Plan Your Trip
Qīnghǎi–Tibet Railway
The world’s highest railway links Lhasa with Xīníng up over the Tibetan plateau. Built at high altitudes on some of the harshest and trickiest terrain on earth, the Qīnghǎi–Tibet Railway is considered an engineering marvel and is a swaying, dreamy trip up to the Roof of the World.
At a Glance
Stations Xīníng’s railway station was upgraded in 2015 and has shops selling basic snacks (instant noodles, crisps, drinks) and Chinese fast-food. Stops at through stations aren’t long enough to alight for a snack break, so bring everything you need.
Dining There is a restaurant carriage serving Chinese dishes (¥35 to ¥60). Beers are on sale, but be very careful drinking on board due to the altitude.
Toilets These are older train stock and the toilets can range from tolerable to truly grim. The majority are squatters, and there are sink basins at the ends of carriages for general washing up. Bring your own toilet paper.
Showers There are no showers on board.
Electricity There are very few outlets; bring external batteries to keep your devices charged overnight.
Security This is a safe railway journey, but it’s still a good idea to watch your bags. Soft sleeper berths have a lockable door, but hard sleepers are open, so keep any valuables close if you move around the train.
Arrive early You’ll need to pass a permit/passport/ticket check, and then a luggage scan before entering the station. It’s advisable to arrive 45 minutes to one hour before departure. Most trains only stop for a few minutes at Xīníng, so don’t dawdle.
What to Bring
Currency Cash (Chinese rénmínbì) to buy meals and drinks on the train.
Food Stock up on fruit, nuts and instant noodles before you board, and bring plenty of bottled water, as the trains tend to be hot and dry. A dispenser at the end of each carriage provides constant boiling water.
Spare battery External batteries to keep your devices charged.
Other essential items Sandals or slippers, plenty of tissues/toilet paper, altitude sickness tablets, earphones, torch (flashlight), toiletries, a mug or thermos, hand lotion, chopsticks or travel cutlery, wet wipes, reading material, loose comfortable clothing, earplugs.
Baggage allowance Though in practice it seems little attention is paid to how much luggage you bring, the official stated limit is 20kg per adult passenger. If you happen to go over the limit, it should be a very negligible fee.
Classes
The Qīnghǎi–Tibet Railway operates much like any other Chinese train: there are hard-seat carriages, as well as hard and soft sleeper berths. Smoking is not allowed. In sleeper berths and not travelling in a group, expect to share with strangers.
Seats
Hard seats (硬座; yìng zuò) are the least comfortable way to travel: 98 passengers packed into a single carriage in upright, stiff seats that do not adjust. What you sacrifice in comfort and sleep, you may receive back in unique experiences meeting local travellers.
Hard sleeper
Hard-sleeper (硬卧; yìng wò) carriages consist of doorless six-berth compartments with triple-tier bunks. Bedding is provided. Luggage is stored in a shared and not easy-to-reach console over the door and under bottom bunks. Hard sleepers have a nice community atmosphere – your berthmates will likely be friendly, curious and chatty.
Soft sleeper
Four-bed soft-sleeper (软卧; ruǎn wò) berths are roomier and come with individual TVs in each bed and a door that closes and locks. Bathrooms in soft-sleeper carriages have western-style (seated) toilets. Luggage is stored in a console over the door, and there is space under the bottom bunks.
Tickets
Book early Tickets can be purchased two months in advance and you should buy your ticket as early as possible, especially for summer travel. In the busiest months of July and August, as well as during China’s spring bank holidays, you’ll pay a premium.
Securing tickets In general, getting a ticket for a train out of Lhasa is much easier than getting a ticket in, and most travellers opt to use a booking agency to ensure they get their tickets. Reliable ticket booking agencies include China Highlights (www.chinahighlights), China Tibet Train (www.chinatibettrain.com) and China DIY Travel (www.china-diy-travel.com).
Buying your own tickets If you want to secure a ticket independently, you can use Ctrip (www.ctrip.com), but be aware that tickets usually sell out almost the instant they go on sale.
Breaking the journey If travelling from further afield in China, for example Bĕijīng or Chéngdū, it is advisable to break the journey into at least two legs. Xīníng is a pleasant city for a stopover and, at 2500m, is a good midway point at which to spend a couple of days acclimatising slowly to altitude gain. To do this, you’ll need to book your journey in two parts: your departure point to Xīníng, and then your rail ticket onward from Xīníng to Lhasa. Many travellers opt to fly to Xīníng.
Permits & Arrival
A Tibet Travel Bureau (TTB) permit is required for all non-Chinese travellers to board a train to Lhasa. Unlike with air travel which requires the original permit, for the train, you may present a copy or printout of the permit, which is obtained by your travel agency and emailed to you. Most travellers use the same agency handling their TTB permits to buy train tickets.
In Xīníng, you will present your passport, ticket and permits before boarding.
On board, an attendant will provide a health waiver to fill in. The forms are only in Chinese, so ask a fellow passenger for help or a translation app.
Upon arrival in Lhasa, passengers de-train and pass an exit permit check, where a chaotic procedure requires you to be shuffled across the front station plaza to a small outbuilding. Here, passports and TTBs are checked, photocopied and handed back in a scrum of weary foreigners and stressed-out guides.
If travelling in a group, your guide will likely meet you outside the station’s exit gate and escort you through this, but be prepared to go it alone in some cases. Don’t panic: it is normal procedure for either your guide or an entry official to take your passport and permit away during this process.
USEFUL WEBSITES
China Highlights (www.chinahighlights.com) Searchable timetables.
China Tibet Train (www.chinatibettrain.com) The official website. Good background information.
China Train & Tours (www.chinatraintickets.net) You can book tickets up to 60 days in advance on this English-language site.
Railway Customer Service Centre (www.12306.cn) Chinese speakers might be able to reserve train tickets at this site.
Travel China Guide (www.travelchinaguide.com/china-trains) Searchable timetables.
Out Your Window
Trains cross the Tibetan plateau during at least some hours of daylight, guaranteeing great views. About an hour outside Xīníng, the train rambles alongside the still, blue waters of vast Qīnghǎi Lake for some time before carving across large swaths of desert flatland and brown canyon country. After Golmud, you climb through desert into the jagged, caramel-coloured mountains of Nánshānkǒu (Southern Pass), passing what feels like a whisper from the imposing glaciers beside Yùzhū Fēng (Jade Pearl Peak; 6178m). The train crosses into Tibet over the 5072m Tanggu-la (Tánggǔlā Shānkǒu) Pass, the line’s high point.
Other highlights include the tunnel through frigid 4905m Fēnghuǒshān Pass and trundling alongside Conag Lake (4608m), claimed to be the world’s highest freshwater lake. Keep your eyes peeled throughout for antelope, foxes, yaks and wild asses, plus the occasional nomad.
Altitude on Board
Riding the world’s highest train, altitude is always going to be a consideration. Though most travellers pass the journey with little-to-no problem, altitude sickness can strike anyone, regardless of fitness or general health, so it’s important to come prepared and be careful. It’s a common misconception that the relative ‘slowness’ of train travel will prevent you from suffering AMS upon arrival in Tibet. While the pace of train travel can be a benefit in altitude adjustment, it is not a cure-all, and many travellers will feel gentle altitude sickness on the journey, be it light-headedness or headache.
All passengers have access to piped-in oxygen through a special socket beside each seat or berth.
Be sure to carry altitude sickness tablets, drink more water than usual and alert the train attendant if you are feeling unwell.
Ecology & Culture
There’s no doubt the Qīnghǎi–Tibet train line is an engineering marvel. Topping out at 5072m, it is the world’s highest railway, snatching the title from a Peruvian line. The statistics speak for themselves: 86% of the line is above 4000m, and half the track lies on permafrost, requiring a cooling system of pipes driven into the ground to keep it frozen year-round to avoid a rail-buckling summer thaw. Construction of the line involved building 160km of bridges and elevated track, seven tunnels (including the world’s highest) and 24 hyperbaric chambers, the latter to treat altitude-sick workers.
Aside from environmental concerns, many locals are deeply worried about the cultural and political impact of the train. The trains unload thousands of tourists and immigrants into Lhasa every day.
The authorities stress the economic benefits of the line: highly subsidised, it has decreased transport costs for imports by up to 75%. But Tibetans remain economically marginalised. More than 90% of the 100,000 workers employed to build the line came from other provinces and few, if any, Tibetan staff members work on the trains. The US$4.1 billion cost of building the line is greater than the amount Běijīng has spent on hospitals and schools in Tibet over the past 50 years.
As ambitious as the current line is, connecting Lhasa with the rest of China was only the beginning. An extension to Shigatse opened in 2014, and a new railway line under construction will expand the line east to Tsetang, Nyingtri and Sìchuān province, starting/ending at Chéngdū. While this undoubtedly eases travel and provides a comfortable and romantic method of transport into Tibet, travellers should remain mindful of the impact on the culture and delicate ecology of this special region.
