Guangzhou-Lhasa Train Travel Guide: All You Need to Know

Guangzhou-Lhasa Train (Z264) measures the longest distance among all direct trains to Lhasa, 4980 kilometers. During its about 54 hours’ running, Z264 embraces almost the whole better part of China. Start your China trip from Guangzhou and then head to north, and then northwest, west, southwest and finally to the holy Lhasa. Across the whole journey on the train, your eyes and heart would be feasted by all various fabulous views on Chinese earth through the train windows, busy and prosperous metropolis, ancient grand cities, typical northwest sights, snowy mountains, plateau lakes, wild donkeys…..

Basis Information of Guangzhou-Lhasa Train

For people who plan travel to Tibet by the Guangzhou-Lhasa Train and wish to book the tickets, you need to learn about what the price, route and duration it bears.

The Online Price of Z264/Z266

The Train Schedule of Z264

How to Book Guangzhou-Lhasa Train Tickets?

As there is only single one train daily launched from Guangzhou to Lhasa and the more and more huge demands of Tibet Train Tours, hard-to-get tickets of Guangzhou-Lhasa Train is always the first concern for people planning Tibet travel throughout the whole year, seeming much more serious in peak season (July to October).

Usually, online tickets booking and train station & tickets agency booking are the major channels to get Guangzhou-Lhasa train tickets. The physical outlets require you wait in a long queue but hardly ensure you get a ticket successfully with the same price of online because the price tends to fluctuate according to market demand. Online booking assures you the fixed price but forces you to snatch the tickets with a huge number of individual customers and travel agencies in a grim situation. In addition, buying train tickets would not be very easy and simple for foreigners if they don’t speaking Chinese or understand little about the booking website.

When considering the real conditions of Tibet Tours by train which has problems of hard tickets booking and Tibet Permit demanding, the package of Tour + Train Tickets Booking by a professional travel agency is apparently the first recommended choice for the individual travelers. Firstly because that travelers usually need to join in tour of a tourist company then they can get Travel Permit. Secondly because that many travel agencies offer only tour & ticket package but no single booking service, and even a few provide this service, they would charge quite higher service fee to the customers.

Chinaxiantour offers both tour + ticket booking packages and just ticket booking services to our customers. We always strive to give our customers the finest possible service at the most affordable price. With the Guangzhou-Lhasa Train Tour, we are pleased to make the impossible possible and allow everyone of our guests to enjoy their Tibet adventures to the fullest.

√Read more for Tibet train travel:

• Latest FAQs and Tips for Traveling to Tibet
• Beijing-Lhasa Train travel guide
• Chongqing-Lhasa Train Travel Guide
• How to Take a Train to Tibet

Guangzhou-Lhasa Train Seats and Other Facilities

1. Three Seat Options of the Train

There are three sorts of options on the train to Lhasa from Guangzhou, soft sleepers combined with hard sleepers and hard seat. Considering the tour in Tibet need a good physical condition, the hard sleepers with long term toil on aboard are not suggested in case of causing more serious altitude stress. Hard & soft sleepers engage the listed merits and demerits as following, which sheds a light on travelers’ decision about transportation based on own condition.

– Hard sleeper

• Cheaper;make friends easily with other passengers to kill time on aboard
• 6 berths in an open coach without door; relatively noisy; smaller room and berth space; less private space & belongings safety

– Soft sleeper

• 4 berths in a carriage with open to confirm private space relatively; more luxurious, cozy quiet, and comfortable; more roomy space for each passenger; lower risk for safety of belongings
• Much more expensive

Shanghai-Lhasa Train Tours, which has been operating successfully, advises soft sleepers for all of the aforementioned benefits. We respectfully recommend this since, due to Tibet’s location on Tibetan Plateau, the world’s highest plateau and its thinner oxygen. Ordinary people who live in plains or areas with comparatively lower elevations must adjust to comfortable physical and sleeping conditions as soon as they board the train. After all, our fundamental tenet is that safety should always come first when travelling.

√Recommended Tibet Tours by Train:

• 7 Days Xining and Lhasa Tour by Qinghai Tibet Railway
• 11 Days Xining Lhasa Shigatse Tingri EBC Tour
• 11 Days Tibet Train Tour with Nyingchi

2. The Equipment and Food on the Guangzhou-Lhasa Train

1. The train are well equipped with the modern and convenient facilities which are introduced into Chinese, Tibetan language and English.
2. Although most infrastructure are introduced by English, foreigners may have some problems in ordering meals or something like that when the serving stuff can speak English, so you are suggested to download a translation software which will help a lot.
3. All the carriages are installed with charging devices and oxygen supplement outlets.
4. You are suggested to bring some food and fruit yourself, such as instant noodles, ham sausage, chocolates and apples. Surely, the dining car offers the typical Chinese meals and some snack foods & fruits to the customers.

The Guangzhou-Lhasa Train’s Advantages and Disadvantages, as well as Substitutes for the Shortcomings

The Guangzhou-Lhasa Train’s Advantages

The first merit of Train tour compared with plane is that train always allow you to hold the feeling that you are a part of the scenes on earth when you drive across the vast land while plane is used to playing the role of a visiting guest from the high sky to watch map when you cast your eye sight from plane window down to the large land pitch. Guangzhou-Lhasa is a train giving you an impression that you are making friends with the cities, mountains, lakes and deserts along the rails during the whole driving.

Secondly, the 4980 km distance also create a unique journey that strings distinct Chinese landmarks together, posing you the tremendous joy even though when you don’t enter to Tibet area at all.

Thrillingly, Guangzhou-Lhasa seldom miss the highlight sighting views along its track in daytime due to its running schedule. And the relatively slow and gentle way would has less possibility to cause altitude sickness.

The Guangzhou-Lhasa Train’s Beauty is Unavoidably Accompanied by Certain Shortcomings:

• Almost 54 hours train time would be a huge challenge for both physical and mental character considering its toil.
• 54 hours train journey means you need more than 2 days on the way, if you plan a round way train transfer then the time on the way would occupy 4.5 days, which is little possible for people who have limited time arrangement.
• The direct tickets for Guangzhou-Lhasa are always sought-after throughout the whole years, so it is difficult for an individual to buy a direct Shanghai-Lhasa ticket.

Based on Our Extensive Knowledge, Wise Substitute Options to Prevent Those Shortages:  

• Take flight to Xining where Qinghai-Tibet railway starts to run and then have about 22 hours by Xining-Lhasa Train to your destination. Thus, you little suffer from the too long train journey. Meanwhile, a ticket for Xining-Lhasa is relatively easily to get compared with Beijing-Lhasa.
• Take Guangzhou-Xining trains for about 20 hours firstly and stay one or more days at Xining where you can visit some famous attractions likeQinghai Lake, Ta’er Lamasery and taste typical northwestern food. Afterwards, continue journey to Tibet by Xining-Lhasa Train.
• Take direct Guangzhou-Lhasa train to come to Tibet and take flight back to Beijing or other inland cities, which will decrease the risk of altitude stress and also save your time on the way.

The first choice above is the best one because it may minimise danger and the lack of direct Guangzhou-Lhasa Train Tours at a reasonable price. The second one requires more time but is not affected by altitude stress. Naturally, this choice is equally deserving of a favour if you have ample time for your plan. The last one should better be the fallback if the first three options fail to meet your condition as there is still flaws existing with it.

Best China Tours to Tibet:

• 19 Days China Essence Tour
• 15 Days China Tour with Panda Visit & Tibet Adventure
• 10 Days Yunnan and Tibet Tour