Kunming Transport

Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, is the political, economic and cultural center and also the transport and communication hub of the province. Kunming is never bitterly cold in winter and never very hot in summer with blossoms opening all the year round. Hence it has enjoyed the reputation of the 'Spring City'. With a history more than 2,400 years, Kunming owns its importance to the fact that it was the gateway to the well-known South Silk Road that facilitated trade with Tibet, Sichuan, Myanmar and India. And today, it is getting more and more easily accessible, no matter by taking flights or taking bullet trains.

How to Get to Kunming

By Air

Kunming Changshui International Airport has replaced the old Wujiaba Airport as the only civil airport in the city. It is approximately 25km northeast of downtown Kunming, with hundreds of flights arriving and departing every day.

Domestic flights: There are flights to Kunming from Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Guilin, Lhasa, Hong Kong, Macau and other 130 domestic cities. The provincial flights are operated from Kunming to Dali, Lijiang, Shangri-la, Lugu Lake and other places in Yunnan. There are several daily flights to big and middle cities.

International flights: There are direct flights to Kunming from Singapore, Bangkok, Calcutta, Kathmandu, Dubai, Paris, Vancouver, Sydney, San Francisco and other 30 international cities and regions.

Kunming Changshui Airport shuttle buses and city bus No. 919 can take passengers from the airport to downtown area. The traveling time is around 50 minutes and the price is about RMB25.

By Railway

Kunming is an important hub of railways in Yunnan Province. There are four railways running through Kunming: Chengkun, Guilinkun, Nankun, Kunhe. The railways also access to Shilin, Yuxi, Dali, Lijiang and other cities in Yunnan. As the terrain is complex in Yunnan, it used to take a long time for visitors to get to Kunming by train. But, Kunming is now connected by high speed railways, which has shortened greatly the journey time on train.

Kunming Railway Station lies nearing Huannan Road, 2 km from the downtown and is for passengers to take the conventional trains. You can take No.23, 68, 80 local buses to the railway station. It usually takes about 15 min to take taxi from the center of city to the station. The price is about 10 yuan. The train ticket office is located at No.19 Kunshi Road behind the Jiangnan Hotel. It opens from 8:00 to 17:30.

Kunming South (Nan) Railway Station is the bullet train station and located about 28km away from the city center and 7km from Dianchi Lake. Passengers can take metro line 1 or 2 or a city bus to the railway station. It will be a memorable experience if traveling to Kunming by bullet train. By far, there are bullet trains to Kunming from Guangzhou, Guilin, Nanjing, Shanghai, Beijing, Guilyang, Hanzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Changsha, Fuzhou and some other cities. Kunming to Dali, Lijiang bullet train is not available currently.

By Highways

Kunming Highway traffic is very convenient. There are highways to regions in both Yuan and other provinces and also international highways to Vietnam and Myanmar. There are 7 main long-distance bus stations: Kunming Nanyao Bus Station, Dongzhan Bus Station, Shuanglong Bus Station, Panjiawan Bus Station, Kunming Gongjiao Jinjiao Bus Station, Beizhan Bus Station and Provincial Tourism Bus Company.

Urban Traffic

Taxi

The starting fare of taxi in Kunming is 8 Yuan for 3km, and the extra distance is 1.8 Yuan/Km, additional charge 1 Yuan (Bunker Adjustment Surcharge). After 22:00, the departure fare is 10 Yuan for the first 3 km. The extra distance is 2.4 Yuan/Km. When the taxi drives more than 10 Km, it will charge 50% fare.

Local Bus

Kunming has more than 50 local bus lines which cover all the areas of the city. The price is 1 Yuan/P.

No. A1 Public tourist special bus: Price 2 Yuan/P, covers all famous attractions in Kunming, such as Expo Park, Kunming Museum, Gold MaFang, Yunnan Nationalities Village, etc..