Because the old road only survives in bits and pieces, the 19 hikes are spread out between Chengdu and Xi'an. A large number of them are concentrated in Puan and Jianmenguan, but to reach the others you will be taking local buses. I am a great fan of local buses and much of the 25-page section on transportation is devoted to their idiosyncrasies (click on the local bus link top left for more info). You can also travel by train when traveling longer distances on the Baoji-Chengdu train line which runs through some beautiful mountain scenery (left top). The various classes of train travel are described in detail, including soft sleep, hard sleep (below left), and hard seat (left middle). Transport by taxi, three-wheel taxi (below right), pedicabs (left bottom), and motorcycle is described as well. Nobody will be speaking English, so there are also detailed directions on buying tickets and negotiating prices. In addition, the 28 destination listings in the guide all have the times and prices of local transport in and out of town.
