Qinghai-Tibet Railway
The Qinghai-Tibet Railway extends 1,956 kilometers from Xining, Qinghai Province to Lhasa, Tibet and is the world's longest railroad built atop a plateau. Construction started on June 29th, 2001 and opened to traffic on July 1st, 2006. The Golmud-Lhasa section extends 1,142 kilometers with the highest elevation being some 5,072 meters above sea level at Tanggula Range making it also the highest railway in the world. Upon its completion, the maximum train speed is designed to reach 100 kilometers per hour in the frozen earth areas and 120 kilometers per hour on non-frozen earth. Construction of the Golmud-Lhasa section of the landmark railway commenced on June 29, 2001 and test runs are set for July 2006.
As the Tibet Railway traverse three ranges and many rivers and lakes, the sceneries along the Railway to Tibet are marvelous and majestic. 45 railway stations offer visitors picturesque sceneries among which nine sightseeing stations have sightseeing platforms. Some of the famous charming sights along the line are Qinghai Lake and Bird Island, Kunlun and Tanggula mountain ranges, Kekexili, Tuotuo Rivers, Yangpachen, and Potala Palace etc. Not only rivers, lakes, grasslands and forests, but also Jokul can be admired along the line.
People have always wanted to go to Tibet – not just because it is a fascinating destination in itself, but part of its appeal lies in the fact that it’s difficult to get there.
You can choose to fly into Tibet and many airlines now have direct flights from Beijing to Lhasa, Chengdu to Lhasa, Guangzhou to Lhasa, Shanghai to Lhasa, Kunming to Lhasa, Shangri-la to Lhasa, Xi'an to Lhasa.
And the Chinese government has begun to build another airport near the Indian border – at 14,000 feet it will be one of the world’s highest. Ngari Airport will open to traffic in 2011. All the runways, terminals, staff apartments and public facilities were completed by the end of 2008. A trial operation is expected on July 1 next year and operation open officially in 2011.
However, Tibet train to Lhasa from various cities in China recently became a lot easier when in July 2006 the first rail service between Lhasa and the outside world was opened. The railway line – a masterpiece of engineering – stretches around 2,500 miles between Lhasa and China’s capital city Beijing and the journey time is around 48 hours.
The Qinghai-Tibet Railway extends 1,956 kilometers from Xining, Qinghai Province to Lhasa, Tibet and is the world's longest railroad built atop a plateau. Construction started on June 29th, 2001 and opened to traffic on July 1st, 2006. The Golmud-Lhasa section extends 1,142 kilometers with the highest elevation being some 5,072 meters above sea level at Tanggula Range making it also the highest railway in the world. Upon its completion, the maximum train speed is designed to reach 100 kilometers per hour in the frozen earth areas and 120 kilometers per hour on non-frozen earth. Construction of the Golmud-Lhasa section of the landmark railway commenced on June 29, 2001 and test runs are set for July 2006.
As the Tibet Railway traverse three ranges and many rivers and lakes, the sceneries along the Railway to Tibet are marvelous and majestic. 45 railway stations offer visitors picturesque sceneries among which nine sightseeing stations have sightseeing platforms. Some of the famous charming sights along the line are Qinghai Lake and Bird Island, Kunlun and Tanggula mountain ranges, Kekexili, Tuotuo Rivers, Yangpachen, and Potala Palace etc. Not only rivers, lakes, grasslands and forests, but also Jokul can be admired along the line.
People have always wanted to go to Tibet – not just because it is a fascinating destination in itself, but part of its appeal lies in the fact that it’s difficult to get there.
You can choose to fly into Tibet and many airlines now have direct flights from Beijing to Lhasa, Chengdu to Lhasa, Guangzhou to Lhasa, Shanghai to Lhasa, Kunming to Lhasa, Shangri-la to Lhasa, Xi'an to Lhasa.
And the Chinese government has begun to build another airport near the Indian border – at 14,000 feet it will be one of the world’s highest. Ngari Airport will open to traffic in 2011. All the runways, terminals, staff apartments and public facilities were completed by the end of 2008. A trial operation is expected on July 1 next year and operation open officially in 2011.
However, Tibet train to Lhasa from various cities in China recently became a lot easier when in July 2006 the first rail service between Lhasa and the outside world was opened. The railway line – a masterpiece of engineering – stretches around 2,500 miles between Lhasa and China’s capital city Beijing and the journey time is around 48 hours.
The line runs through mountain passes of up to 16,000 feet high and large parts of the terrain traversed by the line are frozen all year round. The highest station on the line is at Nagqu at an altitude of around 15,000 feet on the Tibetan plateau.
To increase the comfort of passengers, the cars have oxygen supplies for the thin air and filters in the windows protect against UV rays. A state of the art high-tech cooling system helps to keep the rails frozen. Hopefully, all this is quite safe – although a man has died on board the train! Of course he had heart problems and was traveling against medical advice...
Despite the rail link, Tibet still isn’t the easiest place to travel to. You need various permits from local travel agencies in Tibet, and you will almost certainly have a problem with altitude sickness. Here's something on health of Altitude Mountain Sickness.
To increase the comfort of passengers, the cars have oxygen supplies for the thin air and filters in the windows protect against UV rays. A state of the art high-tech cooling system helps to keep the rails frozen. Hopefully, all this is quite safe – although a man has died on board the train! Of course he had heart problems and was traveling against medical advice...
Despite the rail link, Tibet still isn’t the easiest place to travel to. You need various permits from local travel agencies in Tibet, and you will almost certainly have a problem with altitude sickness. Here's something on health of Altitude Mountain Sickness.
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