Four ways: a car and a driver, which is what these roads are built for; long-distance buses, cheap but slow and needing planning; your own car, which requires a Chinese licence and therefore rules out nearly everybody; and flights to the far west, which save days but skip the climb. Which one you choose decides what the trip actually feels like.
A car and a driver
Freedom, mostly. You stop where the light is rather than where the timetable is; you stay an extra hour at a monastery because the clouds lifted; you rebuild the day when the weather changes. It costs more per person than a bus seat, though not as much as most Western visitors assume — at the exchange rate as I write this, around 6.7 yuan to the dollar, everyday costs here are low by European or American standards.
It is also the only way to do the routes on this site in the shape they are written. They come out of a car, and a few of the best stops are not on any bus line.
Long-distance buses
Real, and cheap. The trade-off is planning: services run on their own timetables, some places need a change of bus and a wait, and the days are longer than the map suggests. If you genuinely enjoy that kind of travel — the waiting, the stations, the improvisation — it is a legitimate way to see this region, and it suits hardcore travellers better than anyone with ten days and a list. It does not suit anyone who needs to be somewhere at a particular hour.
Your own car
Only if you hold a Chinese driving licence. That bar is higher than most people expect — a foreign licence and an International Driving Permit are both no use here, and no rental company will rent to a driver without the Chinese one. There is a page on that.
Flights
There are airports in the far west — Yushu, Daocheng — and flying in saves a day or two on the long crossings. Two things to know before you book one: you skip the gradual climb that keeps altitude comfortable, and you skip the roads, which on this itinerary are half of what you came for.
How long does it take?
| To | By road | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Tagong | One long day | Over the pass and down onto the grassland; you sleep at around 3,700 m the same night |
| Litang | A long day, or two | The high town, above 4,000 m; splitting it in two is kinder to you |
| The full loop | Five days | Why it is five and not four: the altitude and the driving are both real |
| Yushu | Several days | The far west, a province away — or a flight, if you are short on time |
Questions I get on this one
Is there a train to the plateau?
How much does a driver cost?
Can I mix and match — bus one way, car the other?
Can I just take a taxi?
From driving these roads year-round. Related: driving in China · altitude · all essentials