Should I Book the Soft Sleeper or Hard Sleeper?

Each train to Tibet consists of first-class sleeper (soft sleeper) carriages, second-class sleeper (hard sleeper) carriages, seat carriages, one dining carriage and one generator carriage. Along the railway, the broadcast on the train will introduce scenic spots and Tibetan custom in Chinese, Tibetan Language and English.

Why Soft Sleeper is Better than Hard Sleeper?

All the Tibet trains to Lhasa are specially built for the high altitude environment and equipped with advanced facilities, such as air-conditioning, supercharging system, oxygen supply, altitude display, etc. The train is also tightly sealed so as to firstly keep the inside air pressure normal and secondly prevent passengers from littering. Besides, all the carriages are installed with double-pane windows and ultraviolet filters to protect passengers from ultraviolet radiation. Nowadays, the train journey is extremely popular for its breathtakingly unique scenery along the railway from Golmud to Tibet.

Soft sleeper is more spacious than the hard one

In fact, there are three kinds of accommodations available on Golmud-Lhasa train: soft sleeper, hard sleeper, and hard seat, of which the most comfortable one is the soft sleeper. The soft sleeper consists of 4 bunks (75cm*190cm) and promises more privacy and comfort with a sliding lockable door, which is highly recommended.

While the hard sleeper is made up of 6 bunks (60cm*180cm) and the living space varies slightly. The lowest bunks enjoy the largest living space whereas the top bunks are cramped. The cabin of a hard sleeper has no independent door to close when tourists want to sleep. Hard seat is not recommended given the long ride and nothing is more important than having a sound sleep.

What Can I Do If Soft Sleeper Tickets Get Sold Out?

However, the Golmud-Lhasa train sometimes is not easy to book in summer, as the trains are always over booked from Shanghai, Guangzhou, and there is no enough vacancy for short distance Gulmod-Lhasa transfer. To secure your travel, we suggest two viable alternative plans:

Option1: Book the hard sleeper, or even seat ticket for the 14-hour Golmud-Lhasa Train. The hard seat ticket holder can try to find a seat in the dinning carriage.

Option2: Pay a little more to buy Xining-Lhasa train tickets but board the train at Golmud Railway Station. As the start pointing of Qinghai-Tibet Railway, it is easier to get train tickets from Xining than Golmud.

How to Book and Get Tibet Train Tickets?

International travelers can’t enter in Tibet as backpackers and need the help of travel agency to apply for Tibet Travel Permit in advance. You do not need the permit to book the tickets but you do need it to board the train.

1. How to Book Tibet Train Ticket?

Book train ticket with us ( highly recommended)
To individual tourists, the best solution is to contact a reliable travel agency and book the Golmud-Lhasa train ticket at least one month in advance. Tibet Vista can provide such timely tickets booking service, and also offer “Train Ticket + Tibet Tour” packages. Send a detailed booking inquiry to Tibet Vista

Book at 12306.cn or buy ticket at train station
Neither method is convenient for international travelers. The 12306.cn has no English version and the online payment is limited to Chinese bank card, Wechat Pay and Alipay. The staff in train station can’t speak English. For popular route such as Golmud to Lhasa train, during the peak season and even the off season of Tibet tourism, it is difficult for foreign tourists to book train tickets.

2. How to Get the Tibet Train Ticket?

In China, you need the paper train tickets to get into your train. If you book train tickets with us, you have two ways to get your paper tickets:
1. We deliver the paper tickets to your hotel or address in China (Recommended)
2. Collect them at the railway station

If you choose the delivery service, it is advisable to inform us 4 business days before departure. If you choose to collect them at the railway station, make sure to bring the confirmation number of train tickets, your Tibet Travel Permit as well as your valid and original passport. The confirmation number will be sent to you along with related train information once the tickets are confirmed, present it and the mentioned documents to the staff behind ticket windows to get paper tickets for free.

Golmud Railway Station operates 24/7, but usually there are only a few ticket windows available after 11 p.m. Considering the long queues in front of the ticket window and the language barrier, it is advisable to arrive at the train station at least 2 hours before departure if you collect tickets on the same day.

Notice: Tibet Travel Permit is needed for collecting the Tibet train ticket. We will help you get the Tibet permit in advance.

3. How to Read the Train Ticket

Here are some useful phrases you may need to read the Z165 Golmud-Lhasa train ticket:

格尔木站：Golmud Railway Station
拉萨站: Lhasa Railway Station
xx年xx月xx日: xx Year xx Month xx Date
xx车xx号: xx Carriage xx Berth
上/ 中/ 下铺：Upper/ Middle/ Lower Berth

Information Guide on Golmud to Lhasa Train Ticket

How to Board the Train?

Below are the steps to board a train in China:

Step1: Fill in the Health History Form
Before boarding the train, tourists are expected to fill out an health history form. If one has illness such as hypertension, stroke, chronic respiratory problem, and other cardiovascular disease, he or she shall no board the train for one’s health concern.

Step2: Pass Security Check
After your arriving at the right railway station, line up for the security check to enter into waiting hall: present your passport, Tibet Travel Permit and train ticket to the staff, put all your luggage such backpacks, carry-on bags on the security scanner conveyor belt, and walk through a detector gate and wait for staff to use a scanner on you to check forbidden articles.

Notice: Tourists should put your luggage to the X-Ray scanner and things like gun, poison, explosive, and chemical substance, etc are strictly forbidden. Just follow the instruction of staff of railway station.

Step3: Find the Waiting Room
Once enter into the waiting hall of Golmud Railway Station, you can find an LED screen showing Train Number (车次), Terminal (终到站), Departing Time (开点) and Waiting Room (候车室). Get your waiting room information and wait for check-in there. The train number is well marked in the correct waiting room.

Step4: Board the Train
Usually check-in starts 15-30 minutes before departure and barriers close 5 minutes before departure. After check-in, you can find Led screen hang on the way to the train telling your platform (站台) and direction of your carriage (车厢). Follow the instruction and the staff waiting at the carriage gate will check your ticket again to make sure you board the right carriage of the right train.

Step5: Find Your Berth
After getting on the train, you can find your berth according to your ticket. Put your baggage on the rack overhead or under the lower berth. Your sleeper ticket will be exchanged for a plastic berth card by staff shortly after boarding. Staff will return your ticket and get back the berth card about half an hour before arriving at your destination.

FAQs:

Q1. Is it necessary to carry Tibet Travel Permit all the time?
Make sure you have your passport, Tibet Travel Permit and ticket with you as you could be checked many times during the long journey. It is also advisable to have many copies of Tibet Travel Permit.

Q2. Is it possible to swap ticket with other people to stay with friends or family in the same cabin?
Yes. It is acceptable. You may ask conductor to swap tickets with other passengers to stay with your family or friends. Do remember your cabin and seat No.

Q3. Is It Safe on the Tibet Train?
Having a ride on Qinghai-Tibet train is relatively safe as each compartment is independent and its door will automatically be closed at night. One is forbidden to enter the compartment without ticket. Of course, nowhere is safer than the compartments of soft sleeper. The cabin of soft sleeper can accommodate 4 travellers and there is a door to shut, which is the perfect choice for a family. Besides, the surveillance cameras and 24-hours police patrol make it even safer on the train.

Life Onboard

In order to ensure that the trains run on the high plateau safely, and that passengers travel on-board comfortably, Golmud to Lhasa Train is well-designed taking into account the conditions faced: high elevation, low temperature, lack of oxygen, harsh climate, etc. In a word, the trains to Tibet are pressurized like aircraft and are the best in China.

1. Food and Drinks

Before the departure from Golmud Railway Station, do bring enough food. It could be snacks, fruit and instant noodles wrapped in bowls. Sharing snack with roommates is the easiest way to break the silence. 

Tourists can order some traditional Chinese home-made dishes

You can get 3 meals and drinks from the dining carriage located in the middle of the train. Usually only Chinese food such as noodles, dishes and soups is available and it costs about 20 CNY/meal and accepts cash payment, Wechat payment and Alipay.

The trolleys loaded with food are served in each compartment sporadically and tourists can buy from the staff of train. Besides, tourists can get free boiled water from hot water dispenser near the sinks.

2. Facilities on the Train

Toilets: The soft sleeper carriage has one western-style toilet and one squat style toilet, while hard sleeper carriage only has two squat style toilets. Toilets are located at the end of each carriage, adjacent to the washbasin, dustbin and hot water dispenser. The toilets will be locked when the train stops. Avoid to use them when the train is about to stop for arriving at a station. The red sign on the toilet door means the toilet is occupied while the green sign means not occupied. Next small but important thing is to have enough tissue or toilet paper. Because it is used fast and one won’t find any replacement if it runs out.

Washbasin: Usually only cold water is available. Tourists need to bring their own towel, wet paper tissue and toilet articles.

Dustbin: There is a big dustbin at the end of the carriage. And you can find small dustbin in each compartment and metal plate on the table along the aisle. A cleaner will sweep the floor and collect luggage from the compartment from time to time. All the waste will be disposed by train staff when arrive at stops along the way.

Hot water dispenser: There are free boiled water all the time. Bring your own water flask and get water when the light on the dispenser turns green.

FAQs:

Q1. Where to recharge your mobile phones and electronic devices?
The power plug for chargers are located in the corridors OR under your table in the cabin with the 4 soft sleepers (in between the 2 lower bunks).

Q2. Can tourists have shower in the train?
Unfortunately, there is no shower room in the train. Do bring some wet wipes in stores and a small towel. And small but equally important thing is to bring enough toilet/tissue paper.

3. Altitude Change of Golmud to Lhasa Train

Golmud to Lhasa Railway stretches 1,142 km and the entire railway line is built over 4,500m. From Golmud (2,928 km), the trains begin to climb up steeply to over 4,000 meters within 100km and reach the highest point at Tanggula Pass (5,072m), triggering physical discomforts such as headache, dizziness and other altitude sickness symptoms. After Tanggula Pass, the altitude descend gradually, and reach Lhasa at 3,650m.

This graph gives you a rough idea of how altitude changes along Golmud-Lhasa railway line.

4. Oxygen Supply and Altitude Sickness

Sometimes called “mountain sickness”, altitude sickness is a group of symptoms that can strike if you walk or climb to a higher altitude too quickly. Characterized by symptoms such as headache, dizziness, fatigue, nausea, altitude sickness is the biggest concern for travelling to Tibet.

Air-conditioning alone is not sufficient to make a cozy environment on the train to Tibet. The oxygen supply is the key element to ensure passengers' comfort and safety. There are two oxygen-supply systems on each train. One is used for increasing the oxygen level in the train, by temperature and air pressure controlling systems, when the train enters into the plateau zone. The other is directly used by passengers through an independent port. There are oxygen supply tubes and masks in each cabin for emergencies. Private oxygen masks are provided to every passenger, whatever ticket they have. In sleeping berth cars, you can find outlets on the wall beside the windows, while in seat cars, you can find outlets under your seat.

An illustration of how to use oxygen outlet on Qinghai-Tibet train

As the train ascends to Golmud, the oxygen is automatically pumped into the train and tourists can also manually use the oxygen outlet to minimize altitude sickness symptoms such as headache, dizziness, fatigue,nausea,etc. It is advisable to bring altitude sickness medicines to ease the discomfort.

You can drink lots of water, eat light food and take a good rest to prevent high altitude sickness. It is advisable to consult the doctor for altitude sickness medicines weeks pior to the trip.

FAQs:

Q1. How to Get Help on the Train?
Some of the staff on the train speak English and they are easy-approaching and hospitable to foreign tourists. If one runs into any trouble, you may ask the head of conductor for help. Most of the passengers may have symptoms of altitude sickness (such as headache, fatigue, difficult sleeping, lack of appetite, etc.) as the train reaches Qinghai-Tibet plateau. Now, you may switch on the oxygen outlet to inhale oxygen to ease the discomfort. If the symptom gets worse, you may find the conductor for help and the doctor on the train will come and give you timely treatment.

Q2. How can we minimize the effect of altitude sickness?
The effect of altitude sickness on passengers varies. Yet, to minimize or ease the impact of altitude sickness, one may prepare some altitude sickness tablets before boarding the train and take some when the train climbs to plateau. There is no need to worry too much the altitude sickness, the train is built with oxygen supply system which is easy to use.

Q3. Is smoking allowed in the cabin?
Smoking is strictly forbidden in the train as the train is tightly sealed and pressurized and oxygen is pumped into the carriage when the train ascends to extreme altitude.It would be devastating if the train caught fire.

5. Views along Golmud-Lhasa Railway

The essence of scenery along Qinghai-Tibet Railway lies between Golmud-Lhasa section and you will be amazed at the breathtaking landscape of Qinghai-Tibet plateau such as boundless grassland, vast snow mountains and turquoise lakes.

Covering an area of over 400 square kilometers, Cuona Lake is known as the highest fresh water lake in the world.

Chumaer River would become red in summer due to its unique climate and terrain.

Yuzhu Peak, also named Sob Gangri Peak, is snow-capped all year long.

How to Get to the Train Stations?

Golmud Railway Station

The Golmud Railway Station is located about 814 km from Xining, the starting point of Qinghai-Tibet Railway, and about 1,142 km from Lhasa. All trains to Lhasa stop over at Golmud Railway Station for about 20 minutes and start to supply oxygen from this station.

Golmud Railway Station

Name: Golmud Railway Station (or Geermu Railway Station)
Address: No. 39 of Yingbin Road, Golmud
Telephone: 86-(0979)7222222
Ticket Booking Hotline: 12306
Distance from downtown: appro. 5 km
Distance from Airport: appro. 17 km
Bus to There: No. 1, 2, 5

From Downtown to Golmud Railway Station

Taxi: The taxi fee is calculated by meter and you can ask the driver for a paper invoice when getting off.

Bus: There are 3 buses arriving at Golmud Railway Station with Bus No. 1, 2, and 5.

From Geermu Airport to Golmud Railway Station

Golmud Airport operates flights to and from Xining and Xian. Landing at Golmud, you can take taxi or bus to Geermu Railway Station.

Taxi: It only takes around 32min to travel from Golmud Airport to Golmud Railway Station by taxi.

Bus: Tourism Line 7 -> Bus No. 2
There is no airport express or bus from Geermu Airport to railway station. The closest bus station (Junhang Station) is 3.3km from airport:
->Take Tourism Line 7 at Junhang Station and get off at Shiqu Station
->Transfer to Bus No. 2 and get off at Huochezhan Station (Golmud Railway Station). The above ride takes around 2 hours but it is inconvenient.

Lhasa Railway Station

Lhasa Railway Station is the terminal of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway and serves as the central hub and biggest train station in Tibet for its huge transport capacity. Situated in Liuwu New Area of southwest Lhasa at an altitude of 3,641 meters, it is only 8 kilometers to downtown Lhasa, 20 kilometers to southwest of the Potala Palace.

When you arrive in Lhasa by train, our guide will greet you and bring you to start your once-in-a-lifetime trip to explore the mysterious Tibet - the roof of the world.

Lhasa Railway Station

If you are planing your trip to Lhasa from Golmud by train or have any question about the traveling to Tibet by train, please feel free to contact us for consultation. We are ready to help you out.