Tours Tips | Tibet Tours

Tibet to build two more national parks

After the Yarlung Zangbo Great Canyon National Park was opened in Nyingchi on December 6, Tibet plans to construct two more national parks, Namco Lake National Park and Mt. Qomolangma National Park, and to develop Tibet further into a “key world tourist destination”.

The Yarlung Zangbo Great Canyon National Park, the first one of its kind in Tibet, which was unveiled in Nyingchi Prefecture, brought the concept and model of the national park into Tibetans’ acquaintance.

“Endowed with enchanting natural scenery, unique culture and custom, Tibet is one of the regions full of high-quality tourist resources in the world,” said Wang Songping, deputy director and spokesman of the Tourism Bureau of TAR.

As of the national park construction plan, Wang said that Tibet will construct three world-level tourist sites in the region, namely, Yarlung Zangbo Great Canyon-the biggest canyon in the world, Namco Lake, the highest saltwater lake in the world and Mt. Qomolangma, the world’s highest peak, into three national parks.

Besides, Wang also stated that public tourist service was due to be advocated and provided in the development of 4A-level and above natural tourist sites, stressing on the harmonious co-existence of ecological environment, social and financial benefits.

According to the plan, the to-be-built Mt. Qomolangma National Park will encompass Dinggye, Tingri, Nylam, Gyirong County and other regions in Shigatse Prefecture, while the planned Namco National Park will cover Damxung County of Lhasa, Bangoin County of Nagqu Prefecture,etc.

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Tips for Tibet Tour

1. You need to make sure your travel agent is legal or illegal before you book the trip. Your travel agent should be reliable.

2. Tibet tour comes in a package, such as tour guide, transportation, accommodation, various permits, sightseeing and it’s entry fees for monastery and spots. We operate tours in Tibet group size 1 to 100 persons. 4, 8, 8, 12, 16, 20 are good numbers of group size to make a good deal.

3. a) If you are traveling to Tibet China side, you need to issue your Chinese visa at your country and send us your visa copy and passport copy rest of the job for entry and travel permits we will do it.

b) If you are traveling to Tibet from Nepal then do not apply Chinese visa. You just send us your minimum 6 months valid clear scan passport copy to start all the permits process once you are in Nepal then you need to fill up one visa form with passport size photo on it and need to handover your original passport to us then we will do the rest of visa work.

For more details please contact us.

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Mystical Tibet Tour – 8 days

On this tour, you visit the well known cultural capitals of Tibet Lhasa, Gyantse, Shigatse and Tsethang. You explore the ancient Yarlung Valley, the birthplace of Tibetan civilization. In Lhasa, amidst the vibrant and friendly atmosphere, you visit old palaces and temples, ancient monastries which are important sites of Tibetan Buddhism.You travel to the other important Tibetan cities of Gyantse, Shigatse and Tsethang. Imposing fortresses and citadels of the old Yarlung Kings will give you a glimpse of the Yarlung dynasty’s glorious past. As you head away to Tsethang, you get to capture awesome sight of Gangpo Ri, a mountain revered by the Tibetans. This tour holds a treasure trove of cultural delights.

Outline Itinerary :

Day 01: Arrive Lhasa

Day 02: Samye

Day 03: Tsedang to Gyantse

Day 04: Gyangtse to Shigatse

Day 05: Shigatse to Lhasa

Day 06: Lhasa- Visit Potala Palace, Drepung Monastery

Day 07: Lhasa- Visit Norbulinka, JokhangTemple, Barkhor Market

Day 08: Lhasa to Chengdu/Beijing

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Tibet Tranportation

Transport by Land:
The main highways to Tibet are the Chengdu-Lhasa,2,330 kilometers long; the Xining-Golmud-Lhasa, 1,907 kilometers long. The average elevation of theis highway is above 4,000 meters, running through the mountains of Kunlun and Tanggula;the Yecheng-Burang, 1,455 kilometers. This highway is the highest highway in the world, passing through five mountains above 5,000 meters high. The highest mountain is 6,035 meters above sea level; the Xiaguan- Markam,800 kilmetrs long; Lhasa-Zhamud Friendship Bridge-Kathmandu, 900 kilometers. Every day, two buses shuttle between germu and Lhasa. They start from germu at eight in the morning and arrive in Lhasa the next afternoon. The detailed information is listed as followings :

Road Condition:
1. Type vary from jeep,microbus to middlebus and autobus, most vechiles used for travel are imported from Japan. All the vechiles have no air-condition and arranged according to the route and the number of the group.

2. The road-condition, distance, period of course and vechile arrangement :

Airport – Lhasa : 100Km / 2 hours / bituminous macadam with flat surface / fit for all motor vechile.
Lhasa – Gyantse : 270Km / 5.5 hours / macadam road around the moutain / fit for all motor vechile.
Gyantse – Shigatse : 90Km / 1.5 hours / macadam road around the moutain / fit for all motor vechile.
Shigatse – Lhasa(new road) : 300 Km / 5.5 hours / bituminous macadam / fit for all motor vechile.
Shigatse – Zhangmu : 490Km / 15 hours / macadam road around the moutain / only fit for jeep and middlebus. Tingri – Mt. Everest : 100Km / 3 hours / macadam road around the moutain / only fit for jeep.
Lhasa – Tsedang : 220Km / 3 hours / bituminous macadam / fit for all motor vechile.
Lhasa – Nyingchi : 430Km / 10 hours / bitminous macadam road around the moutain / fit for all motor vechile.
Lhasa – Yanjing : 1500Km / uncertainly / macadam road around the moutain / only fit for jeep.
Lhasa – Golmud : 1900Km / 48 hours / bitminous macadam / fit for all motor vechile.
Lhasa – Shiquanhe : 1800Km / uncertainly / macadam road around the moutain / only fit for jeep

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The Mystique of Tibet

TIBET is manifest proof of the smallness of human beings. The Himalayan landscapes are so vast, so bereft of any inhabitants except the odd nomad, that here it is the land that has shaped the people instead of the other way around. When Tibetans die, they do not build tombs; they leave the corpse for the vultures to devour. Occasionally the Government makes an effort to tame the plateau, to show who is boss, by carving a road through the emptiness, but nature gets its revenge by bogging down vehicles in snow or mud.

It is from the roof of the Potala Palace, where the Dalai Lama as a boy rigged a telescope to study ordinary people as they strolled among the yaks on the streets below, that Tibet is at its most magnificent. As Tibetan pilgrims shuffle by, turning prayer wheels and mumbling chants before disappearing into little chapels to light yak-butter candles, the mysticism and beauty of the land are simply overpowering.

Tibet inspired the notion of Shangri-La, and it retains a remoteness and exotic quality now rare elsewhere in the world. The Tibetan pilgrims who prostrate themselves in the dust have nothing but their faith, but they count themselves as very rich indeed — for they have been able to make the holy journey to Lhasa. The pilgrims clutch prayer wheels as they walk clockwise around the Jokhang Temple, according to ritual.

In recent years, to be sure, Tibet has been an unhappy sort of Shangri-La. It had links over the centuries with the Chinese empire, and in 1950 the newly installed Communist Chinese Government used those relations to justify sending its army to “liberate” Tibet, which it claimed was part of China. These days there is a Tibetan Government in exile, but the United States and other Western governments recognize Chinese sovereignty over Tibet — while urging Beijing to halt the torture and repression there.

In the mid-1980’s there seemed to be some hope for a compromise between the exiled Dalai Lama and the Beijing authorities, but then pro-independence demonstrations erupted in September 1987 and were bloodily suppressed. Tensions rose, and the unrest culminated in clashes in March 1989 that left at least a dozen dead and led to the expulsion of all tourists and the imposition of martial law. China lifted martial law in May 1990, and since then the region has been largely quiet. As a result, the Chinese Government is again encouraging Western tourists — so long as they come in organized groups and do not encourage Tibetan separatists.

The groups are escorted to a limited number of places where tourists are welcome. Last year, 10,375 foreigners visited Tibet, including 1,441 from the United States. Tibetan tourism officials say they expect 13,000 visitors this year, including about 1,400 from the United States. In general, there seems little risk for Westerners, partly because most Tibetans regard them as allies.

Tibet can be reached from Nepal — there are two flights a week — but most tourists arrive on the daily China Southwest Airlines flights from Chengdu, China. In my case I went as a journalist rather than as a tourist, but my itinerary was similar to what a tourist might see. I spent a week there, and it seems foolish to stay less than that.

Lhasa is 11,830 feet high, and most visitors feel some shortness of breath at first. In Andean cities like Cuzco, Peru, foreigners often deal with similar altitudes by drinking coca tea, which contains a raw ingredient that goes into cocaine. In Tibet, there is no such exotic remedy, but the Lhasa Holiday Inn — by far the best hotel in Lhasa, and the place where most foreigners stay — does offer an oxygen hose in each room to assist those with breathing difficulties. Occasionally a new arrival has to fly out by the first available plane to a lower altitude.

Tibet is not a place of luxury, but the hotels and food are adequate. Most hotel restaurants serve principally Chinese and Western food, with a certain Tibetan influence: yak burgers, for example, at the Holiday Inn. Guides vary enormously, from local Tibetans who are one with the land to Chinese who have only lived in Tibet for a short period.

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Tibet to promote balanced development

In the next five years (12th five year plan period), China’s Tibet Autonomous Region will acceleratethe construction of high school level educational resources, especially vocational education, targeting to proportion the ratio of general and vocational high school students to 4:6, to ensure a harmonious development of general and vocational education.

According to Tibet’s mid and long-term plan for talent resource development (2010-2020), the regional talent structure and industrial distribution has not yet reached a reasonable balance, in severe shortage of practical manpower in hygiene, agriculture and animal husbandry, together with a big gap in application and development talents in the regional economic and social development.

By far, statistics shows that Tibet has only 357 vocational students out of every thousand students, which proves vocational education remains the “short board” for the region’s to-be-balanced talent development.

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Travel agencies to open new routes between Tibet, Nepal

Travel agencies in Tibet have been preparing to open new travel routes between Lhasa and the Nepali capital of Kathmandu, according to the Tibet Autonomous Regional Tourism Bureau.

Meanwhile, the Gyirong Port of Entry in southern Tibet, a newly-opened port for the trade between China and Nepal, is set to open to tourists next year, according to Tibet’s Ancient Tea and Horse Route Travel Agency.

Tourists from Austria take a tour in Ngari Prefecture, southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, on June 5, 2009. Travel agencies in Tibet have been preparing to open new travel routes between Lhasa and the Nepali capital of Kathmandu, according to the Tibet Autonomous Regional Tourism Bureau.

Gyirong Town, boasting dense forests and beautiful sceneries, enjoys the reputation of the “backyard garden of Mount Qomolangma” and is considered the “oriental mini-Switzerland.”

The travel agency will offer a six-day trip for tourists to enjoy the grand scenery of the Himalayas, i.e., a route from Mount. Qomolangma, to Gyirong and then to Zham Town, a major border town between Tibet and Nepal.

At the same time, the agency will also explore a trekking trail from Nepal’s Mustang to Lake Manasarovar in Tibet in line with the agreement signed by Tibet’s Tourism Bureau and Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) last week.

Travel agencies in the region will also open more routes from Lhasa to Kathmandu via Zham Town.

The 3rd Joint Coordination Committee Meeting for the Promotion of the tourism between Nepal and Tibet was held in Kathmandu on Nov. 9.

At the meeting the two sides agreed to cooperate in airlines and rafting, as well as in opening new hiking routes.

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Vehicles at Discover Tibet Tour

According to the road conditions of Tibet, we normally provide the following vehicles:

The new 4WD car of our company:MITSUBISHI Pajero

It is bought in 2006, have been driven to Ngari for several times and did not meet any problem.

Toyota Landcruiser 4500 is a kind of leading four-wheel- drive car in Tibet. Since most of the exurban roads are unpaved, Toyota 4500 is very popular in Tibet. Most of our guests would like to take Landcruiser 4500 as their preferential choice, especially for the guests who would like to travel to Mt. Everest or Mt.Kailash.

It is luxury both inside and outside and much more comfortable and safer than other vehicles when you drive on the rough roads.

If you just travel in Lhasa, Shigatse, Tsedang, Nyingchi area, you can just take Toyota mini bus, Jinbei, it will be no problem according to the paved road conditions.

It is not luxury, but economical and safe.

If there are more than 10 persons in your group, you can consider that if you can the tour bus with A/C.

It is clean and comfortable.

Recently years, the road conditions in Tibet are better and better, especially in the cities and betweent the big cities. and Most of the famous sightseeing places have asphaltum-paved road, such as Lhasa area, Tseang prefecture, Nyingchi town, Gyangtse town, the second largest city of Tibet-Shigatse, Nacku, Chamdo etc. And also the road between Lhasa and Shigatse, Lhasa and Nyingchi, Tsedang, etc. In those places you even don’t mind what kind of vehile, you will feel it is no matter at all the vehicles to those places.

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Letter from our travellers

1.Dear Mellissa and Jack

On behalf of the entire group I would like to thank you for arranging such an incredible trip. We billed is at the trip of a lifetime and you certainly delivered. Your after sales care was first class and when we did have any concerns you pulled out all the stops to make sure we were fully satisfied and for that we must thank you once again.
I have enclosed a few photos of our visit to the “real” EBC, and as you can see we were blessed with a beautiful morning.

I would have absolutely no hessitation in recommending you to fellow travellers and hope to use you again in the near future.

Several of us are planning reviews on Trip Advisor and we will be sure to mention China Yak and will advise you, as and when we post those reviews.

Once again thank you for your attention to detail.

Kind Regards

Adrian.

2.China Yak – Qinghai trip
Our trip went wonderfully well.

Their guide and driver were impressive – the guide (Darry) had good English, friendly, responsive. The driver (Gong Bao), well, he was more than driver – he was a ‘wildlife spotter’ (pointing out the many wild animals along the way) and as a keen photographer himself, stopped patiently for various shots. Both had great sense of humour and it was never a boring journey on our 1-week a trip in Qinghai, which included a 5-day overland journey from Xining to Zato.

Also, the company had no problem getting us soft-sleeper train berths for Xining-Lhasa. We also impressed by the guide/operations staff, James, who met us upon arrival at the airport to tranfers us to the train station. Our original guide, Darry, was still on his way back to Xining from Yushu by road while we flew back. We had expected James, an operations staff, who was assigned to us fr the few hours as guide, would be indifferent since it is overtime work for him. We were really surprised he was enthusiastic and showed no sign of reluctance in his extra duty. He made sure we went to a non-touristy restaurant far from the train station and we all had a good meal together.

Angela
(Source from http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1978785)

3.I highly recommend China Yak Travel Agency in Chengdu. They did a great job for us. While other agencies said they couldn’t get the soft sleeper seats, China Yak did get them for us. They also were highly responsive when we wanted to make changes. When my wife left her computer charger cord in a Lhasa hotel, China Yak forwarded it on to us at no charge til it caught up with us later in SW China.

Happy Travels, Bill
(Source from http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1806371)

4.Hi,Chinayak

We are back now. I just wanted to write to say thanks for arranging the trip and ensuring everything went as smooth as possible. We had a fantastic time and are now keen to go back in the future to explore more of Tibet and then go to Nepal.
Here is a link to some of my picture from my trip. The bottom row of galleries are from Tibet. If you are interested in using any for your website, please let me know.

http://homepage.mac.com/imagetechphoto/china2007/

Thanks again, and hope to book another trip through you soon,

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Tibet passes law to protect wetlands

The 19th Plenary Session of the 9th Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of Tibet Autonomous Region, the regional legislative body, has recently passed the “Ordinance on the Protection of Wetlands in Tibet” which will come into force on March 1st, 2011. The ordinance, consisting of 29 articles in all, prescribes that forestry bureaus above the county level should set up files for wetland protection based on regular surveys. Also county-level authorities should make wetland protection plans and take measures to improve retrogressive wetlands, such as providing water, prohibiting overgrazing, returning farmland to forests and closing in for nurturing, etc. Under regulations, nature reserves are required to be built around breeding spots, habitat or stopover for waterfowls under state or regional protection, living areas for rare and endangered wildlife, and wetlands of particular ecological value or important scientific research value. Any people involved in draining water from wetlands, reclaiming wetlands, releasing poisonous and harmful substances, dumping solid wastes, gleaning or destroying birds’ eggs, will be punished as they are also banned according to the ordinance. The ordinance calls on people to increase the awareness of environmental protection and encourages departments concerned or individuals to participate in wetland protection. Wetland, forest and ocean are known as three main ecosystems on the earth. China joined the Convention on International Wetland early in 1992 in order to protect wetland resources.

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