Explore the Land of Snow, the Wonders of Tibet like a LOCAL with Our Small Group Tours

Our foreign travelers begin to ask whether novel coronavirus outbreak will infect inbound tourism in Tibet, because their Tibet travel plan is fixed and in the upcoming spring season. Well, till now it is very safe to travel in Tibet and there is no novel coronavirus case report from Lhasa Tibet. However it becomes popular that many Chinese people begin to ware mask in public areas and people delay their travel plan and choose to stay at home in some cities, especially in Wuhan. 

Mayor of Wuhan (Central China’s Mega city): Stay away

Reducing travel in and out of city may curb disease spread, he says

The mayor of Wuhan, Hubei province, called on people not travel to and from the city in order to combat the ongoing pneumonia outbreak.

Mayor Zhou Xianwang said during an interview with CCTV on Tuesday that reducing the flow of people will also decrease the possibility of the virus spreading and lighten the pressure on disease prevention and control efforts.

Wuhan set up a prevention and control center to combat the outbreak on Monday, the city’s health authorities said.

Led by Zhou, the center heads eight task forces made up of authorities involved in emergency management, publicity, transport, market regulation, medical treatment and epidemic control and prevention, according to the Health Commission of Wuhan.

The city will strengthen measures to scan passengers for higher body temperatures at airports, train and bus stations and ports, and reduce or cancel all unnecessary large gatherings.

Patients with serious symptoms should be treated by a team of medical workers with a specific plan, and hospitals should strengthen the protection of their staff to prevent infection within hospitals.

The city will promptly and objectively release information about disease prevention and control.

TLG quoted this news from third party news Chanel and this doesn’t represent our points of view, we can not judge and evaluate the case’s situation, travelers should check from their ordinary news recourses to get further details.

Here below you can learn more about  “Wuhan Coronavirus, the Chinese pneumonia outbreak”

The 2019–20 novel coronavirus outbreak, also known as the Wuhan coronavirus, the Chinese pneumonia outbreak or the Wuhan pneumonia (simplified Chinese: 武汉肺炎; traditional Chinese: 武漢肺炎; pinyin: Wǔhàn fèiyán), is a viral outbreak that was initially identified during mid-December 2019 in the city of Wuhan in central China, as an emerging cluster of people with pneumonia with no clear cause, which was linked primarily to stallholders who worked at the Huanan Seafood Market (华南海鲜市场), which also sold live animals. Chinese scientists subsequently isolated a new strain of the coronavirus, designated as 2019-nCoV, which has been found to be at least 70% similar in genome sequence to SARS-CoV. It is not clear however, whether the 2019-nCoV is of the same severity or lethality as SARS.

On 20 January 2020, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang urged decisive and effective efforts to prevent and control the pneumonia epidemic caused by a novel coronavirus. As of 22 January 2020, 17 deaths have occurred, all in China, and there is evidence of human-to-human transmission. Extensive testing has revealed more than 500 confirmed cases, some of whom are healthcare workers. Confirmed cases have also been reported in Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong and the United States. Read further on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019–20_outbreak_of_novel_coronavirus_(2019-nCoV)

Here is the governmental official news website (XinHuaNet) for more reference: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-01/14/c_138703493.htm 

When you travel under a foreign passport, you will have to travel legally  according to the Tibet local authority. During your traveling in Tibet, the three main primary documents are passports, China visa (or Tibet group visa) and Tibet entry permits. Different tour destination will need further document such as military permits, foreign affairs border passing permit, alien’s travel permits. Here is the document list for Tibet traveling. Please double check before coming to our land.

1. Valid Passports (at least valid for 6 months after your departure date of Tibet)
2. Valid China visa (for entering from China);
3. Tibet group visa (for entering Tibet from Nepal, you do not need to apply China via in your country, even so it will be cancelled);
4. Tibet entry travel permits for all Tibet tours;
5. Alien’s travel permits for trip covering Everest. Tsetang (Samye monastery), Kailash and north-loop Grand Tibet, eastern Tibet such as Draksumtso lake;
6. Foreign affairs permit (policy keeps changing on this section)
7. Border defense passing allowance permit (trip between Nepal and Tibet)
8. Military permits.

And here is another list of the documents which you will have to provide by email to us when you book a tour, we need these docs to apply some of the above necessary permits.

1. Photocopies of valid passports data page for all travelers (upon booking)
2. Photocopies of valid China visa (you can send it after you get it)
3. Working certificate or student Id card copies if you do not hold “L” China visa but Z or F type of China visa.
4. Marriage certificate or relatives’ statement with signature if you hold Q category China visa.

While booking your Tibet tour, we would like you to send us the copy of your Passport and China Visa for every member of the group. The copy of passport should be the same one you will be using to get your Chinese visa. If you renew your passports, but the China via is on the expired passport, please provide both passports photo copies.

If your visa is not the “L” category, i.e., tour category china visa, you will need to provide us the additional supporting document such as student certificates, resident and Work Permit and so on.

Please provide passport copies at least 2-4 weeks before arrival date. For Tibet tour without Kailash, eastern Tibet, North-loop Grand Tibet, we can accept urgent tour booking 2 weeks before your arrival date, but if your trip covers the places mentioned here, you’d better send us your passport photo copies 4 weeks to 5 weeks in advance at least, most of our Kailash travelers provide us passport copies half year in advance. And they can provide China visa copies 1 month in advance.

If you travel to Tibet from Nepal, we will only need your valid passport copies. Yet, we will have to apply for the Chinese Group Visa from the Chinese Embassy in Nepal.

Read further: Can I apply for Tibet Travel permit or Tibet group visa by ourselves?Definitely No, you cannot apply for Tibet travel permit or Tibet group visa directly. Tibet Travel Permit is only issued by Tibet Tourism Administration in Lhasa, together with other Chinese authorities such as military office, and foreign affairs office, national security office, public security bureau, etc. Therefore, an only local registered travel agency based in Lhasa can help you apply for it. Hence it is impossible for you to apply permits by yourself, and you will have to book your Tibet tour directly or indirectly with a local travel agency in Lhasa.

We do not suggest this kind of action because all procedures need time and strict inspection. But if you have any urgent situation and have only one week to prepare for everything needed for the Tibetan trip, as a professional and well-experienced Tibet travel agency, we can help you with all the documents you need (Group Visa for entry from Kathmandu by flight, TTB Permit). But this can be only possible for city tours like visits to Lhasa (Lhasa, Namtso and Ganden etc short distance and fully open area), Lake Namtso, Lake Yamdrok, Gyantse and Shigatse. However, we cannot guarantee 100 percent although we will try our best. If it is unlucky, you do not have to pay us single dollar for this TOP urgent case.

While booking your Tibet tour, we would like you to send us the copy of your Passport and China Visa for every member of the group. The copy of passport should be the same one you will be using to get your Chinese visa. If you renew your passports, but the China via is on the expired passport, please provide both passports photo copies.

If your visa is not the “L” category, i.e., tour category china visa, you will need to provide us the additional supporting document such as student certificates, resident and Work Permit and so on.

Please provide passport copies at least 2-4 weeks before arrival date. For Tibet tour without Kailash, eastern Tibet, North-loop Grand Tibet, we can accept urgent tour booking 2 weeks before your arrival date, but if your trip covers the places mentioned here, you’d better send us your passport photo copies 4 weeks to 5 weeks in advance at least, most of our Kailash travelers provide us passport copies half year in advance. And they can provide China visa copies 1 month in advance.

If you travel to Tibet from Nepal, we will only need your valid passport copies. Yet, we will have to apply for the Chinese Group Visa from the Chinese Embassy in Nepal.

Definitely! We will carry oxygen cylinder for emergency issues. And local hospitals are ready to deal with any emergency cases. We will take good care of every customer during the tour. The rise of altitude is not immediate and it is a gradual process. So if you feel anything wrong, you can inform your Tibetan guide instantly and we may need to adjust the Tibet tour program and wait for you to feel better and take optional easier tour program accordingly. And if anyone feels very uncomfortable, we will let him stay in the relatively low altitude places and will catch him/her later when we finish the high altitude tour.

This is a common question about Tibet travel permits and Tibet visa. Well, you need a Tibet Group Visa. However, you cannot apply this by yourself. We will send an electronic copy of visa invitation letter to our local travel agency in Kathmandu and they will apply this for you. There is no need to apply for an individual China Visa in your country if you decide to travel to Tibet from Nepal because the Chinese Embassy will cancel your China Visa when you receive your Tibet Group Visa.

Tibet, as known as “the roof top of the world’ has an average elevation around 4,500 meters above sea level. It is quite common that most travelers will have kind of mountain sickness after arrival in Tibet and during the trip in Tibet. Here let Tibet local guide tourism booking gateway provide the general information about Tibet travel destination and the main tourists attractions elevation in meters and feet.

Tibet Destinations Altitude

Well this is a very common question asked by many Indian travelers, especially many questions are raised by travelers from India. However due to the Tibet Kailash permits strict restrictions, all travel agencies here in Lhasa Tibet have no rights to apply any Tibet permits for Indian nationality passports holders for Kailash travel. This business is controlled by government pilgrimage office, namely they say they may have very strict and serious tourism arrangement management and they do not allow any travel agencies to organize these tours. However as travel agency in Lhasa, Tibet, we can organize all Kailash Manasarovar tours for any none Indian passports holders. If you are overseas Indian immigrants, we can definitely organize any tours in Tibet. The solution for Indian travelers Kailash tour booking is that, these travelers should book the Kailash trip with India based tour companies. Read further about Kailash tours here.

Well it is a big concern for most worldwide travelers. People begin to ask whether this will infect their trip plan to Tibet and or other parts of China. Well it looks quite clear that the traveling in February will be seriously infected since most tourists attractions are not allowed in, and this is the right method to protect the travelers and avoid further virus transfer, thanks to the government wise decision but we wish the situation will become normal again soon after the new year. By the way Tibetan new year 2020 is to be on Feb.25 and there is no any report about Novel Coronavirus diseases cases report so far here in Lhasa. It is still too early to say whether it is suitable to travel in Tibet in 2020 and there is no information of Tibet closure on Tibet permits. But we do suggest travelers postpone their Tibet travel plan, since people do not have to book the tours so early. Permits can be applied few weeks before arrival date. check further about Tibet permits FAQs.

Traveler’s Risk Assessment

Outbreaks of novel virus infections among people are always of public health concern. The risk from these outbreaks depends on characteristics of the virus, including whether and how well it spreads between people, the severity of resulting illness, and the medical or other measures available to control the impact of the virus (for example, vaccine or treatment medications).

The Number of Coronavirus Cases (Updated 2020.1.26 12:00)

Tip: In an effort to decrease the escalation of cases, many activities that may cause crowds to gather have been be canceled including events like large New Year celebrations, popular tourist attractions, movie releases and so on. We have received notice of the closure of tourist attractions in Beijing, Xi’an, Shanghai, Chengdu, Zhangjiajie, Huangshan, Guilin, and Tibet etc. The reopening time of these attractions has not yet been decided. We do not recommend traveling to Tibet and other parts of China before the end of February. Check further about the China Coronavirus cases.

Why has the number of confirmed coronavirus cases risen so quickly since January 17th?

• The method of diagnosing the Coronavirus has been confirmed and now the discovery process takes less time.
• The Chinese government has implemented a strict policy that requires local governments to be transparent about the number and severity of cases.
• The Spring Festival travel rush has speeded up the spread of the virus. It is predicted that the number of cases will continue rising quickly in the following 1-2 weeks because of the large movement of people within China.

Our government has learned a lot from the SARS outbreak which we all remember. This time they have acted quickly and are co-operating with the WHO to keep the world informed about what is happening. Tibet Local Guide Travel Service team have been in the travel industry for over one decade and we have lots of experience with handling such critical situations. It is important to us that you feel comfortable and safe during your visit and we will respect any requests or decisions you make regarding your travels.

Any customer that has booked a Tibet trip with us can cancel or reschedule it for free. If you would like to change your trip, we also offer tours to destinations such as Nepal and Bhutan.

China has one of the biggest and busiest rail networks in the world, and trains link almost every town & city. With the Qinghai Tibet railway line in use since June 2007, Tibet train travel becomes more and more popular not only for China mainland travelers, but also for international tourists. Generally speaking, Chinese trains are a safe, comfortable & cheap way to travel around China, and a Chinese train journey is an experience in itself, in contrast with less reliable and environmentally-unfriendly internal flights. However, because of the massive follow of people taking the trains everyday, it is VERY CROWDED especially in major big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Chengdu, Xi’an, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, etc. The Qinghai Tibet plateau’s railway stations are not as busy as any others train stations at all. However, China is never lack of population. To ensure you have a safety, comfortable and healthy train journey to Tibet, Tibet local guide tourism booking platform has the following packing suggestion list:

1. A surgical or protectional mask or fit-tested respirator
2. Snacks and easy food;
3. Water Bottles for boiled water;
4. Flash light (Train lights turns off at around 22:00);
5. Eyeshade and earplugs, and personal washing staff such as soap, towel;
6. Tooth brush and toothpaste, slippers, shavers, etc;
7. Necessary medicine such as pain killer, high altitude medicine, anti-viruses medicine, herbal medicine, etc (please get reliable advice from your doctors).

And we suggest you drink clean water when on the train, and try to get as much fresh air as possible. Since there are many people in most stations, and the train cabins are too tightly sealed, if you do not have to experience a train journey, we even would rather suggest avoid the train travel in viruses sensitive spring seasons.

The answer to this question is “Partially Yes while Partially No”. When you are in Lhasa, you can take taxi, pedicab and bus, this is no problem. However when you traveling under your foreign passports and want to go out of Lhasa, you are not allowed to do so. All foreign travelers must travel with tour licensed vehicles which are arranged by legal travel agencies, additionally when you travel out of Lhasa, a tour guide must be included in your tour package.  But please be noted that, public transport is cheap and convenient in Tibet for local people. The Lhasa buses are mostly busy and crowded and there are too many people on board. It is not always great idea to do this because when people gather together, nobody knows who gets sick  and  whether there is potential person to person virus transfer. If you have a chance to go by bus in Lhasa, you’d better wear a mask as most local people do, this is not only good for protecting your skin agains the sunburn and from the sandy storms, but also good to agains the virus transfer.