# Trains on Himalayas,Qinghai-Tibet railway offers luxury travel to "Roof of the World"



## davidwei01 (Dec 19, 2005)

THIS IS A TRAVEL FORUM, NO POLITICAL TALKS PLEASE (just tired of that)
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The Qinghai-Tibet railway, finished in 2005, is a railway which connects Xining, Qinghai Province, to Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, in the People's Republic of China. This railway is the first to connect China proper with Tibet Autonomous Region, which due to its altitude and terrain is the last province-level entity in mainland China with no railways.

The line includes the Tanggula Mountain Pass, which at *5,072 meters * (16,640 feet) above sea level is the world's highest rail track. The line will also include the 3,345-metre Yangbajing No. 1 tunnel, which is 4,264 metres above sea level and located 80 kilometres NW of the regional capital, Lhasa.

More than 960 km, or over 80% of the railway, is built at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters, and over half of it is laid on permafrost.


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## davidwei01 (Dec 19, 2005)

*Tibet railway offers luxury travel to "Roof of the World" * 

www.chinaview.cn 2006-02-25 10:03:26 


LHASA, Feb. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- Traveling overland through snow-capped mountains and high-land meadows to visit mysterious Tibetan Buddhist shrines on the world's highest plateau will soon no longer require the grit and resolve of an adventurous backpacker. 

This July the first train of the new Qinghai-Tibet railway will whisk passengers from Beijing to Lhasa in 48 scenery-filled hours. 

Tourists venturing to the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region from China's national capital can now get there by land in the lap of luxury. Special tourist trains will feature hotel-like services and special viewing cars for the journey to the 'roof of the world'. 

Railway officials say they've tried to think of everything to allure the suit-case traveler who might previously eschewed the arduous travel required to get to the world's 'third pole'. 

Huang Difu, who is in charge of the Qinghai-Tibet railway construction project says, "The trains will offer suites and hotel-like services. There will oxygen bars to help travelers adjust to the higher altitude," 

The completion of the new rail line, which snakes through rugged mountain regions and a flower-filled idyllic countryside, has been a source of great national pride. 

The railway is hoping its trains will also make visiting the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau another of China 'golden' tourist routes. 

It is expected to bring many new tourist dollars to Tibet and other provinces. Research by experts with the Academy of Social Sciences in Tibet and the Institute of Industrial Economy under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences say that the new overland route could bring fundamental changes to Tibet's tourism. 

Tibet is working with the neighboring provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan to jointly explore how to bring more visitors to the region. Developers are expected to invest some 50 billion yuan (6.25 billion U.S.dollars) over the next decade to improve tourist facilities along the railroad. Enidtem


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## Pavlo (Dec 28, 2004)

Well that's pretty cool


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## Nick (Sep 13, 2002)

That's fantastic.

It makes me want to go and play Locomotion on the PC


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## Monkey (Oct 1, 2002)

I can't wait to travel on that. I'm planning for summer 2007.


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## Zaqattaq (Nov 17, 2004)

I was not aware of this, amazing


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## tr (May 30, 2004)

Beautiful! I wonder if prices will be in the same league as the Eastern Oriental Express from Singapore to Bangkok?


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## DonQui (Jan 10, 2005)

:eek2:

:drool:


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## Bahnsteig4 (Sep 9, 2005)

That's unbelievable...
Wow!


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## OtAkAw (Aug 5, 2004)

Wow, that's really magnificent. But the train destroyed the unspoiled majesty of that beautiful, breathtaking place. Human beings really are experts in mingling with Mother Nature.


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## davidwei01 (Dec 19, 2005)

I was also worrying about it. Seems like it's been taken care of by the govt.

*Railway environment protection tops agenda * 
[WTN-L World Tibet Network News. Published by The Canada Tibet Committee. Issue ID: 05/09/19; September 19, 2005.] 

By Sun Xiaohua
(China Daily) 2005-09-19 

China's top environment watchdog will begin environmental impact assessment on the Qinghai-Tibet railway this week. 

"The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) will focus its attention on the examination of the protection of ecosystems around the construction site of the Qinghai-Tibet railway," said Zhu Xingxiang, head of the administration's Department of Environmental Impact Assessment. 

The Qinghai-Tibet railway, the highest-altitude railway in the world, is built on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in northwestern China, where the ecosystem is primary, unique and fragile. 

The plateau is the place of origin of the country's five major river systems - the Yellow River, Yangtze River, Lancang River, Nujiang River and Yarlung Zangbo River. Also, the plateau is the home to some rare wildlife, such as the Tibetan antelope, wild ass and snow leopard. 

The mean annual temperature of the plateau is between -4 C and 6 C. Once vegetation is destroyed it is almost impossible to recover. 

"For protection of the vegetation along the railway line, we required that earth excavation for construction be carried out at least 500 metres from the railway lines," said Zhu. "And every piece of vegetation removed must be replaced." 

The other problem concerning SEPA is whether or not the freedom of migration of Tibetan antelopes will be influenced. 

Although September is not the best season for the examination of this problem, some investigations will be carried out, according to Zhu 

Every year, the migration period for the antelope is from June to August. 

During the period in 2002 and 2003, to ensure smooth migration the project was temporarily suspended, Zhu added. 

Special passageways for the migration of Tibetan antelopes and wild yaks have been designed and built. And passengers will see some signs along the railway reminding them about the wildlife. 

"We will also check the infrastructure construction of pollution control and prevention mechanisms," said Zhu. 

The country pays high attention to environmental protection during the project. 

It has invested 1.2 billion yuan (US$148 million) so far, the most spent on environmental protection during a railway construction project in the country. 

Work on the line from Golmud in Qinghai Province, to Lhasa, a distance of 1,142 kilometres, began on June 29, 2001. About 960 kilometres of the track are over 4,000 metres above sea level, with the highest point 5,072 metres. The project will be ready for trial operation by next July.


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