Lhasa
From ChinaTravelGuide
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Southwest China (西南) » Tibet (西藏) » Lhasa (拉萨)
[edit] Overview
Lhasa is known as the city of the sun. It's situated on a plateau over 3,658 meters above the sea level surrounded by towering mountains. It has a population of 622,316 (as of 2007) and covers an area of 29,518 sq km.
[edit] History
[edit] Weather
Current Conditions (2008-10-14 17:00:00, local time)
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Lhasa |
Temp: 61°F (16°C) |
Lhasa Weather Forecast
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Today |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
| Weather averages for Lhasa | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
| Average high °C (°F) | 7 (45) | 9 (48) | 13 (55) | 16 (61) | 20 (68) | 23 (73) | 22 (72) | 21 (70) | 20 (68) | 17 (63) | 12 (54) | 8 (46) | |
| Average low °C (°F) | -8 (18) | -5 (23) | -2 (28) | 2 (36) | 6 (43) | 10 (50) | 11 (52) | 10 (50) | 8 (46) | 2 (36) | -4 (25) | -8 (18) | |
| Rain cm (inches) | 0.07 (0) | 0.11 (0) | 0.22 (0.1) | 0.56 (0.2) | 2.32 (0.9) | 5.89 (2.3) | 9.68 (3.8) | 9.81 (3.9) | 5.55 (2.2) | 0.48 (0.2) | 0.04 (0) | 0.05 (0) | |
| Source: per MSN 2008 | |||||||||||||
[edit] Map
[edit] Getting in & Getting out
[edit] By Air
Lhasa (拉萨) can be reached through air (Gonggar Airport). Gonggar Airport (贡嘎机场) (IATA: LXA) is 98 km south of Lhasa city. Daily flights from Chengdu to Lhasa take about 2 hours and cost 1200 RMB. There are also flights from Beijing (北京), Chongqing (重庆), Guangzhou (广州), Hong Kong (香港), Kunming (昆明), Qamdo, Shanghai, Xi'an, Xining (西宁), and Shangri-la (香格里拉), and an international flight to Kathmandu, Nepal.
Airport buses takes about two hours to get to the city. The bus ticket is about 40 RMB. Taking a taxi costs about 250 to 300 RMB.
In 2006 the Galashan tunnel opened which cuts driving time from Gonggar Airport to Lhasa in half.
[edit] By Train
You can also go to Lhasa through the new Qinghai-Tibet Railway (zh:青藏铁路), which connects China's Xining (zh:西宁), Qinghai (zh:青海) province to Lhasa. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway has a total distance of 1956 km (1222 miles). The 815 km (509 miles) Xining (zh:西宁)-Golmud (zh:格尔木) section was completed by 1984, and the 1142 km (714 miles) Golmud (zh:格尔木)-Lhasa (zh:拉萨) was opened on 1 July 2006.
Trains run to Lhasa from Beijing (zh:北京), Chengdu (zh:成都), Chongqing (zh:重庆), Xining (zh:西宁), Lanzhou (zh:兰州), Guangzhou (zh:广州), and Shanghai (zh:上海).
Train T27 from Beijing (departing at 21:30 from Beijing West Train Station) to Lhasa (arriving at 20:00 on the third day) takes about 46.5 hours, covering a distance of 4,064 km or 2,500 miles. The ticket price is 389 RMB for a hard seat, 813 RMB for a lower hard sleeper (a lower bunk in a basic sleeping car), and 1,262 RMB for a lower soft sleeper (a bunk in a more luxurious sleeping car). The added charge for soft seat, hard sleeper and soft sleeper tickets are 0.09, 0.10 and 0.16 RMB per km per person respectively. There is also a nominal extra charge for forward-facing seats/berths.
Ticket prices in RMB for five-carriage trains in the testing period were as follows:
| Train | From/To | Distance (km) | Duration (approx. hrs) | Hard Seat | Hard Sleeper (lower berth) | Soft Sleeper (lower berth) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T27/28 | Beijing west - Lhasa | 4064 | 47 | 389 | 813 | 1262 |
| T22/23/24/21 | Chengdu - Lhasa | 3360 | 45.5 | 331 | 712 | 1104 |
| T222/223/224/221 | Chongqing - Lhasa | 4064 | 46 | 355 | 754 | 1168 |
| T164/165/166/163 | Shanghai - Lhasa | 4373 | 49 | 406 | 845 | 1314 |
| T264/265/266/263 | Guangzhou - Lhasa | 4064 | 56 | 451 | 923 | 1434 |
| K917/K918 | Lanzhou - Lhasa | 2188 | 16.5 | 242 | 552 | 854 |
| N917/N918 | Xining - Lhasa | 1972 | 13 | 226 | 523 | 810 |
Refer to Lhasa Train Schedule for detailed up-to-date train schedule.
All the above trains (except for train T27/28 between Lhasa and Beijing) run every other day.
[edit] By Bus
There buses go from Qinghai Province into northern Tibet. But the bus trip can be very very exhausted.
