Golmud

High-plateau Qinghai city among salt flats and desert, long used as a Tibet staging post.

Golmud — also known as Geermu — is the second city of Qinghai province and the main staging post for Tibet. It sits on the high-altitude plateau at around 2,800 metres, surrounded by salt flats and desert, and its primary function for most travellers is exactly that: a place to arrive, sort paperwork, and move on.

The town is laid out on a simple grid. Route 109 connects Golmud to Lhasa by road, and the Qinghai–Tibet Railway — one of the highest rail lines in the world — makes Golmud the last major stop before the train begins its dramatic climb onto the Tibetan Plateau. Any travel beyond the city requires an Alien Travel Permit, obtainable at the PSB for 50 yuan — no bus or train tickets can be bought without one.

Golmud itself has few sights. The streets are wide and functional, the population a mix of Han Chinese, Tibetan, and Hui Muslim. If you find yourself with time to spare, the market streets near the centre offer the last real chance to stock up before Tibet.

Guide

Getting There

By train. Golmud sits on the Qinghai–Tibet Railway. From Xining (the provincial capital, on the main Lanzhou network) the run is around twelve hours; from Lhasa the journey takes roughly the same. Trains coming from Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu all pass through Golmud on the way to Lhasa.

By air. Golmud Airport (GOQ) handles a few daily flights to Xining and Xi'an, and a handful of seasonal routes to Chengdu and Lhasa. It is small and frequently weather-affected.

By road. Highway G6 (the Beijing–Kashgar national expressway) passes through Golmud. The G109, the old route to Lhasa, runs south across the plateau and is now mostly used by trucks; long-distance buses to Lhasa from Golmud have largely been replaced by the train. The drive from Xining is about a thousand kilometres.

Tibet permits. If you are continuing to Lhasa, you need both a Tibet Travel Permit (arranged through a Lhasa-based travel agency) and a separate Aliens' Travel Permit issued by the PSB in Golmud. Tickets onward cannot be bought without them.

Guide

Things to Do

There is no serious sightseeing in Golmud itself; the city is here because of its position on the railway and the road south, not for its monuments. What's worth your time is the country around it — the Kunlun mountain pass on the road to Lhasa, the immense Qarhan Salt Lake to the east, and the rail journey out of Golmud itself, which begins the long climb onto the Tibetan plateau.

If you have a half-day before your train, walk the central streets. The Hui Muslim quarter east of the river has small noodle and lamb-skewer shops worth a meal. There is a single underwhelming city park.