Have your say and vote for your favorite in our global Facebook poll.
Tibet gets closer for Shanghai residents
Long weekend in Tibet? Well not quite, but the idea's not that far off with a new tourism deal between Shanghai and Lhasa
It just got easier for travelers from Shanghai to see this and other stupas on the Tibetan plateau.When people talk about "escaping Shanghai’s urban chaos" they usually mean a weekend in Moganshan, not Tibet. But that might be about to change with recent agreements between Shanghai and Lhasa, capital city of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
The talks could mean the availability of new luxury train trips between the two destinations as well as the possibility of shorter trips for those who don't have a month to devote to travel in the area. Long weekend at a spiritual retreat in the Himalayas anyone?
Representatives from the two cities signed an agreement of tourism cooperation over the weekend at the 2010 Expo.
"We will provide Shanghai guests with customized and high-end tourism services through negotiation with the Shanghai government, local tourism agencies and airline companies," said Jiang Hua, director of the Lhasa Tourism Bureau to reporters at the Tibet Week event at the Shanghai Expo.
Expect more flights to Lhasa from Shanghai as well as luxury railway trips from Chengdu, Sichuan Province and Xining, Qinghai Province.
Tibetan tourism authorities are also working with local travel agencies to develop more short-stay trips around Lhasa, from three to five days, Jiang said, catering to those traveling from China’s major cities like Shanghai.
