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admin · Site Admin Joined: 22 Oct 2006 Posts: 24

Please use this thread to post any useful information or weblinks regarding travel to or within Tibet - Many thanks guys

admin · Site Admin Joined: 22 Oct 2006 Posts: 24

Visas:
You need a visa for China firstly.

The first rule when applying for a visa as an independent traveller is to expect that you will be refused a visa if you mention plans to visit Tibet. A single-entry tourist visa (for entry into China no later than three months after issue) can be obtained by application in person or perhaps by mail to Chinese consulates abroad. Unfortunately, the maximum duration of tourist visas issued can change without announcement. Since 2002 visas of up to 90 days have usually been available. An application form must be completed, and lodged with a suitable photograph, a passport with six months unexpired and with at least two blank pages, preferably adjacent, and a written itinerary from a travel agent or airline (which does not need to show more than bookings to and from China; actual tickets are not required); and the visa fee. Check with your local Chinese consulate for latest info.

Application forms ask for: Occupation - do not say journalist, reporter, photographer etc., or political anything; the purpose of the journey - "Tourism" will suffice; places to be visited in China - the answer is in no way binding, but must not include any mention of Tibet.

Tibet Permits:

There is some confusion at the moment regarding whether or not the Tibet Travel Permits (TTB)are still required. The usual practice is for the permits to be obtained by tour operators at the point of departure as components of tour packages to Lhasa. Such tour packages can be nominal, including as little as the permit itself, one-way air ticket and transfer to the departing airport. A T.T.B. permit is a list of one or more travellers, stamped with a seal by the T.T.B.; in many cases permits are held by tour operators and not seen by the travellers.

T.T.B. permits for entry to the T.A.R. (Tibet Autonomous Region) should not be confused with Aliens' Travel Permits, issued by the police, and necessary for travel to closed areas; in fact, Lhasa is not technically a closed area.

admin · Site Admin Joined: 22 Oct 2006 Posts: 24

Does it seem that the days of the T.T.B. permit are numbered? In August 2006 police in Chengdu were checking the papers of foreigners in the special departure waiting room for Lhasa trains, informing them that T.T.B. permits had been unlawful since 1st July 2006. In Lhasa, tour operators believed that the requirement for T.T.B. permits would be abandoned by 1st October 2006.

Meanwhile, it has remained impossible in Chengdu to get an air ticket for Lhasa except as part of a package including a T.T.B. permit. The position with train tickets is different becasue the tix do not name the holder, and are therefore transferable. There were some reports that the Chengdu train station was refusing to sell Lhasa tickets to foreigners. There appeared to be nothing to stop a foreigner getting a local to buy a ticket and then using it himself. No one was checking to see that foreigners held permits.