Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, and China Eastern's Yunnan Branch have jointly announced that the six air travel routes from Shangri-La to Xishuangbanna will be officially launched on September 1, 2009.

The six routes will depart from Kunming connecting Diqing, Xishuangbanna and Lijiang. Tourists will take buses from Shangri-La to Lijiang.

Diqing is in the north of Yunnan while Xishuangbanna is in the very south of the province. They have quite different natural scenery and human landscapes. The six routes will enable tourists to experience both tropical rainforest and northern coniferous forest within hours, according to the director of Diqing Tourism Administration.

In the first half of 2009, Diqing received 2.05 million tourists and a tourism revenue16.018 billion yuan. Xishuangbanna received 3.77 million tourists and tourism revenue 2.929 billion yuan.

(China Hospitality News August 24, 2009)