Travelling to Tibet by train is a romantic and inspiring journey to some train fans who adore the natural scenery outside of the window. And to those travelling with their friends or family, taking a train journey to Tibet can be a time for great night talks or a mobile movie tour with your loved ones. Well, whether or not to choose train as your mode of transport to enter Tibet depends on many factors. Let's quickly run over the good aspects and the relatively bad ones.
1. Fun
Taking a train ride is many people's hobby. When it comes to a scenic train journey, it is more so. Riding a train on the epic Qinghai-Tibet Railway means the chance to see the unique plateau landscape and amazing wildlife. Sitting on the train, letting the mind loose and taking in nature through the window, is one of the most relaxing moments.
If you're traveling with young kids who have little interest in static scenery, they could be thrilled about seeing the Tibetan animals on the grassland. Though the shortest train journey to Tibet can last for 21 hours, there are multi ways to make your on-board experience fun and soothing.
This can also provide a time of contemplating for those travel on their own and can be a great chance to meet and talk with nice people you may encounter.
2. Acclimatization to Altitude
There are 8 cities of inland China with departure stations offering train services to Lhasa, Tibet, inclusive of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi'an, Lanzhou, Xining. All of these cities have much lower altitudes than that of Lhasa, therefore, getting to Lhasa by train let you experience the ascending altitudes gradually, which could help you get acclimatized to the average altitude of 4,000 meters of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.
3. Being Reliable and Regular
The train transport is least impacted by weather conditions and the schedule of departing is often on time. You normally don't need to worry about delay.
4. Less Carbon Footprint
Taking a train ride means sharing a single journey with many others. As compared to choosing road transport and air transport, taking a train is very eco-friendly in the way of reducing carbon footprint.
5. Being Less Costly
Train ticket prices in China remain stable all year-round and don't see price growth frequently. A seat (hard or soft) to Lhasa usually costs hundreds of yuan, while a sleeper (hard or soft) doesn't exceed 1,600 yuan.
Note: In high season (July to October), a train ticket into Lhasa can be so popular that it becomes tricky to book one by yourself through the official website of China Railways. Some travelers would turn to ticket agent for help by paying them a certain amount of service fee to nail down a ticket. This is the only situation where you can see the fluctuated price due to the popularity.
There are many discounted domestic flights into Tibet now, especially in March, April and winter season, when the early bird sales are offered by airlines and one airplane ticket can be cheaper than a train ticket. But the original prices of most flights are still much higher than a train ticket.
6. Easy Reach from Lhasa
As many cases in other countries or regions, train stations are usually built near the downtown and airports are at located in the suburb district or towns, which applies to Lhasa as well.
It is only 9 kilometers from the Lhasa Train Station to the downtown Lhasa. A twenty-minute taxi drive, at the cost of about 20 to 30 yuan can transfer you easily to the city. While from Lhasa Gonggar Airport to the city, it is 65 kilometers and needs about 1 hour and 10 minutes by airport shuttle bus or taxi.
1. Long Distance and Duration
Though as we proudly mentioned above that taking a Tibet train ride can be much of fun, in the meantime, the duration of most rides leading to Lhasa are very long, most of which excess 20 hours. It can be tedious without good preparation for on-board recreation. And it also results in occupying too much of your time. Hence, if your schedule is tight, the time-consuming train transport will not be a wise choice.
2. Emergency Service
As the trains run on fixed tracks, when passenger has emergent medical situation, it takes extra efforts to transport the sick to the closest roadways for hospitals. But there are also doctors ready for help on the train.
People who have certain diseases of higher level or pregnant women, infants or toddlers (who cannot express their feelings and needs yet) should be cautious about taking a train ride. Instead, they can opt for other modes of transport with greater flexibility.
3. Flexibility
Unlike train services in many European countries, in China, our train services don't have a train pass that allows you to disembark and embark anytime freely by paying only once. Therefore, for those who travel spontaneously, they would not be able to save budget if they want to have a hop-on, hop-off experience.
4. Less Clean Toilet
Tips: Compared to the restrooms in an airplane, toilets in a Tibet train can also be less decent because of the great volumes of users. If you travel by road, you can get to rest stop to answer the call of nature. Therefore, you may need to prepare toilet paper in case the on-board lavatory run out of it and doesn't replace it in time; and packing some wipers can also be wise.
