How to book Tibet train tour? It surely offers an unparralled and top up your Tibet Tour Experience.

How to book Tibet train tour?  It surely offers an unparralled and top up your Tibet tour Experience.

For tourists, visiting Tibet  from Mainland China, if you have enough time, Tibet Shambhala Adventure  recommends you to take Tibet train tour. You can take train to Tibet from several famous cities of mainland China which we have made a detailed list of the cities and train schedules. The best way to take train to Tibet is from Xining. Xining is one of the closest cities to Tibet from mainland China and it is the capital city of Qinghai province where there are lots of Tibetans who live in Xining and the places around Xining,  known as Amdo Tibetan and they are both farmers and nomads.

Amdo in Tibetan is a region that is located in the north eastern part of Tibet and you will see a lot of monasteries, temples, nomad camps and growing barley in Amdo area like you can see here in the central Tibet. The high light of the Tibet train tour is from Xining to Lhasa because after around forty minutes train board from Xining, you will see Qinghai lake or Tso Ngonpo in Tibetan and Kokonor lake in Mongolian. It is one of the largest salt lakes in Tibet and it is the largets lake in the Qinghai Tibetan area. Next to Kokonor lake, you can see beautiful grassland, nomad camp, Kunlun mountain range, Keke Xiling no man land which has been occupied by a big group of Tibetan antelop, wild donkey, wild Yak, wolfs, blue sheep etc. Thangko la pass which is over 5000m above sea level and Siling tso which is the larget lake in the northen Tibetan area located at the altitude of over 4500m above sea level. You will pass by Damshong county which is the county seat under Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet. From Damshong county to Lhasa is 200km distance. On the way, you will have a great view of Nyenchen Thangla snow nountain which is the largest snow mountain near Lhasa at the elevation of over 7000m So the landscape from Xining to Lhasa is extremely rich and it is tremendously beautiful. You can not only enjoy this unique and tremendous beauty of the landscape during your Tibet train tour but also you can slowly acclimatize to the altitude while you are crossing high mountain passes through train which can make sure that you won’t get altitude problem during your Tibet tour. .

 How comfortable the beds and seats of Qinghai Tibet train:

There are three different classes of the seats and beds that you can book for the Qinghai Tibet train tour. They have first class train ticket or known as soft sleeper. The first class is train ticket is that there are four comfortable beds in one compartment, two beds on the top and two beds are on the ground.There is alo a nice place to put your luggage and there is also small TV if you like. The scond class train tickit, known as hard sleeper. The second class ticket is that there are 6 comfortable beds in one compartment and when there are six beds in one compartment, the space of the compartment makes smaller and less comfortable than the first class tickets. It also has the same place to keep your luggage. The third one is the normal seat that there are many seats in one big hall and two seats are facing to each other and the space between the seats and tables are also not that big so we don’t recommend to take seat ticket from Xining to Lhasa as it is very difficult.

 If you can get food on the Qinghai Tibet train?

There is a pretty clean restaurant on the train and they serve all three meals during your train tour to Tibet. Usually, they serve lunch by around 13.00-14-30, Dinner by around 18.30-20.00 and 08-09.30 Beijing time. Usually, they announce lunch, dinner and breakfast time on the train both in English and Chinese so you can pay attention approximately the time that we have given to you. If you are with your Tibetan guide it is easy for you as your Tibetan guide can order food for you from the restaurant but most of the groups are coming on their own so you can go to the restaurant and choose the vegetable from the menu if you like to order by your self or you can also buy the set rice and veg dish that the waters pass by your compartment and sell the dish.. The person in charge of the restaurant speaks a little English.

We highly recommend you to buy some coffee, biscuit, fruit or even a bowl of instant noodle in Xining before you board the train because on the train, you don’t get those items. They have drinking hot water tank next to each apartment of the train and you can have hot water any time.  It is also a good idea to buy some mineral water before you board the train because the mineral water which sells on the train is quite expensive.

If you can get Oxygen on the Qinghai Tibet train?

The train itself provides oxygen in each compartment and if you are feeling very difficult symptom of having headache, vomiting, difficult to breathe, then we recommend you to use some oxygen but it is very rare to happen this kind of symptom and we don’t recommend you to use oxygen on the train when you have slightly headh ache or dizzy because this is very usual and this symptom will slowly disappeay after your couple of days stay in Tibet.

What documents and how you can book your Qinghai Tibet train ticket?

To book train tickets, you need a valid passport and China visa copy. Usually the Qinghai Tibet Rail Way company requires to book ticket for Tibet train tour in 60 days advance but this can be changed sometimes and it is very important to ask your Tibet travel agent to have the most up-to date information about the tickets. You can try to book the train tickets through the official website of China Train Company (www.huoche.com or www.ctrip.com  ) but it is tremendously difficult to get a chance to be able to catch tickets online, especially first and second class during the high and peak season as there are lots of tourist who travel to Tibet by train and at the same time, many government officials  do also travel to Tibet by train so the best is to ask your Tibet travel agent who is arranging your Tibet train tour to help you book the train tickets. There will be some service charge for booking but if you find a right Tibetan travel agent like Tibet Shambhala Adventure, they can guarantee you to get first class train ticket once you book the trip with them.

Can you board the train to Tibet without Tibet permit?

It is compulsory to have Tibet permit or known as Tibet entry permit. All the train stations in mailand China except the train station in Xining requires you to show original Tibet permit. At the train station in Xining, it is fine to board the train with a colored copy of the Tibet permit. It is very important to book your Tibet train tour in 20-30 days advance as your Tibet travel agent needs to go through a very long process for your Tibet permit application and it takes between 15-25 days by depending on what kind of Tibet trips you take. Once they finish all your Tibet permit application, the Tibet travel agent has to send your Tibet permit to the city from which you are going to take train to Tibet. Sending permit to mainland China usually takes 3-5 working days by EMS. It is very important to give your exact hotel address and contact number to your Tibet agent to deliver your Tibet permit if you spend a night in the city from which you are going to train to Tibet. It is also possible to deliver your Tibet train ticket and Tibet permit at the train station if you don’t spend a night in the city.

Although the recommended city to take train to Tibet from Mainland China is Xining however you don’t necessarily have to fly to Xining to start your Tibet Train Tour. You can also take train to Tibet from other major cities of mainland China. Currently we have the train shchedules to Tibet below;

-Beijing to Lhasa

-Shanghai to Lhasa

-Chendu to Lhasa

-Xining to Lhasa

-Xian to Lhasa

-Guangzhou-Lhasa

-Chongqing to Lhasa

-Lanzhou to Lhasa

-Hongkong to Lhasa

With hike in the no of foreign tourists making train reservation to Tibet, it resulted in lots of FAQ about train schedules, price  and how to make train reservation to Tibet. The below information can mostly answer about all the FAQ. Please note that the train ticket cost below are for reference. These can be subject to change.

.,Beijing to Lhasa Train Book

*The Ticket cost is just for reference purpose

Shanghai to Lhasa Train Book

*The Ticket cost is just for reference purpose

Chengdu to Lhasa Train Book

*The Ticket cost is just for reference purpose

Guangzhou to Lhasa Train Book

*The Ticket cost is just for reference purpose

Xining to Lhasa Train Book

*The Ticket cost is just for reference purpose

Chongqing to Lhasa Train Book

*The Ticket cost is just for reference purpose

Lanzhou to Lhasa Train Book

*The Ticket cost is just for reference purpose

Xi’an to Lhasa Train Book

*The Ticket cost is just for reference purpose

Golmud to Lhasa Train Book

*The Ticket cost is just for reference purpose.

Hongkong to Lhasa Train Book via Guangzhou ( Canton )

To have more information, please visit Tibet Train Tour.