Nine Million Tourists Minus Two!

Qinghai-Tibet railway. Photo courtesy of the Chinese government

Tashi delek! and welcome back to the Yellow River Chronicles.   As you know, the YRC is focused on going places and then lying about our experiences when we come back.  This is the heart of all travel stories...changing the facts for dramatic effect and good story telling.  For example, a near miss with a black tip reef shark in the Phillipines becomes ...bad seafood.  And a 5,000 foot sudden drop on an Aeoflot flight became....bad seafood!     It's a much better story that way, don't you think?


So, while we may continue to "stretch a few" in the interest of totally biased journalism in the inimitable YRC style, we are going to "change up the mojo" a little this week.   Instead of talking about a place that we have visited, this week we are going to chat about a place that we will NOT be visiting...Tibet.  We are going to stick to the facts, because this one doesn't need additional seasoning.

Photo courtesy of the Telegraph and the Ambassador

We'll start with a somewhat perplexing article from the UK Telegraph by Liu Xiaoming, the Chinese ambassador to Britain. published July 26, 2012.

 The title of the article is "Tibet is a better place than it used to be" and you can read the whole article here:  Click here to read the Telegraph article!

The article basically points out that things are just, well, better in Tibet now.  But here's the section that caught the eye of the ever-vigilant YRC staff:

Tibetan culture is not closed. It needs exchanges with the outside world. Certain material conditions are required for such exchanges. Improved transport links is one of them. More than five decades ago, Tibet had neither highway nor railway. Today a highway network centring on Lhasa has been put in place. Its reach is in excess of 20,000 kilometres. The Qinghai-Tibet railway climbs over the Kunlun Mountain towering at 4,600 metres. It has one of the most stunning views of any railway in the world. Nearly 50 million people have travelled to and from Tibet this way. There are also air links between Tibet, and more than 10 Chinese and foreign cities. Last year alone, Tibet received around 8.7 million tourists from home and abroad. At the same time, more and more Tibetan artists travel widely across China and around the world spreading Tibetan culture.

THE BACK STORY:  Late last year, the YRC staff gathered at the sacred cocktail table to plan travel for 2012. It was going to be an unusual year because there were to be perhaps +10 separate visits to Shanghai by friends and family, drawn by the warmth and charm of China as described in the YRC.  

The globe-trotting Gula Family at Jing'An Temple

(This year has already seen visits by the crowd-stopping Tchamwas, the adroit Gula family, the epic tour by Dragon Lady and Her Consort, old hands El Zorro and Jerry Perry Berry, Spin-Spin and Stash and several other planned visits by family and friends.  Pack your suitcase, there is a party going on!)

The planned visit schedule meant that we would have time for ONE EPIC TRIP, headed for...you guessed it, the Open and Very Much Better Tibet Autonomous Region.  We planned to ride the Qinghai-Tibet railway and hike around Tibet for two weeks.  We found a great outfitter, booked the trip, packed our backpacks and then...unpacked them.

Photo courtesy of Corbis. 

We would not be going.   While the good Liu Xiaoming and +8.7 million other tourists will visit the TAR this year, the YRC staff and friends will not.

Travel to Tibet requires a special permit.  It looked like we would get the permits, but then the borders were closed to all foreign travel in early June.  There are lots of good articles on that, but the Wall Street Journal has a succinct version HERE.  


Then in late June, the border "reopened".  The following was released (from China Digital Times):

(Most) Foreigners Can Travel to Tibet

Earlier this month, travel agents told the media of a state ban on foreign travel to Tibet. It seems foreigners are once again allowed entrance, albeit under some curious stipulations. Columbia University Tibetan Studies professor Robert Barnett tweeted a link to an update on the Land of Snows travel blog earlier today:

[...]The early word out of Lhasa and the Tibet Tourism Bureau, which many major news networks across the globe picked up, was that the TAR would be closed until late August or early September. However, the Tibet Tourism Bureau had a meeting today (June 18) and will begin processing permits for foreigners again starting on June 20th. There are still a lot of restrictions. Only groups of 5 people from the same country will have their permits processed. This means that if you are traveling with a mixed nationality group, you probably will not be able to get travel permits. Also, for some reason the Tibet Tourism Bureau has stated that people from Norway, the UK, Austria and Korea will not be able to apply for permits to travel to the Tibet Autonomous Region. No real reason was given today for this by the Tibet Tourism Bureau. Also, when the TAR reopens on June 20th, Everest Base Camp will remain closed. Again, no reason was given for this. Lastly, the Tibet Tourism Bureau has told travel agencies that in order to process permits for the required groups of 5, travel agencies will need to submit proof that 50% to 100% of the tour is paid for in advance. This means that anyone planning to go to the TAR will need to pay at least a 50% deposit before their permits can be processed and may even need to have the tour paid for in full.

Photo courtesy of Land of Snows travel blog

You can read a good summary, at the Land of Snows travel blog.  To sum it all up, some foreign visitors may be visiting Tibet in the future but it is getting increasingly difficult.


You put your application in,
You put your permit out,
You put your visa in,
And you shake it all about,
You do the hokey pokey
and you turn yourself around
That what it's all about.


Sadly, however, the Yellow River Chronicles staff will NOT be visiting:  there is another catch.  Americans theoretically may visit if they meet the requirements above and have Chinese tourist visas. However, Americans with residence visas can not travel.   While a tear or two has fallen into our morning martinis, we are here as guests of the People's Republic and must respect their laws.  It's that simple.  All the snarky journalism in the world is not going to get us into Tibet....but somebody needs to call Liu Xiaoming...


Buuutttt, we are working on a special report on Tibet tourism for those who can tour!  Check it out at the YRC next week and thanks for tuning in!