Altitude of Tibet’s Major Places and Attractions

The Tibetan Plateau or the Qinghai Tibetan Plateau is the largest and highest elevated plateau in the world. It’s located in the Himalayas in the north-eastern Asia. The average elevations is over 4500m / 14700ft.

The plateau also known as” the roof of the world” or ” the third pole”. Here are the list of altitude for major places in this plateau including Tibetan Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province, Gansu Province, Sichuan Province and Yunnan Province.

The Tibetan plateau averages over 4,500m and every year there are tourists who suffer from altitude sickness. Flying into Lhasa from a lower altitude city puts you at a high risk of altitude sickness. It is better to slowly acclimatize by flying in from Xining or Chengdu, taking a train, or hiring a car.

Once you arrive in Lhasa, or at any high altitude, it is best to take a day of rest and stay at the same altitude for a few days before traveling to a higher altitude.

Small oxygen tanks are available for purchase in Lhasa. It may also be worth talking to your doctor about taking Diamox, the “altitude sickness” medicine. If you are already in China, then diamox is not available. So the herbal medicine called 红景天 － Hong Jing Tian is a good substitution. Hong Jing Tian can be purchased in most of pharmacy shops in China.

Please click the picture below to see the altitude where you want to travel.