Money
Bank of China (Main Office) (中国银行, Zhōngguó Yínháng GOOGLE MAP ; Linkuo Xilu; h9am-1pm & 3:30-6:30pm Mon-Fri, 10:30am-4pm Sat & Sun) West of the Potala, this is the only place to arrange a credit-card advance (3% commission) or a bank transfer. The ATMs outside the building are open 24 hours.
Bank of China (Branch) (中国银行, Zhōngguó Yínháng GOOGLE MAP ; Beijing Donglu; h24hr) The most conveniently located branch is fully automated, with a currency-exchange machine that's converts cash currencies much more quickly than the main bank branch. Bring your cleanest notes, as the machine can be fussy. ATMs dispense cash 24 hours a day. It’s just west of the Banak Shol Hotel.
Bank of China (Branch) ( GOOGLE MAP ; Duosenge Lu; h9:30am-5:30pm Mon-Fri, 10:30am-4pm Sat & Sun) If you actually need to talk to a human to change money, this bank branch is the closest to the Tibetan old town.
Post
China Post (中国邮政, Zhōngguó Yóuzhèng MAP GOOGLE MAP ; 33 Beijing Donglu; h9am-6pm) Counter number three sells stamps and packaging for parcels. Express Mail Service (EMS) is also here. Leave parcels unsealed until you get here, as staff will want to check the contents for customs clearance. Postcards are sold at the counter to the right.
Telephone
China Mobile (中国移动通信, Zhōngguó Yídòng Tōngxìn GOOGLE MAP ; Beijing Donglu; h9am-6pm Mon-Sat) This is the best place to get a local SIM card for your mobile phone. Choose from data, calls or a mixture of both. It's a fairly complicated procedure and you'll likely need a local ID card, so go with your guide. Expect to pay around ¥100 for a month of data.
Tourist Information
Norbulingka Ticket Office ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ) The place to buy your tickets for the Norbulingka.
Tibet Tourism BureauTOURIST INFORMATION
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0891-683 4315; http://en.xzta.gov.cn; 3 Linkuo Xilu, Lhasa)
This government organisation issues the permits needed by foreigners to travel to Tibet. There's little reason to visit the office, though the website has some useful tourist information.
Visas
Lhasa City PSB (PSB, 拉萨市公安局, Lāsà Shì Gōng’ānjú GOOGLE MAP ; %0891-624 8154; 17 Linkuo Beilu; h9am-12:30pm & 3:30-6pm Mon-Fri) Visa extensions of up to a week are very rarely given; if they are they will only be granted a day or two before your visa expires and only through your tour agency.
Nepalese Consulate-General (尼泊尔领事馆, Níbó’ěr Lǐngshìguǎn MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0891-681 5744; www.nepalembassy.org.cn; 13 Luobulingka Beilu; h10am-noon Mon-Fri) Issues visas in 24 hours. The current fee for a 15-/30-/90-day visa is ¥175/280/700. Bring a visa photo. Chinese tourists have to get their visas here and these are currently free; foreigners will find it easier to obtain visas on the spot at the Nepalese border.
PERMITS
Lhasa is currently the only part of Tibet that doesn’t require you to hire pricey transport. The only time you will be asked for your Tibet Tourism Bureau (TTB) permit is when you check into a hotel, which your guide will help you with. No other permits are required for the city or surroundings.
At the time of research you had to visit the main monasteries of Drepung, Sera and Ganden and Jokhang Temple and Potala Palace in the company of your guide, but other parts of the city were fine to explore by yourself.
8Getting There & Away
While there are a number of ways to get to Lhasa, the most popular routes are by air from Chéngdū (in Sìchuān), by train from Xīníng, and overland or by air from Kathmandu.
Air
Flying out of Lhasa is considerably easier than flying in. No permits are necessary – just turn up at the Civil Aviation Authority of China office and buy a ticket. In August and around national holidays, you’d be wise to book your ticket at least a week in advance. At other times you'll generally get a 30% discount off the full fare.
To book a ticket you'll need to complete a form, get a reservation and then pay the cashier (cash only). Sample full fares include ¥1680 to Chéngdū, ¥3260 to Běijīng (only some flights are direct) and ¥1900 to Xīníng.
Air China
China Southern
Sichuan Airlines (四川航空, Sìchuān Hángkōng MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0891-6828222; www.scal.com.cn; 41 Beijing Zhonglu)
Tibet Airlines
Bus & Minibus
To & From China
The popularity of the train has pushed the sleeper buses into irrelevancy, especially for foreigners, as they are not allowed to take these services. There are still daily sleeper services to Golmud (20 hours), Xīníng (2½ days) and even Chéngdū (three days and four nights, via Golmud), but most people take the train if they can get tickets.
Around Tibet
At the time of research foreigners were not allowed to take bus services around Tibet and had to arrange their own transport. In case this changes, the following public transport operates.
Buses to popular pilgrim destinations leave early in the morning from the corner of Duosenge and Yuthok roads. Buses leave between 6:30am and 7:30am for Ganden Monastery (¥50), Tsurphu Monastery (¥60) and Drak Yerpa (¥30). Buses depart when full, so expect lots of hanging around.
At the time of research the main Western Bus Station wasn’t selling bus tickets to foreigners. In case this changes, there are hourly services to Shigatse, Tsetang and Nagchu (Nǎqū), plus a daily service to Gyantse and long-distance services to Chamdo, Markham, Zhōngdiān, Golmud and Xīníng. Private cars also run from here for about double the cheapest bus fare per seat.
The Eastern Bus Station has frequent minibuses to Lhundrub (Línzhōu) and Medro Gongkar (Mòzhú Gōngkǎ), from outside the main station, plus daily buses to Drigung Til and Reting Monastery.
Lhasa’s Northern Bus Station has sleeper buses to Ali (60 hours) in western Tibet, as well as buses to Zhangmu, Yadong, Markham, Zhōngdiān and Shigatse.
Train
It’s possible to ride the rails up onto the Tibetan plateau to Lhasa, and even beyond to Shigatse. There are daily trains to/from Běijīng, Xī’ān, Shànghǎi and Guǎngzhōu and four daily to/from Xī’níng or Lánzhōu, and every other day to/from Chéngdū and Chóngqìng. Most trains from Lhasa depart between 8am and 2pm, while all trains to Lhasa arrive in the evening. The train station is 4km southwest of town.
A new daily train service to Shigatse started in late 2014. Fares for the three-hour trip cost around ¥41 for a hard seat or ¥120/176 for a hard/soft sleeper. Train Z8801 departs Lhasa at 8.30am, returning from Shigatse at 6.40pm.Train Z8803 departs Lhasa at 3.20pm, returning from Shigatse at 12.05pm. If your tour agency can secure tickets you may be able to add Shigatse onto a Lhasa trip without having to fork out for pricey vehicle hire.
You can buy train tickets up to two months in advance at the Lhasa train station ticket office or the more centrally located city ticket office (火车票代售处, Huǒchēpiào Dàishòuchù MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Beijing Donglu; commission ¥5; h8am-5:30pm). You'll need your passport. Note that it’s generally much easier to get tickets from Lhasa than to Lhasa.
A taxi to/from the train station costs around ¥30.
8Getting Around
For those travellers based in the Tibetan quarter of Lhasa, most of the major inner-city sights are within fairly easy walking distance. For sights such as the Norbulingka over in the west of town, it’s better to jump in a taxi.
To & From the Airport
Modern Gongkar airport is 66km from Lhasa, via the new expressway and Gālá Shān tunnel.
Airport buses ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0891-682 7727; Niangre Beilu) leave up to 10 times a day (¥30, 1¼ hours) between 7:30am and 1pm from beside the CAAC building and are timed to meet flights. From the airport, buses wait for flights outside the terminal building. Some agencies will let their tourists travel by airport bus as long as they buy a return ticket for the guide. Buy tickets on the bus.
A taxi to the airport costs ¥200.
Bicycle
Bicycles are a reasonably good way to get around L
hasa once you have acclimatised to the altitude. Traffic has become surprisingly busy in recent years, so take care.
Bike Hostel rents mountain bikes for ¥25 per day with a ¥600 deposit and is a meeting place for long-distance Chinese cyclists.
Bicycle theft is a problem in Lhasa, so be sure to park your bike in designated areas. A lock and chain are essential.
Bus
Buses (¥1) are frequent on Beijing Donglu, and if you need to get up to western Lhasa this is the cheapest way to do it. That said, route maps are in Chinese only, so if you aren't with your guide it's easiest to just take an inexpensive taxi.
Pedicab
There is no shortage of pedicabs plying the streets of Lhasa, but they require endless haggling and are only really useful for short trips (around ¥5). At least most are Tibetan-owned. Always fix the price before getting in.
Public Transport
At the time of research, foreigners were not allowed to travel on public transport out of Lhasa, with the possible exception of buses to the airport.
Taxi
Taxis charge a standard fare of ¥10 for the first 3km (then ¥2 per subsequent kilometre), resulting in a ¥10 ride within the city centre.
THE WORLD’S HIGHEST TRAIN RIDE
There’s no doubt the Qīnghǎi–Tibet train line is an engineering marvel. Topping out at 5072m, it is the world’s highest railway, snatching the title from a Peruvian line. The statistics speak for themselves: 86% of the line is above 4000m, and half the track lies on permafrost, requiring a cooling system of pipes driven into the ground to keep it frozen year-round to avoid a rail-buckling summer thaw. Construction of the line involved building 160km of bridges and elevated track, seven tunnels (including the world’s highest) and 24 hyperbaric chambers, the latter to treat altitude-sick workers.
Aside from environmental concerns, Tibetans are deeply worried about the cultural and political impact of the train. The trains unload thousands of Chinese tourists and immigrants into Lhasa every day, and connecting China’s rail network to the only province in China lacking a rail link has forged Tibet and China together. A similar thing happened with the 1999 railway line to Kashgar in Xīnjiāng.
The authorities stress the economic benefits of the line: highly subsidised, it has decreased transport costs for imports by up to 75%. But Tibetans remain economically marginalised. More than 90% of the 100,000 workers employed to build the line came from other provinces and few, if any, Tibetan staff members work on the trains. The US$4.1 billion cost of building the line is greater than the amount Běijīng has spent on hospitals and schools in Tibet over the past 50 years.
As ambitious as the current line is, connecting Lhasa with the rest of China was only the beginning. An extension to Shigatse opened in 2014, and plans are in place to expand the network south to the Nepal border, and east to Tsetang, Nyingtri and Sìchuān province beyond.
Around Lhasa
Drepung Monastery འབྲས་སྤུང་ 哲蚌寺
Drepung MonasteryBUDDHIST MONASTERY
(འབྲས་སྤུང་, 哲蚌寺, Zhébàng Sì GOOGLE MAP ; admission ¥60; h9:30am-5:30pm, smaller chapels close at 3pm)
Along with Sera and Ganden Monasteries, Drepung functioned as one of the three 'pillars of the Tibetan state', and it was purportedly the largest monastery in the world, with around 7000 resident monks at its peak. Drepung means 'rice heap', a reference to the white buildings dotting the hillside. The 1½-hour kora (pilgrim circuit) around the 15th-century monastery, 8km west of Lhasa, is among the highlights of a trip to the city.
The kings of Tsang and the Mongols savaged the place regularly, though, oddly, the Red Guards pretty much left it alone during the Cultural Revolution. With concerted rebuilding, Drepung once again resembles a monastic village and around 600 monks reside here. At lunchtime you can see the novices bringing in buckets of tsampa (roasted-barley flour) and yak-butter tea. In the afternoons you can often see Tibetan-style religious debating (lots of hand slapping and gesticulating). The best way to visit the monastery is to follow the pilgrim groups or the yellow signs.
Nearby Nechung Monastery, a 10-minute walk downhill, was once the home of the Tibetan state oracle and is worth a visit for its blood-curdling murals.
Bus 25 (¥1) runs from Beijing Donglu to the foot of the Drepung hill, from where minivans (¥2) run up to the monastery. Most tourists take a taxi from the Barkhor area for around ¥40. There is a ¥10 to ¥20 charge per chapel for photography.
Monastery Restaurant ( GOOGLE MAP ; mains ¥7-12; h10am-3pm) near the bus stop serves reviving sweet tea by the glass or thermos (¥7), as well as bowls of shemdre (meat and curried potatoes) and vegetable momos (dumplings).
Ganden Monastery དགའ་ལྡན་ 甘丹寺
Elev 4300m
Just 50km northeast of Lhasa, Ganden Monastery (དགའ་ལྡན་; 甘丹寺; Gāndān Sì GOOGLE MAP ; ¥50; hdawn-dusk) was the first Gelugpa monastery and has been the main seat of this major Buddhist order ever since. If you only have time for one monastery excursion outside Lhasa, Ganden is the best choice. With its stupendous views of the surrounding Kyi-chu Valley and its fascinating kora (pilgrim circuit), Ganden makes for an experience unlike those at the other major Gelugpa monasteries in the Lhasa area.
Ganden means ‘joyous’ in Tibetan and is the name of the Western Paradise (also known as Tushita) that is home to Jampa, the Future Buddha. There is a certain irony in this because, of all the great monasteries of Tibet, Ganden suffered most at the hands of the Red Guards, possibly because of its political influence.
Ganden is also the start of the popular wilderness trek to Samye Monastery.
The Ganden Kora ( GOOGLE MAP ) is simply stunning and should not be missed. There are superb views over the braided Kyi-chu Valley along the way and there are usually large numbers of pilgrims and monks offering prayers, rubbing holy rocks and prostrating themselves along the path. There are two parts to the walk: the high kora and the low kora. The high kora climbs Angkor Ri south of Ganden and then drops down the ridge to join up with the low kora.
4Sleeping & Eating
Tourists are generally not allowed to stay overnight at Ganden, but there is a guesthouse here, so check with your tour agency.
The simple Monastery Guesthouse ( GOOGLE MAP ; dm ¥20-45, d without bathroom ¥200) at Ganden was once used by trekkers headed to Samye, but it currently doesn't accept foreigners. If this changes, the better-quality double rooms are above the well-stocked monastery shop just up from the car park.
The monastery restaurant ( GOOGLE MAP ; dishes ¥10-20) has thugpa (Tibetan noodles) and some fried-vegetable dishes. Head for the nicer upper-storey hall.
8Getting There & Away
Pilgrim buses run to a stop at Ganden in the early morning from a block west of Barkhor Sq, but tourists are currently not allowed to take them. The road from Lhasa follows a new highway east, from which a paved road switchbacks the steep final 12km to the monastery.
On the way back to Lhasa, pilgrims traditionally stop for a visit at Sanga Monastery, set at the foot of the ruined Dagtse Dzong (or Dechen Dzong; dzong means fort).
A 4WD for a day trip to Ganden currently costs around ¥500.
Sera Monastery སེ་ར་དགོན་པ་ 色拉寺
Sera MonasteryBUDDHIST MONASTERY
(སེ་ར་དགོན་པ་, 色拉寺, Sèlā Sì GOOGLE MAP ; admission ¥50; h9am-5pm; g22, 23)
About 5km north of Lhasa, Sera was founded in 1419 by a disciple of Tsongkhapa as one of Lhasa's two great Gelugpa monasteries. About 600 monks are now in residence, down from an original population of around 5000. The half-dozen main colleges feature spectacular prayer halls and chapels. Equally interesting is the monk debating that takes place from 3pm to 5pm in a garden near the assembly hall. Don't miss the fine, hour-long kora (pilgrim circuit) around the exterior of the monastery.
Chapels start to close at 3pm, so it makes sense to see the monastery chapels before
heading to the debating.
From Sera Monastery it's possible to take a taxi northwest for a couple of kilometres to little-visited Pabonka Monastery. Built in the 7th century by King Songtsen Gampo, this is one of the most ancient Buddhist sites in the Lhasa region.
The simple Monastery Restaurant ( GOOGLE MAP ; dishes ¥3-8; h10am-3pm) serves up cheap noodles and thermoses of sweet, milky tea in its back garden.
Sera is only a half-hour bicycle ride from the Barkhor area of Lhasa, or take bus 20 from Beijing Donglu, or bus 25 or minibus 2 from Niangre Lu, to a stop at the monastery. A taxi (¥20) is the easiest option.
Ü དབུས་
Ü (དབུས་) is Tibet’s heartland and has almost all the landscapes you’ll find across the plateau, from sand dunes and meandering rivers to soaring peaks and juniper forests. Due to its proximity to Lhasa, Ü is the first taste of rural Tibet that most visitors experience, and you can get off the beaten track surprisingly quickly here. Fine walking opportunities abound, from day hikes and monastery koras (pilgrim circuits) to overnight treks.
Ü is the traditional power centre of Tibet, and home to its oldest buildings and most historic monasteries. The big sights, such as Samye, are unmissable, but consider also heading to lesser-visited places such as the Drak and Ön Valleys, or to smaller monasteries like Dranang and Gongkar Chöde. Make it to these hidden gems and you’ll feel as though you have Tibet all to yourself.
Yarlung Tsangpo Valley ཡར་ཀླུང་གཙང་པོའི་གཞུང་ 雅鲁流域
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