On this highland where the light of Buddha shines brightly, just a few steps can take you to heaven. Unless you’ve set foot on this sacred land yourself, you’ll never understand why Tibet becomes such an emotional attachment in life. Here, there’s brilliant sunshine, white clouds, pristine skies, tranquil lakes, continuous snow-capped mountains, numerous temples, devout believers, and a simple, honest way of life....
After the fifth edition of the "Journey to the West" public welfare and poverty alleviation road trip traveled into Tibet along the Sichuan-Tibet National Highway 318, from August 2 to August 9, 2018, the sixth edition—jointly initiated by Beijing Xing Tianxia Auto Club, China Traffic Radio of China National Radio, MiXing Network, and Zhihui, and sponsored by Danfu Lubricants—continued its journey deep into Tibet, heading toward Everest Base Camp and the Qinghai-Tibet Highway !
Along the way, we saw two of Tibet’s sacred lakes, Namtso and Yamdrok, witnessed the magnificence of Mount Everest, experienced route adjustments due to mudslide blockages, traversed the vast Hoh Xil uninhabited area (on the Qinghai-Tibet Highway), and even made high-altitude book donations at the foot of Everest while learning about the challenges and progress of local poverty alleviation efforts. In short, this installment was full of highlights. As usual, let’s first take a look at our overall route for the fifth and sixth editions combined !
The sixth edition started from Lhasa, headed straight for Everest Base Camp, then retraced the Qinghai-Tibet Highway all the way back to Beijing
As with previous travel logs, I’d like to give special thanks again to our sponsor, Danfu Lubricants, and the book donation partner, Fude Public Welfare Foundation
Day 1
August 2 | Location: Lhasa – Yamdrok Lake – Shigatse | Event: Yamdrok Lake
Today, due to border permit arrangements, our departure wasn’t very early, but luck was on our side—we not only saw Yamdrok Lake shrouded in mist but also caught glimpses of it in sunshine !
Alright, time for some real highlights !
It’s still stunning even through the clouds
Here’s a clearer shot
Might as well jump then !
Even if you can’t jump, you gotta do the same pose
Once we got to the lakeshore, the weather was clear and the view was breathtaking
Actually, the back scenery was amazing too—the glacier right in front of us
Wanna learn more about the glacier ?
The reservoir beneath the glacier is also beautiful
Here’s a closer shot
Finally, listening to Han Hong’s “My Hometown is Shigatse,” we drove along this beautiful highway back to our resting place for the day !
Day 2
August 3 | Location: Shigatse – Everest Base Camp – Tingri | Event: Reaching the farthest point and seeing Everest
The altitude was high today, but that was nothing—we had already acclimatized. We arrived at the sacred Everest Base Camp and witnessed the magnificence of Mount Everest ! (For those interested in our team members, please refer back to the fifth edition travel log)
Looks like everyone’s in great spirits—they even know how to strike a pose !
Everest reflected under cloud cover
Surrounding peaks
Wildlife around Everest—we also spotted rabbits and foxes
One of our senior members insisted on staying until the end, and before leaving, we got a full view of Everest’s grandeur
One more shot !
This one is a bonus.
We finally left the park late at night, had a warm dinner, slept on an electric blanket, and had a great sleep. Tomorrow will be even more exciting!
Day 3
August 4 | Location: Dingri — Poverty Alleviation Activity — Tashilhunpo Monastery — Lhasa (Renbu County) | Events: Poverty Alleviation Activity, Route Change
Early in the morning, we went to the county poverty alleviation office to donate the books that had traveled 5,000 kilometers.
During our interactions, we learned about the progress and challenges of local poverty alleviation efforts.
We hope the local community can make good use of these books.
Here’s a group photo to wrap it up.
After donating the books, we visited Tashilhunpo Monastery, the seat of the Panchen Lama.
The Yarlung Tsangpo River under the sunlight
This needs to be documented.
But we encountered a road closure at the 4800 km mark on G318, leaving us unable to return to Lhasa. We were stuck in a dilemma, which tested both our team and the tour leader. The leader decided to first address our basic needs and think of the best solution. There were a few options: one, wait for the road to reopen (but no one knew when), two, return to Shigatse (which would make the rest of the trip very tough), or three, cross over to a small town called Renbu County, about 10 km away on the map, and set up camp there (the best option, but unfortunately, the town had few hotels and no available information!). So, the leader and Lao Luo formed an exploration team to find a hotel in Renbu County. We got lucky—the hotel we stayed in had plenty of hot water and even floor heating. The conditions were great, except the road leading there was a bit rough.
Here’s a picture (perhaps the thrill of the journey into Tibet lies in moments like this).
Day 4
August 5 | Location: Renbu County — Namtso Lake — Nagqu | Events: Namtso Lake
On the way, we passed by Lhasa again—reminded me of the song “Back to Lhasa.” Although we didn’t go back to the Potala Palace, we were heading to the stunning Namtso Lake next.
A distant view of Namtso Lake
A closer view
It’s so beautiful, let’s jump for joy.
Here’s a shot of the tour leader from the back.
A couple’s photo, tossing some grain
This one’s a bit... (but we had our comedian Lao Luo with us).
Farewell time with snow-capped mountains in the distance
Day 5
August 6 | Location: Nagqu — Hoh Xil — Golmud | Events: Qinghai-Tibet Highway, Hoh Xil No-Man’s Land, Low-Altitude Golmud
Today was a real test—800 km of mostly permafrost roads and numerous mountain passes, but our team is strong.
Once we crossed Tanggula Mountain, we entered Hoh Xil.
Artistic-looking rock
Snowy mountains near the mountain pass
Trains on the Qinghai-Tibet Highway
Tibetan antelopes in Hoh Xil, and of course there were other animals we didn’t manage to photograph
Finally, we crossed the Kunlun Pass
After crossing this point, it’s all downhill
The Kunlun snow mountains—everyone was getting scenery fatigue, but nothing beats a luxury hotel. We arrived at the lower-altitude Golmud to enjoy barbecue (mainly the much-anticipated lamb kidneys) and a hotel with a luxurious bathtub. So great !
D6
August 7 — Location: Golmud – Qinghai Lake – Xining Event: Qinghai Lake
Perhaps no one felt the significance of Qinghai Lake more than the team leader and poverty alleviation ambassador Wenqing, who, after consecutive days of travel, had finally returned here...
So let’s talk about the beautiful photos again
Did everyone feel lighter on their feet?
Qinghai Lake recreational activities
Some stories also unfolded in the evening, but we won’t go into those here...
D7
August 8 — Location: Xining – Xi’an Event: Celebrating our success in Xi’an !
There was a slogan that really suited us—we hadn’t slept well for many nights in preparation for this celebration dinner !
So, let’s share the photos
Beer and hotpot are a perfect match—drink till we drop and share the stories from these 19 days of travel
Though not everyone could make it, our hearts were together !
Here, our journey can be considered complete. Just like in this photo, we didn’t just take a self-drive trip to Tibet, but also a spiritual road trip. We gained more tolerance, more unity... I think this is an inner experience you can’t get from other routes, and I look forward to seeing you all on our next Tibet trip !
Our poverty alleviation road trip is still ongoing, and our “Western Journey” Northern Xinjiang self-drive adventure continues— to be continued ... stay tuned !