Qinghai Travel FAQs
General FAQs
When is the best time to visit Qinghai & Amdo?
The best time to travel to Qinghai Province is during the period from May to October. In the middle of May, the grass starts to turn to green, plenty of migratory birds appear in Qinghai Lake, the province come to a period full of vigor. Summer is the best season to travel in Qinghai, it is blossom for the grassland and many festivals will be hold during the season, such as Tibetan Horse Racing Festival.
What to bring if I travel to Qinghai & Amdo?
The temperatures in Qinghai are quite different during day time and night time, it is necessary to add or strip clothes to avoid becoming ill. The personal items listed below are general main stuffs recommended to keep with you when you are travelling to Tibet:
- 'Layered' clothing for flexibility
- A 'fleece' jacket and a good/warm waterproof windbreaker
- T-shirts or long and short sleeved shirts/sweaters
- Comfortable/warm walking shoes
- A combination of loose fitting and warm pants
- Sun hat, sunglasses, suntan lotion, lipsticks, umbrella, day pack etc.
- The hotel facility is lower rate in the remote areas, it is suggested you to bring an inner sheet or a light sleeping bag incase any use.
The above list is the regular things to pack, we will provide a list of appropriate travel stuffs depending on your travel types, itineraries and travel areas.
Are credit cards accepted in Qinghai & Amdo?
Credit cards currently are still not popular way of payment that is accepted only at major banks, hotels, big restaurants and big business houses in Xining. ATM is not widely available in Qinghai and Amdo.
Travel & Tours
Do I need travel documents or travel permits for traveling Qinghai & Amdo? For regular tour, it is no need travel permits when you are travelling to Qinghai, Kham and Amdo Tibetan regions in Qinghai. However, the temporary prohibition from the local government may occur without notice due to political reasons, government orders or natural force. Then we will help change the optional route and try our best to avoid the affection of your tours.
Where are your tours going in Qinghai?
Our tours cover anywhere in Qinghai, but mainly offer the off-beaten-track tours in remote or lesser-visited parts for hidden explorations, such as Amdo and Kham Tibetan regions in Qinghai.
What are your Qinghai & Amdo tours features?
What do you mainly focus on?
Qinghai is rich in both cultural and natural landscapes, as well as ethnic folk customs. Our Qinghai tours are trying to offer a combination of them with an unforgettable travel experience.
Lodging and Dining
What are the accommodations like in Qinghai & Amdo?
The hotels in the capital city of Xining is the best available that has hotels ranging from budget to luxury. In other lesser cities in Qinghai Lake and Tongren have hotels 3 or 4 star mountain rating (less than city standard) categories. In smaller towns, the hotels are more basic. Further in remote or mountainous towns, the accommodation is rudimentary or the guest house with dorm bed and outhouse toilet that may be the squatting pot.
Does the hotel room have access or WIFI to internet?
The internet access or wifi service is available in hotel rooms in some popular or bigger cities or towns, not all, but most of hotels equipped business center where you can use internet service, and this is not for hotels in remote or smaller places.
Is there 24-hour hot water running?
It is no problem for the hotels in bigger cities, but it is not for hotels in mountainous regions or remote places where has the basic condition, sometimes with the poor pressure, the water flow may small and water sometime is not hot but just warm, or the hot water available for a few hours, such as from 7:00pm to 7:00am. In remote area, the condition can be even worse.
What can I eat in Qinghai & Amdo?
The food in Qinghai is not tasty as other parts of China, but there has some choices for Sichuan food, Muslim food, Tibetan food and local northwestern cuisine. In the remote places, the food has limited options and the restaurant is less standard as the one in bigger cities.
Transportation
Can you reserve the air tickets and train tickets for Qinghai?
Yes, we can help for air tickets and train tickets reservation. The earlier booking, the more guaranteed that is suggested to book the tickets at least 20 days prior to the trip schedule and your scancopied passport front page is required.
For famous Qinghai-Tibet train tickets, due to the popularity of train travel to Tibet, it has resulted in the huge demand for Tibet train tickets among visitors, especially during the high peak season from July to September. It's very difficult for individual travelers to get a ticket on their own. We will try to get train tickets for you but please be aware of a fact that the reliable travel agencies can NOT say 100% guarantee successful booking. Or you can consider to take the train out.
What vehicle do you use in Qinghai?
The wide variety of vehicles can be best available for tourists according to the group size, itinerary and road conditions. 4WD Toyota Land Cruiser or Mitsubishi jeep are used in Amdo area for the areas involve tough road driving and off road excursions. But the road condition is not all tough in places in Amdo or Qinghai, most of roads or highways in Qinghai are pretty good. For those places, smaller and medium sized van or bus are used. Large buses are available for larger groups. Trekking, motor ride, motor biking, cycling and mountain biking are the ways to get around in Qinghai and Amdo.