From Xining, tourists who chose to take a train to start their Tibet train tour will experience the latitude change on the railway to Lhasa gradually, and you will get high altitude sickness along the railroad possibly. But it will help relieve the symptoms on the trains with the oxygen and medical service. Tibet Tourism will show you the symptoms of high altitude sickness and we will also give you some advice on the medical service on the train. You can ask for help if you feel very uncomfortable on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

What is High Altitude Sickness

When people reach a place at an elevation of over 3,000m too fast, they cannot get used to the thinner air there, which will cause their body to get more oxygen by breathing faster. And that will lead to a headache and other symptoms to those people. It is called high altitude sickness. But everyone can acclimate to the high altitude as time goes by. When their body get used to the environment, they will feel better at high altitude places.

Tibet Train on Qinghai-Tibet Railway

Generally speaking, anyone can get high altitude sickness no matter they are healthy or not. And it doesn’t necessarily relate to your gender or your age. You can figure it out only when you are arriving at a high-altitude place by yourself. You should pay attention to your body when you are on the Tibet train to Lhasa from low altitude. It will be dangerous if you ignore those symptoms and allow your body to acclimate to the high altitude without any preparations. However, as a professional Tibet travel agency, we will suggest that you ask for advice from your doctor to make sure that your body can acclimate to the high altitude within a short time. Here are some common symptoms that of altitude sickness and you can have a check for yourself when you are on the Qinghai-Tibet Train to Lhasa.

The Symptoms of High Altitude Sickness

Here are the mild symptoms that will be relieved after having a sleep during the night. Someone will have these symptoms one or two days later after they arrive high altitude plateau.

A headache.
Rapid heartbeat and you feel it is hard to breathe.
Chest stuffiness.
Loss of appetite.

Here are some severe symptoms that needed medicines. You should lie down and get some rest as soon as possible. If you feel worse and worse after you arrive in Tibet you should go to see a doctor immediately.

Low fever.
High fever.
You vomit frequently.
Terrible confusions.
Experience a hallucination.

Altitude Change along Qinghai-Tibet Railway

At an elevation of 2,275m, Xining is the perfect starting point for passengers to take the train to Lhasa since very few people will suffer high altitude sickness in this place. All Tibet trains from other major cities will make a stop here for tourists to breathe air and stretch their legs. But as the train departs Xining, the altitude will change greatly.

The train will arrive at Delingha Railway Station after 4 hours. The altitude here is about 2,980m. Some people may feel a little bit sick here since the altitude is about 3,000m. However, you don’t need to worry about it because you get here from a low-altitude place after 4 hours and you will acclimate the change well.

As the train heads west, it will pass Golmud Train Station and go through Kunlun Mountain Pass that sits at an altitude of 4,700m. From Golmud to Kunlun Mountain Pass, you will experience an altitude change of 1,890m. Be careful with your body change since you will get to the highest train station of Qinghai-Tibet Railway - Tanggula Pass with an altitude of 5,072 next. In order to protect passengers’ health, this station does not allow anyone to get off since the air is very thin here at such a high altitude. If you don’t feel very well, you can make the best use of the oxygen supplies on the train and drink water as much as possible to help relieve your symptoms. Don’t get too upset about your sickness because you may overcome them at last.

The last station is Lhasa and the altitude here will allow you to breathe easily again since it is only 3,650m above sea level. However, you should not get too excited because your body still needs more time and energy to acclimate the altitude and be prepared for your Tibet tour. So, you’d better go to your hotel and get some rest. If you are traveling with us, we will try our best to give you the best advice and make sure that you can enjoy every minute in Tibet with a good health condition.

Medical Service on Tibet Trains

Every train line is equipped with oxygen supplies to help tourists acclimate the altitude change when heading to Lhasa from Xining. That is why most people will recommend taking a train to Tibet to avoid being too sick because of getting to a high altitude place too fast. And there is also medical staff on the train to help those tourists who get severe high altitude sickness. When you are not feeling good, you can tell those staff about your symptoms to get some expert advice to help you acclimate to the high altitude properly. If you are feeling worse and worse, they will provide some medicines and take good care of you to make sure that you can feel better from those symptoms gradually.