Atlas of China
Lijiang to Shangri-La 丽江 – 香格里拉
Door to door, the high-speed train comes out ahead: about 1½ hours against about 2½ hours by road, counting about 20 minutes to board a train and 2½ hours of airport time for a flight. A standard-class seat is ¥70. The stations are in or near the city centres, which is what tips it.
| Way | Time | Door to door | Fare | A day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High-speed trainLijiang 丽江 → Shangri-La 香格里拉 | 1 h 10 minC87, fastest | 1½ hours | ¥70standard class | 1007:30–21:12 |
| By road165 km | 2 h 40 min | 2½ hours |
By train
10 direct high-speed trains a day run from Lijiang to Shangri-La, between 07:30 and 21:12. The fastest, C87, takes 1 h 10 min, and a standard-class seat is ¥70. Coming back, 10 trains a day, the fastest 1 h 10 min (C644, 07:22 to 20:25).
Shangri-La: Mostly C-series trains from Lijiang (about 1.5 hours) plus a daily D train from Chengdu; Trip.com lists the airport under Diqing.
By road
165 km by road, about 2 h 40 min of driving: routed on OpenStreetMap, with speeds calibrated on measured trips.
At the other end
Featured places around Shangri-La in Diqing.
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Shangri-La & Songzanlin Monastery 香格里拉松赞林寺
A golden-roofed Tibetan monastery stacked up a hillside, nicknamed 'Little Potala'
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Baishuitai 白水台
Milk-white travertine terraces below Haba Snow Mountain, sacred to the Naxi Dongba faith
Around Lijiang: Lijiang Old Town, Tiger Leaping Gorge, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.
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 Lijiang · Diqing, with Shangri-La · 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.