Shanghai Lhasa Train - Route, Schedule, Fares, Permit, Ticket Booking 2024

1. No matter you choose Shanghai to Lhasa route or Lhasa to Shanghai route, Shanghai is an ideal city for both international arrival and departure because there are many international flights and cruises connecting the global world.

2. There is a daily train guaranteed for both Shanghai to Lhasa route or Lhasa to Shanghai route. You don’t have to wait another day.

3. If you travel Shanghai with Tibet by train, you will have a wonderful contrast experience – modernity and spiritual land.

The Shanghai Lhasa Train has to run as far as 4373km (2,717 miles) from eastern China to far western China, through 8 provinces, and lifts up more than 5000 meters from lower-altitude Shanghai (0m) to Tanggula Mountains (5068m). It takes about 48 hours to travel between Shanghai and Lhasa by train.

▷ How to Travel from Shanghai to Tibet

Taking the train route from Shanghai to Lhasa or from Lhasa to Shanghai? Actually both are great ideas. According to our customer history, the amount of travelers who took the train route from Shanghai to Lhasa is larger than the amount of travelers who took trains from Lhasa to Shanghai. From the point of landscape sightseeing, Shanghai to Lhasa train journey will be more scenic because the most beautiful section of Qinghai Tibet Railway – Golmud to Lhasa can be enjoyed in the daytime. It is helpful to acclimatize the altitude as the train runs from the lower plain to the high plateau. If you want to end your Tibet trip with a leisure and fast air transfer, you can then take a train to Tibet first.

There are also two good reasons to take the opposite route (Lhasa to Shanghai): 1) it is much easier to obtain a train ticket from Lhasa to Shanghai; 2) passengers can enjoy the beautiful scenery in Qinghai Province, such as Hoh Xil and Qinghai Lake.

- Check Out What Beautiful Attractions You Will See along the Qinghai Tibet Railway Trip from Shanghai >

During the train journey more than 47 hours between Shanghai and Lhasa, there are 11 midway train stations along the train journey for passengers to get on and get off the train, including Suzhou, Wuxi, Nanjing, Bangbu, Xuzhou, Zhengzhou, Xian, Lanzhou, Xining, Golmud, Ngachu. For the passengers who take the whole train journey, you can use the stopping time to stretch your legs, breath some fresh airs and get some supplies of food and drinks.

Nanjing

The Shanghai Lhasa train usually take a stop around 6~9 minutes at Nanjing Railway Station. Nanjing used to be the Capital City of Six Dynasties in China’s history and has brilliant cultural heritage. It is only about 2 hours train ride from Shanghai, and famous for Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum, Confucius Temple, Qinhuai River, Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, etc.

Zhengzhou

The capital city of Henan Province – Zhengzhou is an ancient city which has a history over 3000 years. It is located near the Yellow River. The most popular place in Zhengzhou is the world famous – Shaolin Temple. The train will stop at Zhengzhou for 7~8 minutes.

Xian

After 15 hours’ train trip, you will get to the most magnificent ancient capital city in China – Xian. Though you can’t get off the train to visit the world famous heritage site Terracotta Warriors which is about an hour’s driving from Xian downtown, you can still feel the historical atmosphere in this great ancient city. The train usually stops for 10 minutes at Xian Railway Station.

Lanzhou

Lanzhou is the city of Yellow River. The Shanghai Lhasa train will stop for 15 minutes at Xining Railway Station. You can use the stopping time to stretch your legs and get food supply if necessary. Lanzhou Hand-pulled Noodle is the most famous snack there. The city Lanzhou is also the transportation hub of northwestern China.

Xining

Xining is the starting point of Qinghai Tibet Railway. Currently all the China Tibet trains have to pass by Xining and go to the “sky road”. The city is famous for Qinghai Lake, one of the most beautiful lakes in China. You can see the edge of the lake clearly if you take the train from Lhasa to Shanghai. While for the train from Shanghai to Lhasa, passengers can’t see the lake because it is the night time when the train passing by Qinghai Lake.

Golmud

The train usually stops for 25 minutes in Golmud Railway Station. If you take train from Beijing to Lhasa, it will be around 10pm when the train gets to Golmud. If you set out from Lhasa, you will get to Golmud in the early morning around 7am when is good time to see the Tibetan antelopes.

Nagchu

Ngachu is a vast prefecture in Tibet with an average altitude of 4500 meters. It is the most important Livestock region in Tibet. The fresh air here will impress you strongly. The train Z164 from Shanghai to Lhasa will stop 18 minutes here.

A Tibet Travel Permit (Tibet Entry Permit) is the MUST-DOCUMENT to take a train to Lhasa from Shanghai. Travelers need the Tibet Travel Permit to book the train ticket and board the train in Shanghai Railway Station. The photocopy of Tibet Travel Permit is also available if you don’t have the original permit in your hands. (The original permit is required if you take the trains from Chongqing, Xian and Lanzhou to Lhasa) Please remember to dumplicate at least 3 copies of Tibet Travel Permit because the permits are required for many occasions. When you checking in at railway station, the office man may take one of your Tibet Travel Permit copy away. The permit can only be issued in Tibet by the Tibet Tourism Bureau, and also can be only applied by travel agency behalf of travelers. It needs about 15~20 days to obtain the permit.

How to Apply for Tibet Travel Permit

1. Contact a us to work out and confirm an itinerary in Tibet;

2. Send us the scanned copies of your passport, and provide an available address in China(hotel or local agency) to receive your permit;

3. We apply for the Tibet Travel Permit from Tibet Tourism Bureau in Lhasa;

4. Once the permit is issued, we will send the original permit to you by post.

> Learn more detail about Tibet Travel Permit Application

There are two ways to book the Train Tickets – book on your own or contact a travel agency to book for you. If you are already in Beijing or other cities in China, you can go to any of railway station to book the train tickets. Original passport and photocopy of Tibet Travel Permit (Tibet Entry Permit) is required. You can ask the conductor to provide your preferred sleepers (upper or lower) if they are available. You can also provide us your passport information, and we will book the train tickets for you online.

Some useful tips to increase the chance of successful ticket booking

1. Contact us to apply for the Tibet Travel Permit as soon as possible. Then try to book the ticket about 30 days in adance;

2. If you fail to obtain a ticket for Shanghai to Lhasa Train, you can change a starting station, such as Chengdu, Beijing, Lanzhou and Xining. These cities also offer bigger chance to get a train ticket.

Distance: about 4373km

Duration: about 47hrs 10mins

Taking a train travel from Shanghai to Lhasa or from Lhasa to Shanghai, one has to spend nearly 2 full days on the train. Don’t want to spend such long time? Here are some good plans to shorten the Shanghai Lhasa train travel:

Shanghai – Beijing – Lhasa

Compared with Shanghai Lhasa train route, the Beijing Lhasa route takes only about 40 hours to finish. So you can firstly take a high speed train (about 5 hours), or take a flight (about 2.5 hours) to Beijing, then take the train Z21 to Lhasa.

Shanghai – Xian – Lhasa

It takes only about 31 hours to get to Lhasa from Xian by train. So you can board the train Z164 (from Shanghai) or Z264 (from Guangzhou) to go to Lhasa. But you firstly get to Xian first. Currently you can take both trains and flights to Xian from Shanghai. The high speed bullet trains take about 6~7 hours to reach Xian while the flights need about 2.5 hours to get to Xian.

Shanghai – Xining – Lhasa

Want the shortest train ride to Lhasa? The best way is to fly to Xining, the starting city of Qinghai Tibet Railway, then take a train to Lhasa. It takes only about 3.5 hours to fly to Xining Caojiabao Airport from Shanghai Pudong International Airport. In Xining, you can spend one or two days acclimatizing the high plateau altitude so that you want take a big risk of suffering from high altitude sickness. Since every train to Lhasa will make middle stop at Xining, so you will have a much flexible choice of trains for different hours.