Hongkong Tibet Train Tour

Frequently Asked Questions about Hong Kong Tibet Train Tour

1. How to travel from Hong Kong to Tibet by train?

At present, there are no direct trains running from Hong Kong to Lhasa, the provincial capital of Tibet. Therefore, tourists need to first board a train or flight to other gateway cities in mainland China from Hong Kong and then taking the Tibet train to Lhasa.

One good idea is to first take a high speed train to Guangzhou, which is closely near to Hong Kong. There are more than 30 high speed trains bound to Guangzhou from Hong Kong every day. The train departs from early morning to late evening from Hong Kong West Kowloon and takes about 1 hour to reach Guangzhou South Railway Station. Then from Guangzhou, you can move to take the daily train from Guangzhou to Lhasa. The Tibet train from Guangzhou to Lhasa runs for about 52 hours in total.

Also, you can also choose to first take a flight to Chengdu from Hong Kong, and then board the Tibet train to Lhasa. In this way, you can shorten the whole train journey from Hong Kong to Tibet, as the train from Chengdu to Tibet only runs around 36 hours.

2. When is the best time to travel to Hong Kong and Tibet?

Hong Kong is in fact a city which can be visited throughout the year, as the climate there is mild most of the time. However, summer as the rainy season will see occasional typhoons, with hot and humid climate, and winter seasons are always cool and dry. So the best time to visit Hong Kong is usually in spring and autumn seasons.

Tibet, on the other side, shows distinct climate change due to its unique geographic position and high elevation. Generally, the best time to travel to Tibet is from April to June and September to November. During the spring when the ice begins to melt and the weather warms up, tourists can travel outside Lhasa, enjoy an excursion to Lake Namtso and Nyingchi etc. Summer is the time when debris flows and floods occur frequently, and it is not so suitable for visiting mountainous regions in Tibet.

If you want to trek to Everest Base Camp, the best time should be the autumn season, when the weather is warm and the sky is mostly clear. Tibet in winter could go through extremely coldness, with temperature dropping to a few dozen degrees below zero, in some areas. While travelling to Tibet in winter is possible, as there are relatively warmer regions like Lhasa city during this time.

3. How to book the train ticket from Hong Kong to Lhasa?

For tourists taking a train journey to Tibet from Hong Kong, you need to buy separate train tickets for the two sections of the whole route. If you choose to take a transfer in Guangzhou city, for example, you need to book the train ticket from Hong Kong to Guangzhou and the Tibet train ticket from Guangzhou to Lhasa.

The train tickets in China can be bought online or at the railway station. Normally, the train tickets will be released for booking 30 days earlier before its departure date. For booking the Tibet train ticket, however, foreigners need to obtain a Tibet Travel Permit first. Since Guangzhou to Lhasa train is one of the most popular train routes to Tibet, it is strongly advised to book the ticket as early as possible.

As the pioneer in Tibet tourism, we can offer professional service on Tibet train ticket booking. Just book your Hong Kong Tibet train tour with us, then you will be free from the troubles of getting Tibet train ticket and Tibet Travel Permit. Please feel free to contact us for more details.

4. What to eat onboard Tibet train?

Passengers planning to travel to Lhasa from Hong Kong by train do not need to worry about the dining on board, as there are a few choices to enjoy your three meals on the train. The Tibet train is provided with a dining car, which offers typical Chinese food and Tibetan food of different freshly-cooked dishes. Passengers can make an order in the dining car at meal time.

Or if you do not want to bother to walk to the dining car, you can wait for the train staff who will push a small trolley filled with boxed-meals and other instant food to each carriage. The price of the food serving on the Tibet train is always much higher than the market price, so you can also prepare your own food before boarding.

Besides, when the train stops at each railway station in the midway, passengers can also get off the train temporally to buy some local food sold on the platform by local peddlers. But remember to get back onboard in time before the train restarts to run again.

5. How to avoid altitude sickness onboard Tibet train?

Whether you choose the shorter or longer train ride from Hong Kong to Lhasa, depending on your time schedule, you will finally experience the part of Qinghai-Tibet Railway from Xining to Lhasa, and go through the sharp altitude change along the rail line. But the issue of altitude sickness is not so horrible, as the Tibet train is specially designed and is provided with two kinds of oxygen supply systems onboard.

One is the main system which will spread oxygen to the whole carriage after the train passes the Golmud station. The whole train will have a higher oxygen content to reduce the risk of suffering from altitude sickness for passengers. And the other is the oxygen port equipped for each passenger to use when they have some slight symptoms of altitude sickness.

Besides, you are advised to drink more water and have enough sleep when taking the Tibet train. Keep yourself warm and try to avoid catching a cold, as this could increase the risk of suffering from altitude sickness. Taking some medicine against altitude sickness in advance will also be helpful.