Take the train from Lhasa to Nyingchi along the Yarlung Tsangpo
Ride the 435-kilometre electric railway along the Yarlung Tsangpo from Lhasa to the forests of Nyingchi.
Rail Journey · About 3.5 hours one way
What the experience is
The railway between Lhasa and Nyingchi opened on 25 June 2021. It is 435 kilometres long and was the first electrified line in Tibet. It leaves Lhasa to the south, meets the Yarlung Tsangpo and follows its valley eastwards between the Himalaya and the Nyenchen Tanglha range.
The line has nine stations and passes through 47 tunnels and over 121 bridges. Fuxing trains run at up to 160 kilometres an hour and take about three and a half hours, against five or more by road. They are sets built for the plateau, with a system that adds oxygen to the air in the carriages.
The landscape
The journey is a descent from bare plateau into forest. Nyingchi lies at about 3,000 metres, some 600 metres lower than Lhasa, and receives the monsoon through the gorge of the Yarlung Tsangpo. Its valleys are wooded with pine and spruce. Among the stations is Shannan, the stop for the Yarlung valley, where the first Tibetan kings ruled.
Beyond Nyingchi stands Namcha Barwa, 7,782 metres high, around which the river makes its great bend.
When to go
In late March and April the villages around Nyingchi are surrounded by wild peach trees in flower, with snow peaks behind. This is the best-known season. Summer is green and wet. Autumn generally brings clearer mountain views.
Good to know
Foreign visitors need a Tibet Travel Permit, arranged in advance through a licensed agency, and travel with a registered guide. The permit is also shown when buying a train ticket and at the station. The rules change and must be checked with a specialist agency before any booking is made; further permits may apply beyond Lhasa. Timetables vary, with one or two daytime departures each way, so check the current schedule. Nyingchi has an airport, and many itineraries arrive there, at the lower altitude, and travel to Lhasa by rail.
Why OKYTO recommends it
It is a comfortable way to see a part of the plateau that few visitors reach, and the lower altitude of Nyingchi makes an easier beginning to a journey than Lhasa.
The Details
- Location
- Lhasa railway station, or Nyingchi in the reverse direction
- Duration
- About 3.5 hours one way
- Best time
- Late March and April for peach blossom; spring to autumn
- Level
- Easy (high altitude: Lhasa is about 3,650 m)
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