Schedule & Ticket Options
The train leaves from the Beijing West Rail Station at 9:30PM. You can see from the below schedule that the train makes a number of stops along the way. If you look closely you will see that the stops are very short and do not allow much time. It would have been nice to have a little more time at each of the stops, although I guess I can understand because they were very efficient getting people on and off the train at each of the stops. I would also say that at most stops there were not a great number of people getting off and on the train. By far the vast majority of the people boarded the train in Beijing.

You will also see below the train pricing. I am not sure on the exact specifics, but I believe tickets only go on sale somewhere between two weeks and ten days prior to the departure date. it is my thought that this was put into place to limit the number of foreigners that purchase tickets and allow the maximum number of Chinese into Tibet. The pricing is very cheap considering the distance you are traveling.

We purchased our tickets as part of an entire package through a travel agency in Kathmanduand. I would recommend going this route. After countless hours of research we decied to go with I can't speak highly enough on how well Pasang from Mountain Sherpa Trekking and Expeditions took care of use. While we did meet one Western Couple that were able to purchase tickets day of, I would not recommend it. This is different then what I have read about most other train travel in China.

Train Schedule link  Train Schedule Beijing to Lhasa T27

The Train was about ten or eleven cars in length including the dining car, but not including the engine(s). At the front of the train were the regular seating cars, which were followed by the dining car then three Soft Sleeper Cars and lastly three Hard Sleeper Cars. I thought about writing the specifics down, but never got around to it.

I walked the entire train and I can not tell you what the difference is between Hard Seats and Soft Seats. (Maybe there were no hard seats?) To me most of the seating cars where what I would call Soft Seating as seen in the photo. As you can see from the photograph the seating cars were actually quite nice. Naturally they were quite crowded and it looked as if most people staked out an area to setup camp. We spent very little time in the seating area since there really was no place to sit. Also I am not sure if it was our Western appearance or if they were all borde and had nothing else to look at, but as we entered each car it seemed as if everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at us. If memory serves me there were four or five of these cars.

The Hard Sleeper area we only passed through very quickly. The only reason I went through this area was because it was my goal to at least once get to each end of the train. The Hard Sleepers were very similar to the Soft Sleepers except that they had six beds in each of the cabins instead of four like in our Soft Sleeper. I would not recommend this unless you are OK with very close living and sleeping quarters.

I stand at about 6'6" (198 cm) tall. Yes I know I am tall and Yes it is even more evident on trips such as this. But anyways, I would say that the train was about 9' (275 cm) tall and each of the cabins were about 7' (213 cm) wide. Trying to fit six people plus their luggage into that type of space is not something that I would be interested in. I am guessing there was maybe 3' (91 cm) worth of vertical space in each of the Hard Sleeper bunks. Not to mention since the Cabins stretch out into the car there is only a very small walk way that people are able to use.

We went with the Soft Sleeper option. As you can see from the photo at right you have two bunks on each side of the cabin with a very small table in between that sits up against the window. The bunks do not fold up or move in any way. The lower bunk has a back cushion that makes it a little more comfortable to sit upright. The bunks themselves were actually quite comfortable for what they were. The temperature within the cabin and throughout the train was always quite comfortable although we did have very nice weather for the 48 hours we were on the train so I am not sure how things would work during hot or cold spells.

Luggage storage was another challenge. There is some space for an average sized suitcase down below the bottom bunk and then there is some space for luggage up above on a ledge above the door, but not really much else. We were traveling with two trekking backpacks, a duffel bag, and a camera bag. We got it all to fit, but just barely. There were some Europeans that boarded at one of the stops and they had a terrible time getting their hard luggage to fit. Keep this in mind because if it does not fit in your cabin, then I am not sure where else it would go. I did not see any extra space anywhere. This train is really maximized for utility of space. One option, if you wanted more space, would be to purchase all four bunks and use only two. Really it is not all that much more and you would have the entire cabin to yourself as well as plenty of luggage space. I personally liked getting the opportunity to interact with two other people that we had never met.

It should be noted that while I never considered drafts to be a problem, at each end of the cars there were quite a few openings where air from inside and outside mixed freely. Also the window in the bathroom was open more times than not. I for some reason thought this train was sealed and possibly pressurized, but I saw no evidence of this. I will cover this in detail later.


 

Boarding the Train

We left our hotel a couple of hours before our train was to leave. The train leaves from the Beijing West Rail Station at 9:30PM. The station is very modern and much larger then what I was expecting. The cab was able to pull right up to the front of the station and the entrance was only a few steps away. While individuals were not screened very well, luggage had to go through some type of x-ray machine. It was interesting to see that compared to many places in the world in this day and age security seemed to be relatively relaxed throughout the station and throughout the trip in general.

As I stated the station was much larger then I thought it would be. The very modern schedule board I estimated to be about two stories tall. As you can see from the photo there are a huge amount of trains moving through this station. Due to the sheer size of everything we were not quite sure where to go, so we stopped by what looked like the main desk and they were quite helpful in pointing us in the right direction.

I walked around a bit and this place is a city in of its self. There are many places that I would classify as restaurants and grocery stores. The menu in the dining car on the train is very limited and I would highly recommend you stock up on snacks if not meals before you board the train. We had some snacks, but we were not prepared for only having seven expensive items on the menu in the dining car. We ended up purchasing some items at some of the stops along the way.

At first we were waiting in the regular waiting area for our train. This area was quite large and there were quite a few people lounging around waiting for the train. Everything was quite modern and looked quite new, but there were already signs of neglect such as a number of the monitors not working properly. I am always amazed at the size of the Chinese government's ego. At the front of the waiting area was a display with models of Chinese military machines. It almost seemed ironic that the Chinese government choose to display models of their military might at the entrance to a train that goes to Tibet. There were also other photographs and displays that showed off the "greatness" of the Chinese government.

It was not until almost boarding time that we noticed that next to the regular waiting area is an area reserved for the Soft Sleeper cars. There was a lady checking tickets at the entrance and after getting our tickets checked we were allowed into this area. It had a lot less seating available and was quite crowded, but the seating that was available was very nice plush chairs and sofas. There also was a dining option available in this area. Since we got here so late I did not get much of a chance to look around.

Also I can not confirm, but it seemed that this area got priority boarding. Once we got our tickets checked we made our way to the train. While not a long distance, if you have a large amount of luggage or have difficulty in getting around this might cause a problem. While I did not see anyone with any type of porter helping with luggage, I am guessing with the number of employees around it would not be an issue even if it entails just giving someone a couple of bucks for a few minutes of help.

At about the time we were walking across the platform the flood gates were let loose on the general seating area and throngs of people (some running) were rushing towards the train. If I were trying to stake out my seat for the next 48 hours I would be running to get the best seat possible as well. Since they boarded much further back than us we did not need to cross paths and it did not create any issues. There were plenty of people to help us and point us in the right direction. As I stated earlier it was a challenge getting all the luggage stored in the cabin. In a very short amount of time the train got underway. Since we did a full day of sight seeing and we were still struggling with some left over jet lag we were very tired. Therefore it was not long until we got to bed.

There was a person that came around and took our tickets and in exchange gave us a credit card style train card. We could not figure this one out. Someone we were talking with suggested that they collected the tickets to ensure you did not get off the train until the proper station. At the end of the train ride it was interesting that they came around and collected the credit card style train card and gave us our tickets back.

I do have to add that this was our first chance to meet the two Chinese ladies we would be spending the next 48 hours with. Neither of them spoke very good English, but one of them did better than the other. After struggling for a few minutes she kept repeating the word Seattle and I thought this was because she heard me say this is where I was from. Well, next thing you know I was on her cell phone talking to her son that goes to college in Seattle. It is instances like this that I am always amazed at how small the world truly is.

I also have to add that throughout our entire trip I was always amazed at the quality of cell phone reception. Here we are traveling on a train that covers territory far removed from anything and I do mean anything, yet this lady was able to use her cell phone and text message people the entire trip. It got to the point of annoyance because every time a new text message came in the phone would beep and it seemed as if the phone beeped night and day ever few minutes. She even slept with it right next to her pillow even though the table was inches away from her.

Sleeping Car

I was concerned that I would not sleep well on the train. I actually had no problem sleeping on the train. The bed was quite comfortable, there was very little noise and the train was very smooth.

As I described earlier the cabin has four beds and a small table to place items on. Each of the cabins have a door that can be shut for privacy. While 48 hours is not a real long period of time, I thought it would have been nice to have some sort of effort by the staff to freshen up the cabin from time to time. This never happened. Again it seems this train is run very efficiently and there are very few extra thrills on this train ride.

The common areas, especially the toilet and sink areas were kept reasonably clean. It did seem they did a better job of keeping things clean the first 24 hours then the last 24 hours. The closer we got to Lhasa the more the staff seemed to disengage. There were numerous occasions in which the staff would stand directly under a no-smoking sign and puff away.

You can see from the photograph what the sink area looks like. There are three basic sinks that have the push type water faucet where you push and then the water stays on for a few seconds and then you need to push it again. It gets the job done, but once again it gets the job done very efficiently. Over all the sink stayed relatively clean considering these two sinks needed to accommodate I am guessing 20 or 30 people in our car alone. I would recommend that you pack a small towel which is not only useful for the train, but in many other situations as well. It is very easy to pick these up at a local market before you get on the train.

There were two toilets available at the end of each car. On one side was a Asian toilet and on the other side was a Western toilet. Over all they were kept clean, but by the end of the trip and since I am a male I preferred the Asian toilet since it seemed to stay a bit cleaner. There was toilet paper available, but I am guessing it lasted a matter of hours and then I never saw any more. A word of advice for this train and any travels in Asia is always keep plenty of spare toilet paper. Not only is toilet paper useful in bathroom situations, but it makes a decent paper towel if needed.

One nice feature was the hot water dispenser. Each of the cars had a hot water dispenser located by the toilets and sinks. This was very handy for adding hot water to the ready made noodle cups that are available in so many places.

Overall there were not many places to sit and pass the time. Your options were either sit in your cabin, sit on little fold down ledges in the walk way of the sleeping car or sit in the dining car. The windows in the cabin of the sleeping car were quite large and I spent a large part of my time staring out the window of our cabin. The windows along the walkway in the sleeping car were quite large and provided a very nice view of what was passing by. The only problem we encountered was the staff perpetually had to close the drapes on the windows if you were not very obviously looking out it. It seemed you would turn your back and then as soon as you turned around again the curtain would be closed. This was same case in the dining car as well. Many of us on the train were puzzled at this since the views outside of the train were so amazing why would you try to block that out.

You can see from the photograph that the aisle ways were very narrow. It was so narrow it was difficult for two people to pass. If you choose to sit on the fold down seats in the aisle way then about every five minutes you needed to get up to let someone pass.

There were quite a few announcements that came over the speakers in the roof and the English announcements were in very understandable English. The problem was the system was not loud enough to ever hear what they were saying. There were also a number of announcements that provided commentary on various things we saw along the way. It was interesting to listen to these because once again the Chinese government did not miss an opportunity to voice their propaganda. There was one piece that was at least five minutes long talking about how the once barren Tibetan plateau is now being vitalized by the Chinese government. From what I understand and was told the Tibetan people never requested to be vitalized.

At the end of each car was a scrolling LCD display that provided basic information. Mostly it was train speed and a message thanking you for riding the Tibetan Railway. It would also state what the next stop was, but not when we would get there.

At no time were we ever provided a schedule or any other brochures showing what would happen or what was available on the train. Thankfully I brought a schedule that I had printed from the internet. At the foot of each bunk was a very nice video monitor. At the other end were volume and channel controls with a place to plug in some ear phones. (None were provided) Even though there were I think six channels, the few times I checked nothing was ever playing on any of the channels.

Since we are relatively young and were already starting to take medicine for altitude we had no problem with it. During the second night the train climbs up onto the Tibetan plateau. Waking up on the second morning you could feel the tug of the altitude. I am guessing from this point on we were at 12,000 feet (3,600 Meters) or above. It is my understanding that the highest point was above 16,000 feet or 5,000 Meters. The terrain also changed drastically and you could just tell that you were in Tibet. I can still vividly remember the first time I saw prayer flags.

The second morning after waking up we were told that they were injecting the cars with oxygen and that smoking was strictly prohibited. It seemed even more ironic after they made this announcement to see the employees standing directly under the no smoking signs and smoking. I don't see how it would be possible to release enough oxygen that would make any difference. For one the train cars were not sealed enough to keep in any type of released oxygen and for any type of pressurization to take place. Not to mention the cost for this would be way out of line with the rest of the other services provided during the train ride.

There were outlets in the cabin that I believe could be hooked up to a oxygen mask. I saw employees a number of times carrying these masks to various parts of the train, but I never saw anyone actually using them.

Dinning Car & Food Options

If we did not spend our time in the sleeping car then we spent our time in the Dinning Car. As you can see from the photograph the dining car was very basic. It had a number of tables to sit at and I was surprised that it never seemed too crowded. This also seemed to be the place that employees would come to socialize with each other.

As I stated before the drapes on windows were closed unless you opened them. You can notice this in the photograph. So the first thing needed to do when you sat down was open the drapes and if someone was not sitting at the table across from you then the drapes would be closed and you could not see out of the other side of train. Most of the people both in the dining car and in the sleeping cars were Europeans.

The staff was very attentive and as soon as you sat down you were greeted by someone asking you what you would like to order. If I was looking to sit and not eat I normally got some tea and that seemed to appease them. They seemed to be uncomfortable unless you ordered something.

All of the food items were quite oily in nature and I am guessing were loaded with MSG. I am not quite sure how they prepared the food, but in the back part was some type of kitchen. At one point I went to take a photograph of the kitchen and was immediately told not to do so. A couple of times I went to take photographs of the employees and were told not to do so. Pointing the camera out the window never raised and an eyebrow, but as soon as the camera was pointed in the train you could just tell the staff became very uneasy.

The menu was very basic. There were about seven items on the menu and each item was about 25 Yuan or $3 US, which seemed to be very expensive especially for what you received. You can see the two menus (one breakfast, one all other times) in the photographs below. The options did not change the entire time we were on the train.

There were also some interesting translations. One item was "Rape with Mushrooms."

Breakfast each morning was the same. You either had your choice of a traditional Chinese breakfast or a traditional Western breakfast. The Western breakfast was average. Not good, not bad. While the tea was good it was traditional tea where they put the tea leaves directly into the water. The first cup of tea that I ordered had quite a few tea leaves in it and by the end of the trip the amount of tea leaves you received became increasingly less.

Another option for food on the train was purchasing items from these little carts that they would constantly be pushing up and down the aisles of the train. There was everything from fresh fruit, to instant noodle cups to chips. The prices were expensive, but were quite reasonable compared to the dining car. I would recommend that if you see something that you like you purchase it sooner rather then later. I took the photograph to the left towards the end of the trip and as you can see there were very few items left by this time.

The last option available was purchasing something while stopped at one of the stations. This was an interesting experience, because you had very little time (5 to 10 minutes) and naturally there were quite a few people trying to do the same thing you were doing. Most of the stops had multiple options that ranged from hot food such as cooked chicken to your very basic neighborhood store that had a little bit of everything. The most frequent option however was the cart you see in the photograph to the right that sold a little bit of everything. I saw a number of people purchase beer as well as soda and water. We purchased an extra roll of toilet paper and if I remember correctly they offered a number of other personal items.

In this photograph you can see what we purchased from one of the hot food stands. It is tofu with a piece of bread with the consistency of Chinese sweet bread. It was quite good although it was very heavy on salt. The best part was the fact that it was quite cheap and did not have the grease of the dining car.

Although we certainly did not starve while we were on the train, it was a little bit more of a challenge getting food then I had anticipated. Overall it was quite expensive when you consider what you were getting, (the average bill in the dining car was probably about 100 Yuan for two people) but then again they have a captive audience that really does not have many choices. So if I had to do it over again I think I would have packed more food to take with us on the train. Remember also that there is no place to prepare food and there really is no place to sit down and have a meal except in the dining room. So if you go for something like the tofu option then you are eating it off your lap in your sleeping cabin.

Copy from http://www.merikle.com/
 

The views

If you are looking for a way to see the countryside this train is a great way to do it. It was amazing to see the geography change from populated Beijing to rural Tibet. As I said the first night we were very tired by the time the train got moving and since it was dark there was not a lot to see. When we woke up the next morning I would generalize and say the day was all typical China countryside. You have the opportunity to see all types of activities taking place along side the rail way.

Waking up the second morning was like entering a whole new world. The geography changed dramatically and you could just tell that you were in Tibet. There were amazing mountain views, the housing was much more colorful and there were all types of people herding all types of animals.

Throughout my time in Tibet I kept remarking on how happy and pleasant the people were. There were many instances where people would wave as the train went by and not only wave, but at the same time they would have very large happy grins on their faces. At the couple of station stops in Tibet you could just feel how much more friendly the people were. Everyone had a smile and pleasant look on their face.

Overall the trip was amazing. I am very happy that we decided to go this route rather then going the quicker route of taking a plane. I will say however that I will not repeat this trip. Next time I will take the plane. After 48 hours on this train I was more then ready to get off it. The next morning when we had breakfast at the hotel in Lhasa it was heaven. And after being coped up in the train for such an extended period of time it was nice to get out and walk around.