Transportation in Kunming
Kunming is at the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. Train and air are the main two methods for travelers to get to Kunming.
Air
The Wujiabei Airport is around 5 kilometers away from the city center. CAAC shuttle buses conveniently serve passengers between the city center and the airport. To get to the airport by taxi cost around 15 yuan and it takes about 20 minutes. Three public buses run on the route including No 52, 67 and 78.
There are flights to most of China's major cities including the famous tourist cities Beijing, Xian, Guilin and Shanghai. International flights to Bangkok, Rangoon, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong are also available. The airport has a few regional connections with some of the popular tourist destination within the province including Dali, Lijiang, Zhongdian, Xishuangbana, Baoshan, Jinghong, Manshi. It is very convenient to travel around the region via airplane.
Train
Apart from the sprawling airway network, the Yunnan Region is connected with other part of China mainly through the Guikun(Guiyang-Kunming), Chengkun(Chengdu-Kunming) and Nankun(Nanning-Kunming) railways.
There are two railway stations in Kunming:
Kunming Railway Station: It is at the southern end of Beijing Xi Lu. Compared with the other railway station(North Railway Station). Kunming Railway Station is far more important to travelers because most of the trains to places outside the region depart at this station.
Kunming North Railway Station: The station is useful to those who want to travel to Vietnam. A train departs here to Hanoi, capital of Vietnam every Friday and Sunday.
Bus&Coach
Yunnan has built a comprehensive highway system with roads reach almost all the major cities or towns in the region. Bus travel across the region now is very convenient and easy. Travelers can take a bus here heading to the neighboring tourist destinations such as Dali, Lijiang.
There are four major long distance bus stations in Kunming with the South Bus Station and Railway Square Bus Station the most useful and important.
South Bus Station: Facing the Kunming Railway Station in Beijing Xi Lu, this station is the most useful one of the four to travelers and has bus routes to most of the regional destinations. Buses depart here generally fall into two types: Regular and Faster, Luxurious. A regular bus runs slower and usually the bus condition is not so good as the faster one. The bus station itself is well managed.
Railway Square Bus Station: This bus station is less organized and majority of buses depart here is under private management. No fixed schedule is available and bus will leave when it is full. Most of the buses here are normal coaches and are a bit cheaper than the Faster and Luxurious buses. This bus station mainly caters for the domestic tourists who are familiar with the standard conditions. Foreign travelers, however, are recommended to avoid it.
Local Transportation
Public buses and taxis are the two main means of transportation in the city.
Public Bus: Over one hundred bus lines crisscross the city proper, reaching every corner. The price is quite cheap usually 1 yuan for a non air-conditioning one and 2 yuan for a air-conditioning bus.
Taxi: The starting price is 7 yuan for the first three kilometer and 1.6yuan will be added for per extra 1 kilometer. After 10:00 pm price is a bit higher 9.6 yuan for the first 3 kilometers and 2.7 yuan will be added to per extra kilometer.
Bicycle : Hotels around the Kunming Railway Station provide bicycle rental service. the price is busually 2 yuan/per hour and 10 yuan/per day.
