Located in Southwest China, Chongqing is the largest municipality in China, and neighbors Sichuan Province. Chongqing is a charming city attracting travelers for its spicy yum food, the unique city landscape and the dynamic lifestyle of the passionate Chongqing people.
Chongqing City
Chongqing has also become more and more famous worldwide now. With the sophisticated transportation facilities, Chongqing has become an equally important transport hub like Chengdu (capital city of Sichuan Province). With train option and many flights into Tibet, Chongqing is also one of the eight main gateway cities into Tibet.
The two main ways of traveling from Chongqing to Tibet is taking the Z223 train to Lhasa, or choosing a flight into Lhasa. Let’s begin with the facts and guides on the transport options and how to enjoy the time in Chongqing before leaving for Tibet.
Four Railway Stations: There are four railway stations in Chongqing, named Chongqing Railway Station, Chongqing North Railway Station, Chongqing West Railway Station, and Chongqing South Railway Station. To embark on the Chongqing-Tibet train, you should get to Chongqing West Railway Station.
Z223 is the only train departing from Chongqing to Tibet (Lhasa). It originates from Chongqing every other day and takes 35hours and 43 minutes to arrive at Lhasa.
Note on booking: The booking system for train tickets all over China is open one month prior to the departure date. Almost all the trains into Tibet from whichever gateway city are in high demand so that it can be tricky to make a booking on your own.
Train Schedules & Timetables
| Train No. | Originating Station | Departure time | Arrival time | Duration | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Z223 | Chongqing | 22:12 | 09:55 | 35h43m | Every other day |
Ticket Price
| Ticket Types | Soft Sleeper | Hard Sleeper | Hard Seat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ticket Prices | 997.5 RMB | 627.5 RMB | 302.5 RMB |
You may refer to Chongqing to Tibet Train for more details.
Airport: Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport (CKG) is the only airport in the vicinity of Chongqing city. There are three terminals T1(international flights), T2(domestic flights), and T3(serving both domestic and international flights).
Distance from the city to the airport: The 19-kilometer distance between the city center and Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport is another good point that saves the travel time. But we would still suggest that you save extra travel time for the airport as the roads in Chongqing are just like winding maze. A city built in mountains also confronts the side-effect of frequent traffic jam.
Direct Airlines: Sichuan Airlines, Tibet Airlines, Air China, China Southern Airlines, Huaxia Airlines, China West Air, all serve direct flights connecting Chongqing and Lhasa. These direct flights depart either at T2 or T3.
Duration and tickets: Flying from Chongqing to Lhasa takes about 3 hours and often comes with good-priced tickets. Either when you make your booking months ahead or buy a winter ticket (off season ticket), you can find surprisingly cheap tickets. For example, a ticket in November for a direct fight is only about 350 RMB (inclusive of fuel and tax), which is just around 50 dollars. In recent years, Chongqing has become a transportation hub which sometimes offers even more and cheaper domestic or international flight options compared with Chengdu.
You may refer to Chongqing to Tibet Flights for more details (schedule and price).
Touring in Chongqing (Yum and Exiting)
It doesn’t require many good reasons to visit Chongqing. Many go to Chongqing just because it is a haven for foodies. Hot pot restaurants, together with street food stalls selling barbeque (Shaokao), spicy skewers(Chuan-chuan), and many other snacks, are often open from noon and not close until 2am in the midnight. Therefore, you can have the day wandering in the so-called City of Mountain to take in the fiction-like mountain landscape mixed up with shopping and sightseeing, meanwhile, walking up and down along the steep stone staircases among the traditional households. After the walking, you can have your foodie night. A must-try food list is as follows:
1. Chongqing hotpot: It is believed that this beloved cuisine was invented by Chongqing people or Luzhou people (the city neighboring Chongqing in the west and also a port city along Yangtse River), firstly by the hard-working stevedore whose job was to upload and download goods at the port. They had so little time for cooking a decent meal, they hence invented a quick dish with all ingredients added in the boiling soup. This dish made them warm, got them full and filled them with all necessary nutrients. It turned out to be yummy as well.
Chongqing Hotpot
2. Chongqing Chuan-chuan(another type of hotpot dishes): The difference between hot pot and chuan-chuan is that the former one is with ingredients served in plates, the latter with ingredients prepared on sticks(looking like skewer). Small knowledge: It’s believed among domestic foodies that Chongqing has the best hotpot while Chengdu has the better chuan-chuan.
3. Chongqing Gan Guo(dried mixed spicy pot): This is a combo of multiple ingredients fried/stir-fried with various seasonings such as dried pepper, green and red chili, ginger, garlic, spring onion, coriander, etc. Like the hotpot and chuan-chuan, you can choose the spicy level.
4. Except the iconic hotpot, chuan-chuan, gan guo, there are also home-made style Chongqing dishes served in local restaurants. As Chongqing municipality once was part of Sichuan Province, the dishes featuring Sichuan cuisines.
5. Snacks come with various types, from sweet icy Bingfen(tastes like Pudding with creative flavors such as rose, haw apple, brown sugar, etc.) to Mahua(sweet fried twisted wheat dough), which is slightly oily in the surface and perfectly crunchy.
6. Chongqing Beer, or called Mountain City Beer), is one of the best in China’s West.
7. Hongya Cave, in the nighttime, reminds many of us the scene in the Spirited Away. This is an attraction built on a cliff right in the city center, below the Liberation Monument(Jiefang Bei), which is serving as a giant mall with plenty of food stands and small souvenir shops.
Hongya Cave
Which way to take as your transport into Tibet from Chongqing depends on your time schedule and budget plan. While some believe taking the train can help with acclimatization, some who did this actually still encountered altitude sickness and blamed the fatigue on the long train journey. You’re welcome to contact us for any inquiry based on your own situations.
Below are some Chongqing to Tibet Tours you may be interested in:
6 Days Chongqing and Lhasa Highlights Tour
7 Days Chongqing to Tibet Train Tour
9 Days Chongqing & Tibet to Nepal Overland Tour
10 Days Chongqing Lhasa Everest Expedition Tour
