Early April Self-Drive Tibet Travel Guide
The most beautiful April days on earth, eight thousand miles of clouds and moon.
Seek out culinary delights during Ramadan, rain, sleet and snow at Qingming Festival.
Watch for wildlife on the Qinghai-Tibet Sky Road, the Sichuan-Tibet Highway both stunning and rough.
Nyingchi’s peach blossoms are in full bloom. Enter Tibet via Qinghai, exit via Sichuan.
Over fourteen days, a combined train, self-drive and flight journey: entering by Qinghai-Tibet Railway in early April, which coincides with Qingming Festival, the Nyingchi Peach Blossom Festival and Eid al-Fitr, then self-driving out on the Sichuan-Tibet National Highway 318.
1. Supplies and Preparation: All trains bound for Tibet switch from electric to diesel locomotives after passing Xining, and cars become oxygen-enriched. It’s best to choose a train that passes through the Hoh Xil region during daylight—typically trains departing Xining Station in the early evening. On the Sichuan-Tibet Highway, potholes are common, so a vehicle of SUV class or above is recommended. Bring fleece clothing, snow chains, work gloves, sunscreen, a sun hat, raincoat, waterproof shoe covers. If you’re not in top shape or traveling with the elderly, prepare oxygen canisters (oxygen bags are pricey to refill) and altitude sickness medication, along with sunglasses. Self-heating rice, instant noodles, bread and ham sausage are handy. For vacuum-packed or sealed containers, release air during the journey. In Lhasa, choose accommodation with oxygen supply in the lobby; elsewhere, make sure there’s an electric blanket and parking available.
2. Technique and Mindset: Adopt the ‘Little Horse Crosses the River’ mindset—don’t underestimate the difficulty of National Highway 318 like the old ox, nor be overly fearful like the squirrel. Rent a car model you’re familiar with, get accustomed to the vehicle before setting off, and practice installing snow chains, especially the one-piece type, in advance. On Highway 318, plans often can’t keep up with changes; adjust your schedule and mindset as you go. There are many large trucks, they drive fast, and you’ll frequently need to pass or give way. Always stay within the yellow line, and even when the road is empty, don’t cross it or force overtaking. It’s okay to go slow, but don’t get impatient. When parking, choose a flat, safe spot. If you miss a photo op, let it go—never reverse just to take a picture. Along many stretches of the highway, rocks keep falling from the mountains, so drive through these sections quickly. If you’re unavoidably stuck in a jam there, pick a safe place to stop, especially after rain, and don’t get out of the car to linger.
3. Itinerary and Arrangements: My whole trip was nominally 14 days, but I worked on the morning of the first day and the afternoon of the last, so it really was a full 13 days. On Day 1, I swiped out of work at 9:50 AM, at 10:20 caught the high-speed train to Baotou, arrived at 1:00 PM, transferred within the station, and the Baotou-to-Xining train departed at 1:25 PM. On Day 14, at the end of the journey, my flight from Chengdu Tianfu Airport took off at 7:40 AM, landed at Hohhot Airport at 10:10 AM, and by 11:00 I was already on the high-speed train from Hohhot home. Hohhot Airport and Hohhot East Station are so close—I don’t know another city with such a silky plane-to-train transfer. I got home at 12:30, ate, rested, and went back to my normal work schedule at 2:30 PM. This trip can be described in one word: ‘seamless’.
Two days in Xining to acclimatize to the altitude: sights include Ge’er Temple, the Tibetan Culture Museum, Qinghai Provincial Museum. The Great Mosque was extremely lively for Eid al-Fitr. If there’s a performance at the Qinghai Grand Theatre, catch it; the night views nearby are also lovely. The Xining–Lhasa train takes around 22 hours, and you’ll see snow mountains, lakes, Tibetan antelope, wild donkeys and wild yaks along the way. In Lhasa, spend two days: Jokhang Temple and Potala Palace both require booking at least one day in advance. Jokhang Temple has no discount tickets; Potala Palace is ¥100 in the low season and ¥200 in peak season. Soldiers and seniors can choose time slots, others only get to choose if they book early. Visit the Potala Palace on the second or third day after arriving in Lhasa, depending on how your body adjusts—after all, it’s thirteen storeys and over a hundred meters high.
The self-drive along the southern route of National Highway 318 was scheduled for 7 days, covering 2,200 km on the odometer. Do not plan for fewer than 7 days. If your health isn’t great or you’re traveling with elderly companions, try to spend the night in towns at lower altitudes (see attached map for cities and altitudes). But human plans often fall short of heaven’s calculations, plans fail to keep up with changes—be ready for emergencies and cultivate a good mindset. Particularly in the Bangda and Litang sections, distances between towns are long, with nearly 200 km of mountain roads, and you’ll cross several snow-capped passes. Apart from the Kangding–Zheduo Mountain stretch which has three lanes, the entire Highway 318 has only two lanes; one-way traffic control is routine, and any incident can make the journey seem endless. So, always keep enough fuel, top up at every town, and be prepared to spend a night on a mountain pass. My overnight stops were Nyingchi, Bomi, Baxoi, Markam, Litang, Kangding, and Chengdu. On two occasions, I was stuck for three and four hours due to snow, the latest arrival at the hotel was 11:30 PM. Many people ended up trapped overnight on the mountain, so there’s no need to book hotels in advance. Drive with courage and care—plenty of vehicles break down by the roadside, be it a BMW or Mercedes, off-roader or sedan. Some Suzuki run just fine, while some hardcore off-roaders conk out. On the Sichuan-Tibet route, I’d say there are eight ways to enter Tibet: on foot, prostrating every three steps, pushing a cart, cycling, motorcycling, by car, off-road vehicle, or RV. Slow one-way traffic often results from motorcycles struggling on icy, snowy slopes.
Why do people say you must drive National Highway 318 once in your life? I only understood after returning: scenic spots far from 318 aren’t worth the detour, because the most beautiful scenery is right on the road. You can’t imagine what weather, what views, what events the next day will bring. On my first day of driving, I made a detour to Basongtso, 50 km off the highway. It’s Tibet’s first natural 5A scenic spot, but the scenery wasn’t as good as that along the road. Among the pay-to-see attractions right by the highway, the World King Cypress Scenic Area in Nyingchi is worth a visit—hundreds of ancient cypresses and a 3,200-year-old ‘king cypress’, with an entrance fee of just ¥20. At Lulang Forest, they’ve built a section of wall to force visitors to buy tickets; you can stand on tiptoes to snap a few photos over the low wall. Litang lives up to its name as ‘City in the Sky’—snow mountains appear right outside the town; if you have time, stroll through them. I didn’t have time to enter the Putso Gully Scenic Area in Batang. In my opinion, the scenery along 318 after entering Sichuan is far inferior to that within Tibet. I drove back to Chengdu Tianfu Airport without any issues: no person injured, no scratch on the car, not a single traffic violation. Earlier, on the train from Qinghai to Tibet, a fellow passenger asked me to sign something, and I wrote ‘Self-drive 318 successful.’ It feels like destiny!
4. Cuisine and Local Flavours: Xining boasts authentic ‘niangpi’ (cold noodles in different styles). ‘Jingpi’ is made from sweet potato starch, while others are wheat-based. What’s called ‘lamian’ elsewhere is simply ‘beef noodles’ here—very authentic. There’s also ‘tianpeizi’, made from highland barley, which I’d never seen before; it’s not quite a drink nor a snack—I call it ‘Nutrition Express’. I happened to be in Xining during the Muslim Ramadan. During Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, so many restaurants were closed half the day, but snack shops did brisk business as people bought food to take home and break their fast in the evening. In Lhasa, try Tibetan cuisine. Restaurants here are called ‘tea houses’—they don’t sell alcohol, but you can bring your own. Yak meat buns, dipping dumplings, Tibetan noodles and sweet tea are energy-packed, though those with a light palate might find it hard to accept. In Nyingchi, the ‘stone pot chicken’ contains over twenty kinds of mushrooms, including matsutake, morel, you name it. The Medog stone pot itself is a testament. In Kangding, Sichuan, it’s all about hotpot. Yak meat hotpot is truly deserving of its fame, and the pepper chicken is superb. Various rice noodles—I had a bowl of chicken giblet rice noodles, absolutely spot-on! Another experience not to miss is Sichuan ear cleaning; you can enjoy it in a proper shop, the ones in scenic spots are too noisy.
About tour guides: I think Tibetan Buddhism is too profound for the average guide to explain clearly, and even if they do, we forget it pretty soon after visiting a few halls. To truly gain something, you need to do your homework in advance; otherwise, just listen in where the crowd gathers around a deity statue and you’ll be fine. It’s said that the Potala Palace contains over thirty tons of gold—gold being the least valuable thing there, plus countless jewels. After I returned, using the 50 RMB note (which features the Potala Palace) as a pattern, I spent a week building my own at home.
