There are no direct bus to Shaxi from Lijiang or Dali. To reach Shaxi, first take a long distance bus to Jianchuan åå· from either Lijiang or Dali Xiaguan.
From Old Town Dali:Take either bus no. 4 or no. 8 to Xiaguan. From the last stop on bus no. 4, take a taxi to the north bus station ke yun bei zhan, 客è¿åç«. Bus no. 8 will stop outside of the north bus station. Long distance bus service to Jianchuan runs every 15-30 mins from 6:20am to 6:50pm, the cost of the ticket is ï¿¥26 and it takes about 3 hours to arrive in Jianchuan depending on traffic, road condition, and stops along the way. The whole journey from Old Town Dali to Jianchuan will take around 4.5-5 hours, including time waiting for the bus. It may also be possible to wave down the bus to Jianchuan from highway just east of Old Town Dali if you can read the Chinese characters for Jianchuan, it could save you the trouble of going south to Xiaguan first, but seating is not guaranteed. Or flag down any of the buses going to Shangri-la and get off in Jianchuan.
From Old Town Lijiang:From main road at the entrance to the old town near the big water wheel, take bus no. 11 or bus no. 8 to the Lijiang long distance bus station Lijiang ke yun zhan, 丽æ±å®¢è¿ç«. Buy a ticket to Jianchuan which will cost ï¿¥25 and take about 2-2.5 hours.
From Shangri-la:Take any of the buses going to Dali and get off in Jianchuan.
When you arrive in Jianchuan:There are mini-bus services just outside of Jianchuan bus station that take about 45 minutes to reach Shaxi ¥10. The bus departs from Jianchuan whenever it is semi-full with passengers. Try not to arrive in Jianchuan too late in the evening or else there may not be enough passengers to fill up a bus to Shaxi. It should also be possible to catch a mini-bus at the junction for Shaxi Diannan, 8km south of Jianchuan. Hitching should also be possible if not preferable!
