Travel Update in Tibet

Friday morning I spent a couple of hours talking to PSB offices, hotels and other businesses in the Tibetan regions of Kham and Amdo (Qinghai, Western Sichuan and southwest Gansu provinces). Here is the current information as of March 28:

Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (Amdo) in Gansu remains very difficult/impossible to get to. There are numerous checkpoints along the way from Lanzhou and Xining to Labrang (Xiahe). From Lanzhou you probably will only make it as far as Linxia before you will be forced to turn around. I talked to several travelers who tried to take the bus from Lanzhou to Labrang and they were kindly asked to step off the bus at a checkpoint in Linxia.The situation in Labrang, Luchu (Luqu) and Machu (Maqu) remains tense. Going from Xining, there are checkpoints in Adai, which is only about 40kms south east of the Xining heading towards Rebkong (Tongren). If you somehow manage to make it past this checkpoint, there are still several others along the way. The biggest checkpoint is when you come down from the grasslands of Gangya (Ganjia) in to the Xiahe valley. There is a huge checkpoint there and it is not possible to get past it unless you have a valid foreign resident visa that was issued from the Xiahe county PSB.

Ngawa (Aba) Tibet Autonomous Prefecture (Amdo) in northern Sichuan still has several areas where unrest is being reported. I wasn't able to find out any "official" information, but all the businesses say that it is "not advised" to travel through this area.

Huangnan Tibet Autonomous Prefecture (Amdo) in eastern Qinghai remains difficult to get to. There was a lot of unrest at the monasteries in and around Rebkong (Tongren). The bus station in Xining will sell you tickets to go to Rebkong, but the chances of you getting there are slim.

Golok (Guoluo) Tibet Autonomous Prefecture (Amdo) in southeastern Qinghai is closed. This area is closed not only because of protests, but also because of heavy snow in the area. The roads through this prefecture are extremely dangerous. Our travel agency partners with an NGO that is delivering relief aid (blankets, food, clothing) to the area and a volunteer was killed earlier this month in a car accident because of the heavy snow.

Yushu Tibet Autonomous Prefecture (Kham) appears to be open. All of the hotels in the area report being able to let foreigners stay. Though there are checkpoints along the way from Xining down to Jyekundo, it seems that foreigners are being permitted to enter the area. There have been no violent uprisings in Yushu. There have been several silent protests, but nothing violent. If you do go tho this area, there is still a fair chance that you could be turned around by a checkpoint along the way, but officially it is open.

Ganze (Ganzi) Tibet Autonomous Prefecture (Kham) officially is open, but unofficially seems to be closed if trying to go there from Chengdu. I have talked to many people who have been turned around to Chengdu while enroute to western Sichuan. I talked to police and hotels in Derge, Litang, Dartsedo (Kangding) and Batang and they all said that foreigners were permitted to stay in these areas, but also said that police along the way might turn foreigners around and make them return to Chengdu. The PSB in Dartsedo said that foreigners were allowed to be in the town and go to Minya Gonka (Gongga Shan). My advice for those who are trying to get to western Sichuan is to start from Xining. Take the bus from Xining to Jyekundo and then continue on into western Sichuan. The bus station across from the San Jiang Yuan Hotel in Jyekundo has bus services to most major towns in western Sichuan (Shiqu, Ganze, Dartsedo and even all the way to Chengdu). This is much longer than going from Chengdu, but your chances of traveling in the area are much higher.

The Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Dechen (Diqing) in northwest Yunnan province (Kham) is open to foreign tourists.

The situation is most of the areas in Kham and Amdo remains tense. Every Tibetan town in this area has many soldiers patrolling the streets. Even though many of these areas report being open, you may or may not be able to enter them. The main PSB offices in Xining, Chengdu and Lanzhou will have up-to-date travel information, but even they cannot say if the police in the Tibetan town you are trying to get to will let you enter or not. If you try and enter these Tibetan areas and they are closed, you will not be fined or detained. You will simply be told to turn around and return to the city.

Travel in the Tibet Autonomous Region (Central Tibet) remains completely closed. The government is not issuing any travel permits at this time meaning it is not possible to fly or take the train to Lhasa. There is no time table on when the government will begin issuing permits again to go to Lhasa. I am hoping that things will be back to normal within the next few weeks, but it could take much longer. Check back here for further updates.

Comments

[Lei]

This is very helpful. My Amdo and Kham trip will start in mid-May. Do you know if Chinese traveller need to go through checkpoint or not?

[aa_astro]

many thanks!!!
almost cancel Kham+Amdo trip,head to Beijing and Xi'an instead.

anyway.still keeping my eyes on situation.
life trial and error.

look forward to see the most up-to-date