The document discusses the Tibet train journey as the best train journey in China. It notes that the Tibet train travels at high altitudes of over 3 miles above sea level, providing passengers scenic views of snow-capped peaks. Specifically, it highlights the Qinghai-Tibet Railway as a remarkable engineering feat, as it required solving challenges of constructing a railway at high altitudes and on the Tibetan Plateau, with temperatures below zero degrees Celsius. Engineers addressed issues like permafrost and low-oxygen conditions. The railway also took environmental protections, like building passages for wildlife. Overall, the document argues that the Tibet train journey offers travelers a memorable experience riding the rails at extreme altitudes.

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Nowadays, train journey takes on a new dimension in China with the increased speed of the
trains in China. The train journey itself becomes the destination and there are some memorable
experiences to be had riding the rails. If you ask me what the best train journey in China is, I
would say TibetTibetTibetTibet traintraintraintrain journey without any hesitation.
The ChinaChinaChinaChina TibetTibetTibetTibet traintraintraintrain is reputed as the train to sky that really catches the eye of travelers from
the world. Intrepid travelers with a penchant for riding high, board a purpose built train complete
with its own oxygen supply for the 14-hour TibetTibetTibetTibet traintraintraintrain traveltraveltraveltravel from Xining to the ancient Tibetan
capital of Lhasa. You literally have your head in the clouds, reaching an altitude of a
mind-boggling 3 miles above sea level. Passengers get front row seats to passing views of
snow-capped peaks and vast mountain plateaus.
The railwayrailwayrailwayrailway totototo TibetTibetTibetTibet you are riding is also a miracle in the world. The Qinghai-TibetQinghai-TibetQinghai-TibetQinghai-Tibet RailwayRailwayRailwayRailway is
world widely known as the highest railway on the earth, with an average altitude of 4,000 meters.
The Qinghai-Tibet Railway is regarded as a milestone in human’s project history. When the
construction of the railway started, many experts in the world deeply doubt that weather
Chinese engineers and workers could solve all the barriers of building a railway on the Tibetan
Plateau at such a high altitude and severe climate. The successful operation of the Qinghai-Tibet
Railway just proves that Chinese engineers did make it and conquered the following difficulties.
HighHighHighHigh altitudealtitudealtitudealtitude
High altitude is a great risk for travelers who traveltraveltraveltravel totototo TibetTibetTibetTibet for the first time, let alone the
constructors of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway who had to do heavy work. The oxygen content along
the railway is only 50-60 percent of that at sea level as some 960 km of tracks are built on plateau
- more than 4,000 meters above sea level. The highest point reaches 5,072 meters, which made it
the world's highest railway. Therefore, the workers had to shoulder oxygen bottles to get to work.
The high altitude also makes low temperature along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. The annual
average temperature on some construction sites is below zero degrees Celsius with the lowest
temperature at -45 degrees Celsius.
PermafrostPermafrostPermafrostPermafrost andandandand wetlandwetlandwetlandwetland
As we know, the Qinghai-TibetQinghai-TibetQinghai-TibetQinghai-Tibet RailwayRailwayRailwayRailway is also known as the longest track on frozen earth. There
is as long as 550 kilometers of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway constructed on the permafrost which
features soft and wet soil in summer, hard and stretching in winter and is a great trouble for all
engineers in the world.

2. To solve this problem, engineers used stone embankment - a layer of loosely piled chunks of
granite about the size of baseballs that allows enough space between the rocks for air to circulate
freely. In some places, the engineers bury ventilation pipes in the ground. The pipes simply allow
the cold air to circulate underneath the rail-bed. In other spots, though, a pipe called a
thermosiphon is sunk 5 meters (15 feet) into the ground and filled at the bottom with ammonia.
The ammonia becomes gas at a low temperature, giving off a vapor that draws heat from the
bottom of the tube and flushes it out the top, cooling at the same time.
Building a bridge over the permafrost is the most expensive way to have the least impact on the
area. The 11.7km Qingshuihe Bridge at Hoh Xil is the world-longest bridge built on the
permafrost. If tourists take a TibetTibetTibetTibet tourtourtourtour by train, it should be a notable place along the railway to
Tibet.
EnvironmentEnvironmentEnvironmentEnvironment ProtectionProtectionProtectionProtection
The ecosystem on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau is quite fragile. There are many rare animals and
plants on the plateau, such as Tibetan antelope, Kiang, black-necked cranes. Protection of the
ecological environment should be the first concern in the design of the TibetTibetTibetTibet RailwayRailwayRailwayRailway. Thus, the
track must avoid the major habitats of wild animals. If it was impossible to keep away from the
habitats, other solutions must be figured out. For example, 25 passageways for wild animals
based on their migration habit were built along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway to minimize
disturbance to the nature reserves for endangered animals when the traintraintraintrain totototo TibetTibetTibetTibet is in
operation. Besides, engineers also figured out ways to prevent damage to permafrost and
wetlands.
All waste water from construction and camp sites was also processed to meet the corresponding
sewage treatment standard before discharge. Solid waste from construction sites and trash from
campsites was sorted out and recycled whenever possible. Waste and trash that cannot be
degraded was moved to appropriate places for batch treatment.
Therefore, the TibetTibetTibetTibet traintraintraintrain tourtourtourtour should be the best train trip in China, even in Asia, in the world. It
deserves your time though it may cost your two days to do the trip.