Travel to Tibet: How to Get to Tibet from Nepal or Mainland China?

How to get to Tibet from Nepal or mainland China ? By flight or train or by overland?
There are two main ways to get to Tibet, one is the international get way to Tibet which is either fly from Kathmandu to Lhasa or overland from Kyirong border to Lhasa. Lhasa is the capital city of Tibet and it has over 1300 years history with a great historical cites of the Potala Palace, the most sacred Jokang temple etc. Another way to get to Tibet is by train or flight from different cities in mainland China such as Peking, Xian, Xining, Lanzhou, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Chengdu etc.
How to get to Tibet from Kathmandu In the high tourist season? There is a daily flight from Kathmandu to Lhasa by Air China and Sichuan Airline. The flight from Kathmandu to Lhasa is one hour distance and you can enjoy an extremely beautiful view of the great Himalayan Mountain range including Mount Everest. Kathmandu is the capital city of Nepal and it is the birth place of Lord Buddha and there are many historical sites to visit such as Patan, Durbar Square, Bodhanath, Swayambunath etc.
How to get to Tibet from Beijing? There are two direct flights from Beijing to Lhasa run by Air China and Tibet Airlines and there are a couple of stop over flights. There is one daily train from Beijing to Lhasa which takes 41 hours but we don’t recommend to take this train as it is a very long train ride journey and at the same time, it is very difficult to guarantee the soft sleeper.
The flight from Beijing to Lhasa is 5 hours distance. You can enjoy a beautiful view of Minyak Gangkar snow mountain and the Barhmaputra river. Beijing not only is the capital city of China but also a historical cite of China where it has the most famous great wall of China, Summer Palace, the forbidden city, Lama temple etc. Now, It is the cultural, political, financial and head quarter of the Chinese government.
How to get to Tibet from Shanghai? There is one direct flight and several stop over flights and one daily train. Shanghai city is located on the bank of Yangtse river which follows it’s source from the north eastern Tibet. Shanghai is the largest city in China and it serves as the most important cultural, commercial, financial, industrial and communications center of China and Shanghai also recognizes as the international standard city of China where there are many westerners who are working, doing business and studying in shanghai.
How get to Tibet from Guangzhou? There are a couple stop over flights from Guangzhou to Lhasa which takes around 6 hours including stop over in Kunming or Chengdu. There is also a daily train to Lhasa from Guangzhou. Guangzhou or Canton is the largest city in south China and it is one of the most important trading center in China and it also has lots of Cargos which go to different countries in the world.
How to get to Tibet from Kunming? There is one direct flight from Kunming to Lhasa which takes you two hours and thirty five minutes and there are several stop over flights from Kunming to Lhasa via Dali, Shangrila or Lijiang. You will enjoy a beautiful view of Kawa karpo snow mountain and Erhai lake from the plane. Kunming is the capital city of Yunnan province in the western China and Yunnan is the biggest ethnic province in China.
How to get to Tibet from Xian? There are a few direct flights from Xian to Lhasa which takes you three hours and thirty five minutes and there is a daily train comes to Lhasa from Xian which takes 31.19 hours. Actually, this train is the same train which comes from Beijing to Lhasa via Xian. Xian was the capital city of China during the period of Tang dynasty and it has some historical scenic sites including Terracotta Warriors and the white stupa etc and nowadays, it is one of the most famous travel destination in China.
How to get to Tibet from Xining? There is one direct flight from Xining to Lhasa and a few stop over flights from Xining to Lhasa and several trains from Xining to Lhasa which takes 21.28 hours duration. The direct flight takes two hours and twenty five minutes duration and you will enjoy a beautiful view of the Tibetan high plateau and many beautiful lakes from the plane. Xining is the capital city of Qinghai province in the western China and it is located on the Yellow River. Xining is one of the main gateways to Tibet, especially by train to Tibet. The train from Xining to Tibet is the most beautiful part of Qinghai Tibet railway. You will enjoy viewing a fantastic scenery of the Qinghai lake, Tibetan high plateau, Kunlun mountain range, Keke Xili no man land, beautiful Tibetan grassland and nomad camps and many beautiful lakes.
How to get to Tibet from Lanzhou? There are a couple of stop over flights to Tibet from Lanzhou but it takes you between 7-8 hours so we don’t recommend to take flight from Lanzhou to Tibet. You can take train to Tibet from Lanzhou which takes you around 25 hours to reach Lhasa. Lanzhou is the capital city of Gansu province and it is one of the largest Tibetan grassland plateau in the north eastern Tibet. It is the hometown of the Tibetan Amdo region and they are all both farmers and nomads.
How to get to Tibet from Chengdu? Chengdu is the most popular gateways city to Tibet as there are over 20 direct flights to Lhasa during the peak season and over ten daily flight to Nyingtri, the eastern forest region of Tibet, daily flight to Chamdo, the further eastern region of Tibet, daily flights to Shigatse and Ngari via Lhasa. The flight from Chengdu to Lhasa takes 2 hours duration and you will enjoy a beautiful view of Minyak Gangkar snow mountain and many beautiful snowcapped mountains and Brahmaputra river. There is a train running from Chengdu to Lhasa every other day but we don’t recommend to take this train because in the one hand, it is a very long train journey and in the other hand, the train ticket is very difficult to get.
Chengdu is the capital city of Sichuan province and it is the largest city in the western China. Chengdu is the home of the most famous Panda and it is the most important commercial city of western China.
Chengdu nowadays can access very easily from different cities in Europe such as Amsterdam, Frankfurt and New York to Chengdu. All those are direct flights to Chengdu.

Tibet Winter Tour and Travels with Tibet Shambala Adventure

Five reasons why you are recommend to take Tibet winter tour?

1) Cultivating an in-depth understanding of Tibet and Tibet’s authentic experience if you take Tibet winter tour.

Entire Tibet, for Tibetans, winter is well-known for a pilgrimage tour to central Tibet and the highlight of the Tibetan pilgrimage tour is in Lhasa , the ancient holy city of Tibet which has more than one thousand and three hundred years history. Tibetans all over Tibet come to Lhasa, no matter whether it is thousands of Km driving distance or hundreds of km walking distance, for them visiting the ancient holy city of Tibet and the sacred statue of Buddha Shakyamuni, enshrined inside the Jokang temple  is a once in a life time pilgrimage tour. Why Tibetans very deeply believe that the statue of the Buddha Shakyamuni, located inside the Jokang is so sacred is because the statue is believed to be built when the Lord Buddha was alive by one of his devoted students according to when Buddha was 12 years old. The Statue of Buddha Shakyamuni is also believed to be blessed and given initiation by Buddha himself so Tibetans believe that the statue is very sacred and the .most revered.

Bharkor Bazzar and Jokang temple are located in the center of the old section of the Lhasa city and during winter time, there are thousands of pilgrims walking around the Jokang temple and hundreds of Tibetans are prostrating to the holy statue of Buddha Shakyamuni in front of the Jokang temple. You will see Tibetans in the Bharkor street, wearing different styles of Tibetan Chupa ( a traditional gown ) which can be recognized the different prefectures or cities where they come from. There are also quite a lot of traditional festivals are going on during winter such as Gamden Ngamchoe, the death anniversary of the Tsongkapa, the founder of the Yellow Hat School. Your tour programs during winter can be more flexible since there are very few tourists and you can spend more time inside the Potala Palace where the tourist can spend one hour time visit only during summer so you will be able to encounter with locals and get more authentic experience from your Tibet winter Tour.

2) The price of the trip is 30-40% is cheaper if you take Tibet winter tour.

All the flights from mainland China to Lhasa or Nyingtri, the eastern forest region of Tibet gives almost 50% discount on the flight ticket to Tibet and there are still many flights are flying between mainland China and Tibet such as Chengdu to Lhasa, Chengdu to Nyingtri, Beijing to Lhasa, Shanghai to lhasa, Kunming to Lhasa, Chongqing to Lhasa, Xining to Lhasa etc. Besides those of domestic flights, there are also flights from Kathmandu to Lhasa. Eventhough the flights between Kathmandu and Lhasa did not give any discount before, from this year, two big airline companies, Air China and Sichuan Airlines, are flying from Kathmandu to Lhasa and they are also giving 20-30% discount on the flight ticket cost. Another very big advantage if you take a flight to Lhasa from Kathmandu in the winter time is that you will get an extraordinary and beautiful view of the great Himalayan Mountain range including Mount Everest where you are flying right next to it.

All the hotels in Tibet give 20-30% discount during winter and some of the big scenic spots such as Potala Palace and some other scenic sites give 20-50% discount. The most important thing is that you can spend your time inside the temples, monasteries or Palaces with very much less crowd and enjoy being with locals, traveling with locals and talking with locals will give more authentic experience and at the same time, you will  save a big amount of money if you take Tibet winter tour.

3) It’s always the best view to see the great Himalayan Mountain range if you take Tibet winter tour. Many people think that Tibet is very cold in winter and it might snow a lot. Actually, it is not a right thinking. 99% of weather forecast can guarantee that the sun shines very brightly and warmly so as long as there is a strong sunlight, Tibet’s winter, especially the city like Lhasa, Nyingtri,, Tsetang, Gyantse and Shigatse are not cold at all when you are under the strong and warm sun light.

Another important thing is that Tibet does not snow much until mid January especially in central Tibet so you can travel closer to the great Himalayan mountain ranges including Mount Everest during your Tibet winter tour. The road condition is very good and until it does not snow heavily, you can easily access to Tibet Everest base camp too. You will enjoy the most beautiful view of Mount Everest, Jo Oyu, Shisha Bangma, Lhotse, Makalu and many other Himalayan peaks. The scenery on the way is extremely beautiful under the beautiful sun shine without a single cloud. The lakes and snow mountains are more beautiful where it is always clear blue and crystal white.

4) Tibet travel permits are always easier if you take Tibet winter tour.

There are usually two different kinds of Tibet travel permits. One is non restricted Tibet travel permits and another one is restricted Tibet travel permits. In the summer time, non restricted Tibet travel permits takes 15-20 days to complete all the process where it only takes 7 to 15 days in the winter time. If there is an urgent group booking, we can also complete all the necessary permit process within 5 working days if you take Tibet winter tour.

In the summer time, restricted Tibet travel permits takes 20-25 days where it takes 10-15 days only if you take Tibet winter tour. Another good thing is that the Tibet travel permits are more flexible and we can also change or add other destinations in your permits easily if you like to change your mind after your arrival in Tibet so this makes your travel much easier, flexible and less time consuming.

5) If you take Tibet Winter Tour, you will witness more events and religious festivals such as the festival of the Buddha’s descent from heaven after his teachings to his mother in the heaven, the death anniversary of Tsongkapa, the founder of Gelukpa school, death anniversary of Jamchen Choejee, the founder of Sera monastery, many new year festivals such as Gongpo new year in October, Shigatse new year in January, Tibetan Gyalpo Losar and Chinese new year in February and the western new year as well. We celebrate all those new years so You will get to experience the diverse and distinctive nature of Tibetan people’s costumes, dialect, culture etc on geographical basis if you take Tibet winter tour.

.