If you’ve already read our article about How to Visit Tibet without the Chinese Permit, you’ll know why this route is important. It connects a well-known tourist city in China (Shangri-La) to one that is less-known but still exceptional (Litang). In case you haven’t read the other article yet (though you really should!), Litang is the closest you can get to true Tibet without paying for an expensive tour and the Chinese government permit.
This route is often done in two days with a stop in the middle to stay somewhere overnight. But if you want to save some time and arrive as quickly as possible to this incredible place close to the sky (after all, Litang is more than 4,000 meters high!), you can do it all in just one day, as we did.
The Route: Shangri-La – Xiangcheng – Litang
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Bus from Shangri-La to Xiangcheng
Time of departure: 8:00 AM
Duration: 8 hours (with a stop of about 30 minutes for lunch)
Price: 85 RMB
Where: Shangri-La’s main bus station, Kangding Road (I’ll add a map below)
This first part is very easy to do. Ideally, you would buy your bus ticket the day before because the bus leaves rather early. Then, you can guarantee that you already have your spot.
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Shared car/taxi from Xiangcheng to Litang
Time of departure: the car will be there at the time your bus in Xiangcheng arrives (so around 4:00 PM, at least in our case)
Duration: around 3 ½ hours
Price: 100 RMB
Where: right in front of Xiangcheng’s bus station
Alternative: spend the night in Xiangcheng and catch the bus to Litang the next day at 6:00 AM for 79.5 RMB
Basically, when you arrive from Shangri-La at the Xiangcheng bus station, there will be a bunch of people asking/gesturing where you are going or if you need a place to sleep. In our case, there was a lady who was offering a place to sleep. But since we didn’t want to spend the night there, we asked in the station if there was a bus to Litang that day and they told us that no, just for the next day at the time/price mentioned above.
But just outside the exit of the station, there was a man with a car waiting to take passengers to Litang (basically, just keep saying the word ‘Litang’ when you leave the station). We negotiated with him and agreed on 100 RMB per person. It was a little bit more expensive than the bus leaving the next day, but it was worth it for the time spared and the money saved by not spending a night in Xiangcheng. Apparently, he goes this route every day. So, you can kind of count on this option.
And after nearly 12 hours of travel, we arrived at our final destination. The driver left us almost in front of Peace Guesthouse (which we talk about here), as it’s the best option for accommodation in Litang.
Totals from the 1-day trip Shangri-La – Xiangcheng – Litang
Duration: 12 hours
Price: 85 RMB + 100 RMB = 185 RMB
Important tips for the trip between Shangri-La and Litang
- The road goes through the middle of the mountains and is full of curves, so bring something for motion sickness if you usually need to. I recommend ginger pills. There were buckets in the middle of the bus’s aisle and I had the displeasure of watching people puke in them…so they are there for a reason!
- Don’t drink too much liquid! There were very few bathroom stops (or even stops where the “bathroom” was nothing more than the ditch along the road… much more challenging for a lady than a man). In other words, if you drink a lot, you will have to hold it because the bus doesn’t stop!
- Don’t eat too much before the trip in case of motion sickness, but also bring some things to munch on because there is just one stop for food during the first leg and nothing during the second.
- Bring a jacket because you’ll be going more than 4,000 meters high and it’s cold and VERY windy!
- Enjoy the views! Besides being a difficult trip, you’ll also have the pleasure of passing hours on dirt roads along sheer cliffs that often don’t have railings (just look at the pictures above to see what I mean). Perhaps a little dangerous, but it makes for awesome views! Check them out here:
Note: If you want to go from Lijiang or Tiger Leaping Gorge to Litang, you will have to get to Shangri-La first and then follow the route above.
As I already mentioned above, we have another article that explains all that you need to know about Litang, an authentic Tibetan city that you can visit without the Chinese government permit, and what to do there.
Are you going to do this route? Do you still have any questions? Or perhaps some advice? Leave us your thoughts in the comments area below!
Happy travels!
12 Responses
Olá, Rodrigo! Seu site é excelente, parabéns pelo trabalho!
Você acredita ser possível fazer esse trajeto entre Shangri La e Litang em fevereiro, durante o inverno? Imagino essas estradas à beira das montanhas cobertas de neve e gelo. Tenho 10 dias para ficar na região de Shangri La e pensei em fazer o trajeto até Chengdu conhecendo as vilas tibetanas pelo caminho. O que você acha? Obrigado!
Oi Eder, tudo bem? Nossa, valeu! 🙂 Fico muito feliz de ler isso. Obrigado pelo suporte!
Hmmm, acredito que sim. Mas esteja preparado para ficar preso na estrada e a viagem demorar um pouco mais do que o planejado. Falo isso porque fizemos essa viagem lá por Abril e ainda dava para ver neve antiga nos cantos da estrada nas áreas mais altas.
Acho que se realmente tiver algum problema, já na estação de ônibus onde você ira comprar a passagem, eles vão te dizer que não estão vendendo passagens porque a estrada está fechada.
Eu acho o seu plano de viagem MUITO show! Só precisa ver que essa é uma região alta que pode ter bastante neve em Fevereiro e não sei o quanto isso poderia atrapalhar o seu roteiro. Acho que contanto que você esteja meio flexível com datas, dá para arriscar. Mas se prepara para o frio!! Em Litang nevou de manhã em Abril!
É isso. Se tiver mais alguma dúvida sobre essa região, é só falar!
Boa sorte!
Thanks guys!
You are welcome! Any questions, just let me know. 🙂
Hello! Thanks for the useful post. We will be doing the overland trip from Shangri-La to Litang (and on to Chengdu). Just wondering how you found the safety of the bus trip? Did the drivers speed? Thanks
Hi Martin! Thank you for your comment! You are welcome. That’s cool you are going to do the same trip as we did! 🙂
Well, the road is pretty narrow in some areas but the driver was mostly fine. They were renovating the road and putting some guardrails when we were there. So they should be finished by now.
So yeah, I don’t think you need to worry. Just might get a bit car sick due to all the turning but just take some ginger pills and a good podcast to listen to and you should be fine. 🙂
Have a safe trip!
I did this trip but wrongly decided to stay overnight in Xiangcheng. The next day they wouldn’t sell me a bus 🚌 ticket so had to stay an extra night. The next morning I arrived first at the ticket office & they still wouldn’t sell me a ticket. This was obviously very stressful as I was travelling alone & felt trapped. After making a bit of a drama outside the bus station I bought a ticket 🎫 on the street with the help of the owner of my B&B. Don’t know if this was a normal con for tourists but I was glad to get out of there. Even though the ticket 🎫 was more expensive and it was the back seat over the rear axle (the most uncomfortable seat on the bus). The shared car/taxi option is definitely the way to go! 😆
Hi Andrew, sorry for the late response but we are traveling around the Solomon Islands and without connection sometimes.
I’m sorry to hear about this experience with tickets in Xiangcheng. This is definitely weird. I can imagine why they wouldn’t see you the ticket. Hahaha, that’s true. Indeed, the back of buses are kind of a rollercoaster with you are traveling through bad roads. Glad you survived! 🙂
Let me know if you have any questions I can help with! Safe travels!
You have mentioned don’t drink a lot of water but isn’t this is exactly you do to avoid AMS since we are going above 4000m.
Hey! Thanks for you comment and question! You are right! Usually, you should drink a lot of water, everyday, especially on altitudes. What I mentioned here is that, during the bus ride, the bus won’t have many stops for bathroom. So, if you drink too much liquids during the bus trip to Litang, you will literally pee your pants. So what you can do is drink a lot of water like 6 hours before the bus trip and then a lot of water just after the bus trip to compensate…but not just before and during it. That’s just a tip/suggestion…it’s up to you at the end of the day.
Let me know if you have any other questions about the trip! I might be coming back to Tibet (train from Xining to Lhasa) this coming November! Safe travels!
2025 update. The bus now leaves Shangrila at 8:30. The roads seem to have been improved and I arrived Xiangcheng before 2pm. There was a shared taxi waiting at Xiangcheng, but I had to pay 150rmb because there was only 4 passengers.
Sadly the Peace Guesthouse appeares to have closed down.
Hey Jack! Thank you so much for the update! That’s super important for readers here since I can’t update it myself if I’m not in China anymore. 🙂 Yeah, they were working on the roads when we were there. Good to know they were improved. Oh sad about Peace Guesthouse. The owner was super helpful! Safe travels!