Traced back to late 1950s, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway project started in the western ancient city of Xining, eastern Qinghai Province of China. It stretched to Gormud, western Qinghai. The 846-kilometer-long railway line has been commenced to service in May 1984. As the limited technology in mid-twentieth century and the tough natural conditions on over 3,000 meters’ high altitude, this project was difficult to complete and it took a long time. In the past two decades, the railway line on the Roof of the World has much helped the transferring of cargos and taking travelers to visit and see the magnificent scenery of wild life, snow mountains and crystal-clear rivers. The Xining-to-Gormud section, i.e. the First Phrase of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway project, has also been a train route for uniting different ethnic groups in east and west regions of China. 

This old Qinghai-Tibet Railway line is already below the nowadays’ cargo and travel demands. It needs a brand new railway to accommodate the fast development in northern and western China. China decided to extend and renew tremendously the existing line to Lhasa, the regional capital of Tibet. The new Qinghai-Tibet Railway project began in 2001 and completed in 2006. 

The new passenger Qinghai-Tibet Railway line, also known as the Heavenly Way, is a stretching 1,956 kilometers long from Xining to Lhasa, the highest altitude railway in the world. It travels through the land of tundra soil, high altitude of over 4,000 meters above sea level, extreme low temperatures, low oxygen and weak ecology. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway is vital for easy traffic between Tibet and its neighboring provinces and autonomous regions. After the opening the rail line in 2006, about 75 percent of cargos entering Tibet are by the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. It changed the situation in the past that transferring cargo to the Roof of the World had been long, tedious and sometimes dangerous tasks. 

To help to train passengers to deal with altitude sickness during their trip to the Tibetan Plateau, there is oxygen supply for each passenger in the train. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway trip takes about 12 hours from Gormud to Lhasa and the travel speed of the train will not lower than 120 kilometers per hour. 

The highest railway tunnel in tundra in the world, the Fenghuoshan Mountain Tunnel (风火山隧道), is located at 4,905 meters above sea level with 1,338 meters long. Very hard place indeed that the annually average temperature is minus seven degrees Celsius and the lowest in winter may drop to below –40 degrees Celsius. The Kunlun Mountain Tunnel is another high altitude tunnel along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. It is 4,648 meters above sea level and it will even have snowfall in summertime! 

Tanggula Train Station (唐古拉车站) is obviously the highest elevation train station in the world, 5,068 meters above sea level. Care had been taken to protect the tundra during construction of the train station, i.e., paved stone pieces with maintaining good ventilation of the soil. Tanggula Train Station is one of the best attractions along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. 

The Grand Bridge of Clear Water River (清水河特大桥, Qing Shui He Te Da Qiao) is in the area of Hohxil no man’s land, located at more than 4,500 meters above sea level. The bridge is like a rainbow (11.7 kilometers in total length) across the beautiful land. Clear Water River Area has very distinctive seasons in a year, the highest temperature will reach 38 degrees Celsius and down to minus 40 in winter. The great temperature difference makes drastic change in structure on the tundra there. In hot summer, the ice portions will be melted and become streams and rivers, melting will also occur down to 20 to 30 meters underground. When winter comes, the rapid forming of ice will appear like sphere surfaces on the ground. Therefore, the construction of the Grand Bridge of Clear Water River had to consider many problems, including environmental protection, and thus to solve them scientifically. 

Rough map of stations in Qinghai-Tibet Railway

Sanchahe River Bridge (三岔河大桥) is near to Kunlun Mountain. The Memorial Tablet for Completion of the Bridge and the bridge itself stretch about 700 meters long, and the bridge to the bottom of the river valley is about 54 meters. Sanchahe River is on the plateau of about 3,800 meters above sea level. It cuts the mountain into two halves. 

Stand by the side of the Yangtze River Origin Memorial Stele and see Tuotuo River (沱沱河), you may also take notice of bridge supports afar that standing in the river, which is flowing smoothly and quietly. This is the Bridge in the Headstream of the Yangtze River, which crosses the 1,300 meters wide Tuotuo River. It is located in the warmer tundra area, where some of the cold ice will be melted when warmer weather comes. 

Now there are at least seven train routes in Mainland China, i.e., Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, Lanzhou, Xining, Chengdu and Chongqing to Lhasa. You will feel free to travel Tibet in anytime provided weather is permitted.

Train. The Tibetan Railway (青藏铁路, Qing Zang Tie Lu) is entirely opened to service, the best plateau train with oxygen masks provided. The advantage of Tibet tour by train is so obvious, because travelers can gradually cope the altitude as the train climbs up and enjoy the unique natural sceneries that cannot be seen if travel by plane. It just takes 12 from Gormud to Lhasa. So the train travels at daylight, then you can see the source of the Yangtze River – Tuotuojiang River, Tanggula Mountain Gap at 4718 meters above sea level, Tibetan antelopes pass through the Qingshuihe River Bridge and mysterious no man’s land. 

Road. There are Qingzang (Tibetan), Yunnan-Tibetan, Sichuan-Tibetan, Xinjiang-Tibetan and China-Nepal Highways to Tibet; landslides often block and Sichuan-Tibetan Highway at the rain season. There is no bus route on Xinjiang-Tibetan Highway. So China-Nepal Highway is the only way provided for travelers from outside China to enter Tibet. 

The section of Gormud in western Qinghai Province to Lhasa of the Tibetan Highway covers a length of 1164 kilometers. The road condition is the best among the five highways and covers about 80% of cargos as well as the first choice for backpackers entering Tibet in China. It passes through the Tanggula Mountain Gap at 5,231 meters above the sea level and it takes about 24 to 36 hours to reach Lhasa, due to the long journey so breaking tires and bad weather are often experienced, it is not ensured to reach the destination on time. Also the cabin environment is not very good because it often two people to take a narrow seat with length 1.7m and width 1m and having to endure altitude sickness and the smell of feet, so it is strongly advised that passenger to take seat just beside the windows which gives you chance to enjoy the scenery outside. There are few WC system on the journey so that you can just to do it in the no man’s land as the locals! 

Urban Traffic. Lhasa is the regional capital of Tibet. Taxis in the city have no fare meters, but commonly you spend 10 RMB Yuan per trip except for remote area such as Zhefeng Temple may cost you 18 Yuan. The starting fare for a rickshaw ride is 3 Yuan per trip and minibus and bus are the main public traffic means in downtown Lhasa.