Xining Railway Station, halfway between Beijing and Lhasa |
Xining Railway Station |
Red granite horse sculpture in front of Xining Railway Station |
Monument in front of Xining Railway Station |
Communist-style monument, Xining |
An hour before departure for Tibet |
Xining Railway Station, starting point for my 25 hour train journey to Lhasa, Tibet |
Xining to Lhasa 1956km |
I arranged the tickets through China Cultural Center in Beijing |
The local guide and driver, Xining |
Chinese characters for Xining |
Getting tickets for Chinese trains is a big pain |
4 trains through Xining for Lhasa today - from Chongqing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing |
Waiting hall, Xining Railway Station |
Chinese railway billboard |
The Beijing-Lhasa train at the platform in Xining |
T27/28 Beijing West - Lhasa |
The trains are new and rather comfortable |
The elusive rail ticket to Lhasa, a bargain at 810 yuan, if you can get one |
18:29 departure from Xining to Lhasa |
Cliffs honeycombed with caves west of central Xining |
Leaving Xining behind |
In the 4 berth cabin |
My other 3 cabin mates were all Chinese from Beijing |
Corridor of the railway carriage |
Luckily I didn't need this too often |
What a shock...only American Budweiser on board |
Kitchen of the dining car |
Dining car - Qinghai-Tibet Railroad |
Washbasins outside the toilets |
Early morning after a relatively good sleep having slept through the stop at Golmud |
Snow along the old road to Lhasa, Qinghai Province |
It takes several days to drive from Xining to Lhasa |
Watchtower at a remote outpost along the railroad, Qinghai Province |
Road bridge and railroad viaduct shortly past Chumaerhe station, Qinghai |
Qinghai-Tibet Railroad crossing one of many wide rivers |
Barren Tibetan Plateau, Qinghai Province |
Tibetan Antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii) |
There's cellphone coverage along the railroad |
Outpost prior to Wu Dao Liang station |
Wetlands, Tibetan Plateau |
Wudaoliang Railway Station, 1100km from Xining, Qinghai-Tibet Railroad |
Cloudy day over the Tibetan Plateau |
The new railroad parallels the old road to Lhasa |
It's +2C here |
Streams passing through an area of snow fences |
A lonely hut and tent with a man riding a yak |
Scenery along the Qinghai-Tibet Railroad |
Herds of yaks and sheep alongside the railroad tracks |
Herds of yaks and sheep alongside the railroad tracks |
Tibetan Plateau, Qinghai-Tibet Railroad |
Muddy dirt road alongside the railroad tracks |
The Tibetan Plateau is the source of the great rivers of China |
Snow capped mountains, Tibetan Plateau, Qinghai Province |
The road to Lhasa rejoins our route |
I once thought it would be fun to drive from Xining, but I think I'll pass... |
Highest railroad tunnel in the world - Fenghuoshan - 5072m/16,093ft |
Small labor camp along the Tibet-Qinghai Railroad |
Snow covered peak near Jiangkedong Station, Qinghai-Tibet Railroad |
Collapses road bridge near Jiangkedong, 1174 km from Xining |
My guess would be the river flooded |
Communication tower along the Tibet-Qinghai Railroad |
Tibetan Plateau and the road to Lhasa |
Tibetan plateau with snow covered mountains |
Tuotuo He River, |
Stupa and prayer flags, Tuotuo Heyan |
Odd stupa near Tuotuo Heyan, Qinghai Province |
Tibetan prayer flags, south of Tuotuo Heyan |
Upper tributary of the Yangtze River, Qinghai Province |
Qinghai-Tibet Railroad viaduct |
High altitude section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railroad nearing the border of the Tibet Autonomous Region |
Tibetan Plateau |
Tiny settlement along the Tibet-Qinghai Railroad |
Between Dri Chu and Tanggang Stations, Qinghai Province |
Yanshiping, Qinghai Province (33.597N/92.069E |
Tongtien He River, Qinghai Province |
Yan Shi Ping, Qinghai Province (33.597N/92.069E) |
A small bridge across the river with the Tibet Highway on the opposite bank |
Nearing the border between Qinghai Province and the Tibet Autonomous Region |
Tibetan tent with a man and a motorbike |
Yakherder ,ear the Qinghai-Tibet border |
Yak herder on the Tibetan plateau |