Here are the differences between a standard Chinese visa and a Group Chinese Visa. In addition to a Chinese visa, all foreigners are still required to have travel permits as they have for the past 30 years. This post is to explain the differences between a Standard Chinese Tourist Visa and a Group Chinese Tourist Visa. If you plan to go to the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) from Mainland China, all you need is [...]
Kangding, known as Dartsendo དར་རྩེ་མདོ་ or Dardo དར་མདོ་ in Tibetan, is the capital town of Garnze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture དཀར་མཛེས་ཁུལ་ located in the Sichuan part of Kham. Kangding sits at 2600m and has a population of around 100,000. Part of the traditional Tibetan region of Kham ཁམས་, Kangding has always been the gateway to [...]
It has now been 2 years since a devastating 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in the Qinghai part of Kham in April 2010. My family and I (wife and 2 children) were living in Jyekundo when the earthquake occurred. Though the official Beijing death toll stands at 2698, local government and police officials in Yushu prefecture all agree that the real death toll is around 20,000. [...]
Nangchen county ནང་ཆེན་རྫོང་ is one of 6 counties located in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in the Qinghai Part of Kham. Though Nangchen is remote and underdeveloped, it is one of the most beautiful parts of Tibet and has some of the best preserved Tibetan culture remaining. Nangchen county covers 11,539 square kilometers/4455 square miles and has around 70,000 people with Tibetans [...]