There are four buses from Shangri-la to Deqin every day. They leave before noon from the main bus station located in the north of the new town. Buy your ticket the day before if possible. Look for the clock tower just above its entrance. Take the #1 local bus from the bus stop just in front of Wonderful Grocery Store, across the street from the Old Town parking lot.

There are also minivans at the bus station that leave when they are full (the drivers are shouting "Deqin, Deqin!" to passers by). It's 100 yuan per person. The minivans are a bit faster than the bus.

From Deqin, it is easy to get a taxi to Fei Lai Si (20 minutes) where you can find a guesthouse and make further arrangements to get to the start of the hike in Xidang Village the next day. Sometimes, the bus from Shangri-la to Deqin will continue to Fei Lai Si for an additional 5RMB - it's worth asking the driver. There is also a public bus From Deqin to Xidang which leaves at 3 pm.

From Fei Lai Si, there are minivans leaving every morning for 150RMB (for a full minivan, which usually seats 7) to Xidang hot springs, which is the starting point of the trek to Yubeng. There is also a public bus leaving to Xidang hot springs at 8am from the viewing platform gate, for 20RMB per person.

Another option, if you want to have the real Tibetan pilgrim experience, is to stay the night at Xidang Hot Spring. There is one hostel there which sells food and another small cafe towards the entrance. Dorms are around 40 yuan. The added benefit of this is that you can start the walk as soon as you wake up in the morning, forfeiting journey from Fei Lai Si to Xidang Hot Spring which can take around 2 hours. Be warned there is no English spoken at the Hot Spring hostel - however if you manage to get a bed you'll undoubtedly be spending the night with real Tibetan monks and pilgrims, as opposed to Chinese tourists in Fei Lai Si.

The walk from Xidang hot springs to upper Yubeng takes 6-7 hours - a climb of around 1100m to Nanzong pass, followed by a 600m descent to the village. The walking trail goes along power lines - the poles have numbers on them, 1 being at the bottom, around 100 being at the pass, and around 140 being in the village. Along the path you will also see green trash cans, which is a good indication you're on the right trail. There are 2 shops on the trail before the pass, where you can buy refreshments - around poles 50 and 80.

A typical trek at Yubeng takes 5-7 days round trip from Deqin. For assistance in arranging private transportation from Shangri-la: [1]

Note: the entrance fee for the Yubeng area has recently changed from 80 yuan to 230 yuan per person. This is due to the forced purchase of a package ticket. There is a student discount (120RMB), but only for students under the age of 25 and with a valid student card.