For centuries, Tibet has been unknown to the rest of the world due to the remoteness of the Tibetan topography. Traveling to Tibet was then considered to be a challenging task for many western tourists. Tibet was officially opened to the foreign tourists in and around 1980s for the first time and recently Tibet opens its arms wider to welcome tourists from all over the world to explore the unique culture, gigantic and high snow mountain, beautiful enormous plateau and countless lakes of Tibet, surrounded by those great Himalayan Ranges and bordered to India, Bhutan, Nepal and Sikkim from the south and the west. Xinjiang, Sichuan and Qinghai from the North, East. The land of snow has lots to surprise the world with its own uniqueness in culture, tradition and most importantly the sacredness of the land which attracts thousands of pilgrims across the world every year.
Getting into Tibet has been comparatively made really easy for the west to explore some of the most fascinating landscapes that Tibet has to provide to the rest of the world.
Unlike the mainland China, accessing Tibet has few additional procedures to be kept in mind before having Tibet in your bucket list.
One of the major FAQ about getting into Tibet has been the Tibet Permit, a document which supports your entry into Tibet. It is important to note that the approval on your Chinese Visa doesn’t really mean that you can get entry into Tibet. You will be required to apply the Tibet Permit through your chosen travel agent like Tibet Shambhala Adventure in Lhasa.
There are only two ways getting into Tibet. One from Kathmandu and another from the mainland China. For those who are making their Tibet Trip from Mainland China, it is required to send across a copy of your visa and passport to your travel agent in Lhasa to apply for the Tibet Permit which usually takes about 15-20 business days to process.
Once it is approved, your travel agent in Lhasa need to send the original copy to your temporary mailing address in China accept the city of Xining in Qinghai province in China where a colored-copy of the Tibet Permit works to board your train to Lhasa.
If you are making the journey to Tibet via Kathmandu, it is important to note that you don’t have to apply for the China Visa from your origin country in order to get into Tibet. You will have to send your passport copy to your travel agent in Lhasa and your travel agent makes China visa application to Tibet Tourism Bureau in Lhasa and send the visa invitation to the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu.
Once you arrive in Kathmandu, our representative agent in Nepal will assist you to apply your China visa to the Chines embassy based in Kathmandu which is referred as a Group Visa, given on A Shape paper.
The new business working days of Chinese embassy in Kathmandu is from Monday till Friday which is much better than before where it used to be three business working days only. Your China visa application takes two business working days which means we apply for your China visa on Monday and you get the visa and your passport back on Tuesday.
When you are coming to Tibet from Kathmandu, you are not required to have your Tibet entry and road permits. You can board your flight with your China visa to Tibet and your Tibetan tour guide comes to the airport with all your necessary Tibet entry and road permits and help you to clear China custom.
We can apply China visa for all the tourists except someone who are diplomats, journalists and government officials. People who are diplomats, journalists and government officials should go through Foreign Affairs Office of China based in Lhasa.
When you are coming to Tibet from mainland China, you are coming with your Tibet entry permits but once you arrive in Tibet, you will be required to handover Tibet permit to your Tibetan tour guide. Your Tibetan tour guide assist you to take care of your permits and do the check wherever it is necessary.
