Orientation
Xichang is the seat of the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, set in a mountainous part of far southern Sichuan beside the Anning River and near Qiong Lake. It sits on the main rail line and main highway linking Kunming and Chengdu, and it has its own airport. For a visitor, the practical upshot is that the city is well connected to the rest of the region, and that most of what you will want to see — the lake, the wetland parks, the ancient towns and the old city — is reachable by public transport from the railway stations.
Rail
Xichang Railway Station is the main station and lies on the Chengdu–Kunming railway. That line is scenic but extremely slow, so if you are coming from either Chengdu or Kunming and want to save time, buses on the elevated G5 expressway are the faster alternative. A fast express train line has also been completed, connecting Panzhihua, Chengdu and Guangyuan.
The Xichang High-speed Railway opened for operation in 2022 and serves Xichang West Station. In practice, Xichang West is the station most visitors will use as a starting point for local buses, since several useful routes begin there. The city also has other stations, including Xichang North and Xichang South.
Buses and public transport
Xichang has no metro or tram network; buses are the backbone of local public transport, and the routes most relevant to sightseeing happen to start at Xichang West Railway Station. Useful services include:
- No. 6 bus — runs from Xichang West Railway Station to Yuecheng Square, a good base for eating and for visiting Jianchang Ancient City.
- No. 108 Huanhu (lake-circuit) bus — runs from Xichang West Railway Station to the entrance of Wetland Park Party School; from there you can pick up a sightseeing bus onward to Jinlin Beach.
- No. 106 bus — the Huanhu bus from Xichang West Railway Station to Walnut Village, passing through Lushan, Qionghai Park and Dashiban Ancient Village.
- No. 111 bus — runs from Xichang West Railway Station to the small fishing village, passing through Xichang city.
Two other practical anchors for arranging transport are the Xichang Tourism Distribution Center on West Railway Station East Road and Xichang East Passenger Transport Station, both useful for longer-distance coaches and tourist services. As with most Chinese cities, buy bus tickets on board with exact change or a transport card, and expect services to wind down in the evening.
Taxis and ride-hailing
Taxis are a straightforward option for short hops around the city and for reaching the stations with luggage. Ride-hailing apps work in Xichang and are often the easiest way to cover a specific point-to-point trip, such as from your hotel to a lake entrance or to the tourism distribution center, without needing to work out which bus route applies. Have your destination written in Chinese, since English is not widely used by drivers.
Walkability
Central Xichang is compact enough that the area around Yuecheng Square and Jianchang Ancient City can be explored on foot, and this is the most pleasant way to see the old city. Elsewhere, the city is spread out and the main sights around Qiong Lake are strung along the shore rather than clustered together, so walking works best combined with the lake-circuit buses or a taxi for the longer stretches.
Getting from the airport into the city
Xichang has its own airport, Xichang Qingshan Airport, which is attached to the spaceport by a railroad line and a motorway directly. The spaceport itself lies some distance northwest of the city, so the airport is not a downtown field. The practical options for reaching the city are a taxi or ride-hailing car, or an airport coach or local bus where available; taxis are the simplest choice if you are arriving with luggage or late in the day. If you are heading onward by train, note that the airport and the spaceport are linked by rail and road, but the city's main visitor bus routes start from Xichang West Railway Station, so plan your transfer with that in mind.