Sìchuān Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Land

Bus

Sìchuān’s provincial government has been throwing hundreds of billions into highway construction since the mid-1990s as part of China’s ‘Develop the West’ migration plan. High-speed expressways link Chéngdū with Chóngqìng and Lèshān; and the construction of highways to link Chéngdū with Shànghǎi, Běihǎi in Guǎngxī province and Tibet are underway (to get to Tibet as yet requires superhuman endurance).

Travel to Gānsù is possible via Jiǔzhàigōu and Zöigê. To get to Yúnnán you can travel south via Lèshān, Éméi Shān and Pānzhīhuā on the border, or you can travel along the southern route of the Sìchuān–Tibet Hwy through Lǐtáng and Xiāngchéng to Shangri-la (Zhōngdiàn).

Train

Chéngdū is an important railway hub in China’s southwest. Direct trains run to cities such as Běijīng, and Shànghǎi. Travel to Kūnmíng in Yúnnán and Xī’ān in Shaanxi tend to be the most popular options, although Chéngdū now has a direct train to Lhasa that is becoming wildly popular. To get to Gānsù you need to change in Hànzhōng, Shaanxi province.

^ Back to top

Air

Chéngdū’s Shangliu Airport is the largest international airport in southwest China. Air China and Sìchuān Airlines link Chéngdū with all major Chinese cities and fly direct to Lhasa in Tibet. Currently international flights serve Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, Kuala Lumpur, Kathmandu, Japan, Vienna, Amsterdam and Seoul (more are always in the pipeline).

Jiuhuang Airport in northern Sìchuān closed in May 2006 for expansion to allow for flights from other major Chinese cities.

^ Back to top