier-hung massif on Lijiang's doorstep, with a cable car to over 4,500 metres
On the map
Open either city on the illustrated map, or put both in a trip and let the planner lay out the days and the legs between them, with the same tables these numbers come from.
Book
About Chongqing · About Lijiang · Where Chongqing reaches in a day · All routes
Trains are every direct train on 2026-10-28 or 2026-11-11 in the 12306 timetable, with standard-class fares; one weekday, so weekend and holiday services differ, and the fastest train may not run every day. Flights are the airlines' schedules for 2026-10-28, plus routes Wikipedia lists for small airports. Drives are routed on OpenStreetMap roads (extract of 2026-10-21) where the pair was routed, else estimated from the distance. Door-to-door times add about 20 minutes to board a train and 2½ hours of airport time to a flight. How to book is in the guide to trains and 12306; the rail times are open data on the data page.