Tibet travel permit & China visa

After one and half year’s closure, Tibet officially has been opened to the foreigners who live in mainland China so now you can apply for the Tibet travel permit and China visa through the local Tibetan travel agent which has been officially recognized by the China National Tourism Bureau and Tibet Tourism Bureau so make sure that you will find the right Tibetan travel agent to get all your necessary Tibet travel permits and arrange the best Tibet trip.
Since the pandemic has begun around the world, Tibet has remained close to the foreign tourists for more than year and half even though Tibet does not have a single case of the Covid 19 from the local community. The reason Tibet has remained close is because the Tibet Autonomous Region wanted to have the best security and safety for the Tibetan people during this bad pandemic. Through a great effort and hard work of the Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibet indeed has gained a great result of avoiding from the Covid 19 and all the people in Tibet can move around in a normal way like before the pandemic and enjoying the lives as before.
At the same time, the Chinese government could control the Covid 19 in a very short period of time and last year from around the beginning of June, Tibet has started receiving domestic tourists and there was not a single case happened in Tibet from the domestic tourists since June 2020 so through this good result, Tibet recently has officially opened to foreigners who work or live in mainland China or the foreigners who stayed in mainland China for more than 28 days but as usual, you always need Tibet travel permit and China visa to enter Tibet.
To travel to Tibet, first of all, you need China visa that can be a China tourist visa, working visa or a business visa, all those three types of visa are fine to visit Tibet. Mostly, the foreigners who live in mainland China might be a business man or an employer in a company so to make Tibet travel permit, you need a China working or business visa and with this, you also need to prepare an introduction letter from your company or work unit that includes a short introduction of yourself such as how long you have been working in China, your position in the company, what profession you are working for etc with the stamp of a company and signature of the company head officer.
Up on above those two documents, you also need to provide nucleic acid and QR test report. Once your local Tibetan travel agent get those three documents, they will start applying for your Tibet travel permit. To make Tibet travel permit, it takes around two weeks but it also depends on where you are traveling in Tibet. If you travel to the central part of Tibet, you will only need around two weeks of applying for your Tibet travel permits. If you are traveling to the western or the eastern forest region of Tibet, then it takes around three weeks to finish the Tibet travel permit.
When you enter Tibet, not matter from which parts of the cities you enter Tibet, you always need Tibet travel permit and China visa to show. The security at the airport or train station always ask you to show the Tibet travel permit and China visa when you board the flight or train. Make sure that you will have the original Tibet travel permit and China visa otherwise the copy of the Tibet travel permit or China visa does not work so it is very important to tell your Tibetan travel agent to send you the original Tibet travel permit to you before you start coming to Tibet.
Another important thing is that you also need to ask your Tibetan travel agent to help you book your flight tickets because usually, without the original Tibet travel permit and China visa, you cannot book the flight ticket or train ticket to Tibet. Once you arrive in Tibet, what you need to do is you will give your Tibet travel permit to your local Tibetan guide who will take care of your Tibet travel permit and if you are traveling outside of Lhasa, you need to give your Tibet travel permit and China visa to your local Tibetan travel agent to make another travel permit called Aliens permit. Without this permit, you can not travel to the restricted area of Tibet.
Can you take train in Tibet?
Recently, we were also asked by some of our customers whether they can travel on the train once they are in Tibet. Our answer to this question is that you can travel on train in Tibet but sofar, we only have one train from Lhasa to Shigatse and to board the train from Lhasa to Shigatse, you need a tour guide to accompany with you. In the near future, there will be train from Lhasa to Nyingtri, the eastern forest region of Tibet and it will be a beautiful train ride from Lhasa to Nyingtri.
Can you travel to Everest Base Camp?
Many tourists are still in doubt whether they can travel to Mt Everest base camp, they are thinking there might have a new rule and regulation on traveling to Mt Everest basecamp? As long as you get Tibet travel permit and China visa, the rule and regulation to visit Everest Base Camp is still the same and you can easily travel to Everest base camp. The only the change is that the Everest base camp is a little longer distance than before from Rongbuk monastery since you can not walk all the way to the old Everest Base Camp but you can still go to the new Everest Base Camp and still get the best view of the Mt Everest from the new Everest base camp.
Can you go to Mt Kailash?
As long as you had Tibet travel permit and China visa, you can go to Mt Kailash as usual which means once you arrive in Lhasa, you are required to get another permit for Mt Kailash with your original passport. Once you get this new permit, you can travel to Mt Kailash easily with your Tibetan tour guide. If you go to Mt Kailash, the most important thing is to book the hotel in advance as most of the hotels or guest houses in Dharchen were completely destroyed and there is a huge construction undertaking so you need to make sure with your local Tibetan travel agent to book the hotel in advance as there is only one hotel available at the moment.
Can you travel to Nepal border?
Since the situation of the Covid 19 is getting worse in Nepal, at the moment, you are not recommended to travel to Kyirong border as it is a very close place to Nepal and it has become one of the most important place to be watched and controlled in order to make sure that the Covid 19 will not enter from Nepal.
How can a tourist from Maccau or Hongkong travel to Tibet?
If you are staying in Maccau or Hongkong now and planning to travel to Tibet, you need to stay at least around 28 days in mainland China so unless you had something to do in mainland China, it is not recommended to plan to travel to Tibet at this period of time because it is a boring time to wait for 28 days in mainland China. If you had something to do in mainland China, no matter whether you are traveling around or working, it is worthy to wait and plan to travel to Tibet. If you are planning to travel to Tibet only through mainland China by this time, we recommend to plan your trip after the Covid 19 is over so that you can directly fly from Maccau or Hongkong to Chengdu and from Chengdu to Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet in one day if you had your Tibet travel permit and China visa.