The Challenging Yunnan-Tibet Highway (Yunnan Section)
The Challenging Yunnan-Tibet Highway (Yunnan Section)
Last month, taking advantage of the relaxed pandemic restrictions, I embarked on a trip along the Yunnan-Tibet Highway. The journey was somewhat曲折, but ultimately I managed to complete it fairly smoothly.
Tibet has always been a place I wanted to visit, but I had always been concerned about its altitude. There are various modes of transportation and routes to enter Tibet from mainland China. After deciding to go to Tibet, I compared different transportation methods, routes, and travel dates. I planned to depart in March, flying from Guangzhou to Nyingchi. However, as the Nyingchi Peach Blossom Festival approached, airfare skyrocketed, so I gave up on that plan and switched to the Bingchacha Route. The advantages of this route were twofold: first, it allowed me to also visit the Nujiang Grand Canyon, which has become somewhat popular in recent years—the Nujiang in March is quite beautiful; second, the altitude would increase gradually. Even if I had flown directly to Nyingchi, its altitude is over 2,800 meters anyway.
My original plan was: Guangzhou – Dali – Bingzhongluo – Chawalong – Chayu – Bomi – Nyingchi – Lhasa – Guangzhou.
Due to weather conditions, the actual route I took was: Guangzhou – Dali – Bingzhongluo – Chawalong – Kunming – Lhasa – Nyingchi – Lhasa – Guangzhou.
Below is the record of this trip. Those interested can read on. As usual, I focus only on transportation details.
I. Guangzhou – Dali
The bullet train arrived at Dali Station on time. I stayed overnight at the Shangge Boutique Hotel, which is about 200 meters from Dali Station and has a bus stop at the doorstep. The price was reasonable—a double room cost just over 120 RMB per night.
In the morning, I took the Three Pagodas Special Bus from the train station to Chongsheng Three Pagodas. Without taking the sightseeing car, like most tourists, I walked up the steps to the Three Pagodas, took a few "I was here" photos, then took the same bus back and got off at the March Street intersection. I entered Yu'er Road in the old town, walked along Bo'ai Road and Yangren Street, making a loop. After a bowl of Yunnan rice noodles to fill my stomach, I stood by Yu'er Road and hailed a three-wheeled scooter to Longkan Wharf. I planned to walk along the lakeshore to Caicun Wharf. According to locals, the fare should be 20 to 25 RMB, but I hailed several scooters, all demanding 30 RMB. When I bargained down to 25, none would take me—they preferred to sit and wait for other customers. Finally, I hailed a scooter that had just dropped off a passenger, and the driver agreed to 20 RMB.
After driving about 6–7 kilometers, the driver said we had arrived. I got off and asked a passerby for directions to Caicun. The passerby said, "This is Caicun." It turned out the driver had been so absorbed in conversation that he directly took us to Caicun.
My original idea was that the lakeside road would be right next to Erhai Lake. The distance from Longkan Wharf to Caicun Wharf is about 3 kilometers. Walking along the lake, strolling and enjoying the scenery, seemed like a great plan. But at Caicun Wharf, I found that the lakeside road is actually some distance from Erhai Lake, with trees planted in between—making it difficult to see the lake from the road.
After lingering for about 30 minutes, I left Caicun Wharf, took the Gucheng C2 bus to Ganjia Village stop, crossed the street, and caught Bus 8 back to the hotel.
III. Dali – Gongshan
In the morning, I went to the Express Bus Station to take a bus to Gongshan. The bus was scheduled to depart at 10:00 sharp. When 10 o'clock came and it still hadn't left, I asked the driver why. The driver said a guy had arrived at the train station at 9:59 and was now taking a taxi over; as soon as he arrived, they would leave. I was speechless. If this were a continuous service, it might be understandable, but it was a fixed-schedule bus. The bus should depart on time. Whether it makes a detour or waits after leaving the station is another matter. Dali is a prefecture-level city, and such management is disappointing.
That same guy went to the restroom during a rest stop. When the driver restarted the bus without counting heads, he left the guy behind at the service area. So we had to drive slowly and then stop to wait for him. We finally arrived in Gongshan after 9 p.m. I stayed overnight at the Tongda Hotel, negotiating down to 130 RMB for a double room.
Before bed, I contacted a car-hiring driver about taking a day trip to Bingzhongluo the next day. He quoted 600 RMB, but we settled on 550 RMB. At the time, I thought 450–500 RMB would be a fair price, but I had no contact info for other drivers, and since Nyingchi was the main focus of this trip, I hoped to get there early and visit more attractions, such as Zhaxigang Village and Bomi Peach Blossom Valley.
IV. Gongshan – Bingzhongluo
It was drizzling. At 8:30, the driver came to pick me up at the hotel. His surname was Yu. Master Yu was not the one I had contacted the night before; the previous driver had passed the job on to him.
The typical sightseeing route in Bingzhongluo includes: First Bend of the Nujiang, Yunnan-Tibet Border, Qiunatong, Wuli Village (Ancient Tea Horse Road), Sacred Mountain, Zhongding Church, and Puhua Temple. In my opinion, if time is limited, visiting the First Bend of the Nujiang, Yunnan-Tibet Border, Wuli Village (Ancient Tea Horse Road), and Sacred Mountain is sufficient; the others can be skipped.
Master Yu's service was decent. According to him, the Deqin–Gongshan Road (Deqin–Gongshan Line) has been fully repaired. From Gongshan to Deqin, it takes just over 3 hours when it's not raining, and about 5 hours when it rains. Shared carpooling costs 200 RMB per person; chartering the whole car costs 800 RMB. If you're interested in traversing the Three Parallel Rivers area, you can get in touch with him.
For the Ancient Tea Horse Road, I recommend starting from the upstream end to minimize uphill walking.
I stayed overnight at the Longyu Hotel, negotiating down to 150 RMB for a double room.
V. Bingzhongluo – Chawalong
At 8 a.m., I took Master Liubao's car from Bingzhongluo to Chawalong. The driver, whose surname was Wang, was the courier driver responsible for delivering packages from Bingzhongluo to Chawalong. Master Liubao said that it was snowing heavily in the mountains between Chawalong and Chayu, and traffic was restricted; today it would be impossible to reach Chayu.
The car passed the Yunnan-Tibet Border, Tiger's Mouth, and Big Debris Flow, mostly on dirt roads. The roads were not difficult to drive, but the danger came from falling rocks. Along the way, we encountered two tourist minibuses heading from Chawalong to Bingzhongluo; they were from Kunming.
We arrived in Chawalong just after 12 p.m. The fare was 100 RMB per person.
With good connections, theoretically, it would be possible to reach Chayu in one day.
I stayed overnight at the Bingchacha Hotel, negotiating down to 110 RMB for a double room.
After waking up, I asked the hotel owner and learned that the traffic restriction had not been lifted, so I could only watch TV in the hotel.
VII. Chawalong – Gongshan – Liuku – Kunming
Still no definite news on when the traffic restriction would be lifted. I felt it wasn't wise to keep waiting. After breakfast, I decided to turn back. I had no clear plan for the rest of the trip. I called Master Yu to see if anyone was interested in carpooling along the Deqin–Gongshan Road—after all, crossing the Three Parallel Rivers area is a decent attraction—but Master Yu said no one was carpooling, and chartering a car would cost 800 RMB. That was too expensive, so I gave up on that idea and decided to head to Liuku first.
This time I took a minibus that goes from Chawalong to Gongshan in the morning and returns from Gongshan to Chawalong in the afternoon. The driver's surname was Zheng. It seems there are many private cars running between Gongshan, Bingzhongluo, and Chawalong.
We were the only passengers. I asked the driver what he would do if there were no passengers on the return trip. Driver Zheng said that during this period, the bus is always full every day; if not, he could bring back some cargo instead.
It was raining. The car pulled into a parking lot directly opposite the county government building, said to be the parking lot of Taoyuan Hotel. The lot was full of cars waiting for passengers. Without stopping, we immediately switched to a car heading to Liuku.
On the way to Liuku, I made a decision for the rest of the trip: return to Kunming and fly to Lhasa.
When we arrived in Liuku, we didn't stop either. We immediately switched to a car heading to Kunming. The fare from Gongshan to Liuku is 130 RMB per person, while from Gongshan to Kunming it's 400 RMB.
And so, from Chawalong to Kunming, we covered nearly 1,000 kilometers. Starting at 8 a.m., we only stopped for 30 minutes at a service area (at 8 p.m.). After 18 hours of traveling, we finally arrived at the hotel at 2 a.m. I washed up and went to sleep.
The next day, I took a walk to Yuanmengshan and Cuiyuan. The cherry blossoms at Yuanmengshan were still in bloom, but the red-billed gulls at Cuiyuan had all flown back to Siberia.
