A 34 hour journey on a Chinese train may not be for the faint-hearted but as you board the early morning train from Xian, anticipation reaches an all time high and the famous Terracotta Army you’ve just ticked off your list fades into oblivion.
The World’s Highest Railway
Known as the Qinghai-Tibet express, the line was open in 2006 among much controversy from environmentalists, fearing threats to the wildlife, and Tibet supporters, fearing further Chinese developments in the autonomous region.
But the railway is here to stay and undoubtedly a major engineering achievement, claiming the world’s highest rail tunnel at 4905 metres, 681 bridges, 1966 culverts and a speed up to 160km/hour. The line from Xian to Lhasa stretches for 2861 km but longer journeys start from Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai and Guangzhou (a daunting 56 hours 10 min.). Some 80% of the Qinghai-Tibet stretch is at an altitude over 4900 meters, half of it on permafrost.
The Qinghai-Tibet Express, High Altitude and Facilities
Due to the high altitude, extra oxygen is available throughout the train from Golmud onwards, piped into carriages plus individual supplies in compartments. There is also a clinic on board and passengers who wish to stretch their legs on high altitude platforms are only allowed a few minutes out. Since the train is pressurised like an aircraft cabin, all the windows are sealed.
The Qinghai Express has a choice of soft or hard seats and soft or hard couchettes, with shared facilities including washbasins (in public view) and squat down toilets. Hot water is freely available for tea, coffee or pot noodles while passengers in the soft class have the luxury of individual mini TV, slippers and coat hangers.
Most passengers, Tibetan or Chinese, bring their own food on board but alternatives include a hot meal trolley, the occasional fruit seller and for those who can afford it, a dining car with waiter service. The menu features generally recognisable Chinese dishes such as scrambled egg and tomato, pork with edible fungi, heaps of boiled rice and wine from the Great Wall of China.
Tibetan Border to Lhasa
In the earthquake prone Kunlun mountains, the Tanggula pass marks the highest point on the line, 5072 metres, and the Tibetan border, unmarked but for a guard standing to attention in the freezing dawn. The train does not stop. Beyond the snowfields dotted with yaks and Himalayan antelopes, you reach Amdo, the first station in Tibet, cold and deserted, and later the beautiful Kekexili grasslands. The vast Nachu lake glistens in all shades of blue and there are wild geese, nomad tents and brand new electric pylons marching through the wilderness.
Settlements become more frequent as you follow a near empty road lined with dummy policemen.
Occasionally, a gust of wind whips up a duststorm across the plateau but by mid-afternoon, green patches of land begin to appear with poplars and willows along the river and at last the triple-arched bridge, the greatest engineering feat of all, marking the entrance to Lhasa. At exactly the right time, the train pulls into the station and the few westerners on board straggle out, exhausted but exhilarated in the thin air.
Solange Hando - I am a travel writer, editor and photographer, contributing to a range of publications in the UK and worldwide.
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