Lijiang – Shangrila Expressway
Lijiang（丽江） to Shangri-la（香格里拉） expressway is a planned Expressway in Yunnan Province, which connects Lijiang （丽江）City and Shangri La （香格里拉）County, and it is an important golden tourism line. The total length is 140.305 km, including 124.55 km of the main line and 15.755 km of the connecting line. There are 15 control projects in the whole line, including the Tiger Leaping Gorge(虎跳峡） Jinsha river（金沙江） super large bridge, five continuous steel bridges, eight tunnels and Underground Interchange Project in Tiger Leaping Gorge(虎跳峡）.
- Chinese Name: 丽香高速公路
- English Name:Lijiang-Shangrila Express Way
- Start from: Lingjiang city(丽江市）
- Terminal: Xiangri-la, Diqing prefecture(迪庆州香格里拉）
- Length: Principal line 124.55 kilometers, Connecting line 15.755 kilometers.
- Width: twin four- lane
- Planed running tine: December of 2019
Construction Lijiang to Shangri-la Expressway
About 187 km highway mileage and about 3 hours drive from Lijiang to Shangri-la. Lijiang to Shangri-la expressway including 260m high,766m span Jinshajiang expressway bridge Hutiaoxia,with more than a dozen high beam bridges,two of them higher than 200 meters,one has 180m tall pier.
Since the formal construction in July last year, nearly 8,000 people have been involved in the construction of the whole line, which is scheduled to be completed and opened to traffic in December 2019.
Bus Information from Lijiang to Shangri-la
There are a total of 15 buses every day from 7:00 to 17:00 a day. There is direct bus going to Shangri-la county in Ljiang bus station, and in Lijiang express bus terminal and new passenger station there are many buses to go to Shangri-la, 4 hours’ drive, fares around 72 Yuan. During the off-season you do not need to pre-buying, but during the peak season you need to pre-buy the bus ticket ahead of a day or two days earlier.
Expressway Bus
Shangri-la long-distance bus station is located in the middle of Changzheng roa, there are buses sent to major cities in Yunnan province, Diqing prefecture and other areas. Because distance between Shangri-la and every scenic spot is long, and the bus time will have changed, so before going to the scenic spot, be sure to ask the local station of the traffic conditions, including if there is any bus and is the road in good condition, etc.
It takes about 4 hours from Lijiang to Shangri-la by express bus, and it is safe compared to other bus. And from Shangri-la to Deqin (Meili Snow Mountain) it takes eight hours by bus, and there are three buses a day; or chartering Toyota Suv, six hours in all, which is convenient for parking at any time to take pictures.
Wonderful Scenery along Lijiang – Shangrila Expressway
The First Bend of Yangtze River
Jade Dragon Snow Mountain
Tiger Leaping Gorge
Haba Snow Mountain
Xiaozhongdian Grassland
Napahai Lake
