Qingzhang Railway
China, Beijing -> Tibet, Lhasa
First, there are few limited options to enter Tibet. You can try flying in, but there is no direct flight to Tibet, unless you stop by Chengdu Airport in China. You could try driving in from Nepal border or from one end of China, but considering Tibet being a large land you probably won't want to do that. Or unless you would like to spend several days just entering Tibet, Lhasa. Just about two years ago, in 2006, those seem to be the only options to enter Tibet.
But now that has been changed.
In July, 2006 China succeded in building the first offical railway that direclty enters Lhasa, Tibet from Beijing, China. What is amazing about this railway is not only because of its political significance between the two nation but also because of its technology. The 1956km Qingzang railway is the world's highest railway.
"Some 960 km of its tracks are located 4,000m above sea level and the highest point is 5,072m, at least 200m higher than the Peruvian railway in the Andes, which was formerly the worlds' most elevated track. [It is also] the world's longest plateau railroad, extending 1,956 km from Qinghai's provincial capital to Lhasa in Tibet. The newley completed Golmud-Lhasa section zigzags 1,142 km across the Kunlun and Tanggula mountain ranges."
http://www.tibettravel.org/tibettravel/html/200742517051-1.Html
If you calculate this properly... not only should you add 1,956 + 1,142, but also the distance from Beijing to Tanggula.. According to one of the official tour sites, the distance from Beijing west to Lhasa is about 4064 km. No wonder our travel guide told us that the trip will take about 48 hours. We were about to cross a great length with great altitude...
Beijing, West Train station
I had a train ride in Switzerland when I was young. My most recent train ride was in Egypt from Cairo to Aswan which was about 16 hours. Still, this one was going to be different. Not only is it about two full days (over 48 hours), but a sleeping car that has no shower. Hum, that did not sound that easy.
Most foreigners or those Chinese who can afford choose the sleeping carriage. In one carriage there are four people. Although this is 'made in China,' the overall quality was not that bad. Because it has been only about a year or so since it has been running regularly, the staff had kept its pace to keep the train environment clean and friendly. The large clean windows also makes us easy to watch outside as our train gradually enters the green land.
For instance, here is an example. Just looking at the clear blue sky along the green grass just made us smile and smile again.
The black dots you see are... yes. The trademark of Tibetan animal: the Yak. Ok. So though it looks green and warm outside. The fact that you see these Yak means that we are at least 3,000 meters above sea level. Because Yak only exist on upland hills, mountains, and plateaus between 3,200 m (10,500 ft) and roughly 5,400 m (18,000) ft. That means the air outside is quite colder than you think.
Another fun part you can't miss is the food. Because you take this train about two days, it is important to keep yourself well feed. There is a small cafeteria at the end of the carriage that provides Chinese food. Large amounts, good price, and quite tasty.
So I mentioned, how we were going up the hills and mountains. Well here is clear evidence! Because we are climing up 1,000 meters every moment, the plastic packaged crackers expanded rapidly. Really, we were afraid it was about to burst. Thank god, our lungs did not burst as fast as these plastic packages. And that was only on the way to Lhasa.
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