Qinghai—Tibet Railway in Others’ Eyes

By building this railway on the "Roof of the World", China rewrote the world's history of railway construction. The feat also nullified the prophetic words given by American train traveler Paul Theroux, who said that the Kunlun Mountain Range was "a guarantee that the railway will never get to Lhasa."

Extending 1,956 kilometers from Xining to Lhasa, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the world's longest plateau railway. It is also the world's highest. Some 960 kilometers of its tracks were laid 4,000 meters above sea level. The highest section is 5,072 meters above sea level, even 200 meters higher than the Peruvian Railway that runs on the Andes and was once dubbed "the world's most elevated rail tracks."

Under harsh conditions of a low oxygen level and low temperatures, the railway builders solved several difficulties in design and construction to create an "engineering marvel". On the permafrost and slush along the route once believed to be impossible to support tracks and trains, the train speed can reach 100 kilometers per hour.

The completion of the railway also paves the way for trade between China and South Asian nations such as India and Nepal, which were blocked by inconvenient transportation.

The Oushinet commented that “It’s not just simply a road built by China, but a path leading towards development and promotion.” It expressed its consern about building a railway at the high altitude of about 5000 meters at first. However, the mission impossible had been solved by Chinese engineers within 5 year. This marvel again, demonstrated that any impossible thing else where meant possible in China.

If you want to travel to Tibet by this miracle Tibet train, now is the time to find where to book ticket to Lhasa. For more information in English, visit http://www.tibettravel.org/tibet-train, which is owned by China International Travel Coporation, Tibet Service and this company offers a wide array of trips to Tibet by train.