Railway authorities announced on June 12 that the Beijing-Lhasa railway has been extended to the city of Changchun to meet tourist demand, with two different numbers and two sets of tickets, for the Changchun-Beijing route and the Beijing-Lhasa route, now on sale.

Passenger train on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. [Photo by Wang Song/Xinhua]

The train on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau is supplied with an oxygen system because of the elevation. The train departs Changchun for Beijing, where it makes an hour and a half stop to change plates, from Z722 to Z21, before heading for Lhasa.

The total one-way trip to Lhasa from Changchun takes about 55 hours.