Qinghai-Tibet Highway (Xining-Golmud-Lhasa)

Qinghai-Tibet Highway is by far the shortest and the safest highway with best road conditions into Tibet, comparing to other highways.

• Qinghai Tibet Highway

Starting from Xining, capital of Qinghai Province, the Qinghai-Tibet Highway stretches a 1947 km (about 1210 miles) into Tibet with an average elevation of above 4,000 meters. Winding along the Kunlun Mountain, Tanggula Mountain, Tuotuo River, and vast grassland, the Qinghai-Tibet Highway amazes travelers with its appealing landscape along the plateau.

However, TibetDiscovery.com would not recommend you to travel to Tibet via Qinghai-Tibet Highway as the terrain is desolate and traffic accidents are frequently occurred. You may have a better time on the train to Lhasa.

If you have decided to enter or leave Tibet via Qinghai-Tibet Highway, please remember that the road condition might not be as good as you think. And you'd better to make careful preparation before departure.

• Take enough clothes, medicines for high altitude sickness, and enough food, as food along these roads is often bland and sometimes unavailable.
• To avoid mountain sickness, do not undertake too many activities. If you are traveling with your own car, take sufficient gas and make sure that your car is in good mechanical condition.

Best Time to Go

The best time for tourists to go is from May to September when the typical climate of plateau lands along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway. The rapes bloom vigorously in from July to August, making the place a "Tibetan Yangtze Delta in spring". Rainfall may ruin the travel a little.

Qinghai-Tibet Highway Route

Lhasa - 78 km - Yangbajain - 75 km - Damxung - 164 km - Nagqu - 138 km - Amdo - 89 km - Tanggula Mountain - 100 km - Yanshiping - 91 km - Tuotuo Riverside - 150 km - Wudaoliang - 269 km - Golmud - 484 km - Caka - 196 km - Daotang River - 123 km - Xining

Map of Qinghai-Tibet Highway

• Map of Qinghai-Tibet Highway - the Safest Highway to Tibet

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