Buy Train Tickets in Lhasa – $1 only

Cost: 5 yuan service charge, 0-2 yuan bus fare

You could buy your tickets at Lhasa Railway Station which is in fact not in Lhasa. It’s not only far away from Lhasa, but also far from the train station bus stop. You need to walk at least 1km from the bus stop to the railway station building itself after strict security checks.

So the best place to buy train tickets once you are in Lhasa is at No. 19 De Ji Zhong Lu.

Bus No. 2/3/7/8/13/24/25 all have a stop nearby. The bus fare is 1 yuan per person per way.

Most tourists can use No.8 or No.7 bus on Beijing Road to reach the ticket office.

Ce Men Lin bus stop on Beijing Road.

Train Trip to Lhasa

It’s quite easy to get a hard-sleeper ticket to Lhasa at Xining West Railway Station. I asked for a middle berth, the train station staff sold me a more expensive lower berth ticket which sucks. Why? Because cigarette smoke and carbon dioxide are heavier than oxygen, I felt short of oxygen while sleeping in the lower berth.

The train does allow passengers to smoke and a lot of people happily practice their such rights. Only during the section between Golmud and Lhasa, passengers are not allowed to smoke although some still do.

The train has squash toilets. Users are supposed to press the green button to flush the toilet. Some passengers may not be aware of it and water is not always available, so the toilets can be messy at times. Also, don’t forget to bring your own toilet paper.

Train attendants sell Chinese magazines on board. A Tibetan man failed to find any magazine that’s printed in Tibetan language. He was simply told, “Nowadays, everybody studies Mandarin.” No apology, no sympathy.





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