The Almost Complete Guide to Traveling Tibet Part 1-----Introduction and Preparation 进藏不完全指南第一章-----进藏前的准备

Introduction

I recently ended my trip to Tibet with my parents. I suffered a lot from altitude sickness while I was in Tibet, but the sight almost made my suffering worth it. So, as I was going through the pictures I took along my journey, it occurs to me that I should write about my trip to Tibet, better yet, I should make a (almost) complete guide to traveling Tibet. I want the readers of this guide to first have a taste of the awesome stuffs Tibet has to offer and use the guide as a template to plan their own trip to Tibet so they can see these awesome stuffs themselves.

Before I start, There are few things you need to know about this guide:

• I haven't gone through all the pictures yet, in fact, I still have a lot of pictures to go through, so I decided to divide this (almost) complete guide into different parts.
• In this guide, I will be mainly focusing on the route I took, since all the pictures I have are from this route. However, I will also include some pictures from another route, which my parents took a few months ago before our trip to Tibet.
• For part 1, I will mainly be talking about the different options to traveling to Tibet, the things that people need to watch out for. I won't be talking about my trip in Tibet yet, but I will talk about the Mainri Snow Mountains in Yunnan Province. The Mainri Snow Mountains will be near one of the route to enter Tibet (This route is also the route I took), so please stick around.
• I am not a native English speaker/writer. I tried to proofread as much as I can, grammatical errors are hard to avoid. I apologize for them in advance.
• This is a almost complete guide, because I need you to travel to Tibet, explore what I didn't see, and help me finish this guide. Also, comments are welcomed.

Now, since we got all the not so visually pleasing introduction material out of the way, let's get started!
Welcome to the almost complete guide to traveling Tibet!

简介
大家好，我最近刚从西藏和爸妈玩回来。西藏挺好，但我这一趟下来受了很多苦，都是因为高原反应。所以我想结合我这次进藏的经历，写一个进藏不完全指南，希望大家不仅可以从我的照片里理解西藏的风光， 更可以用我的这个不完全指南来计划实现自己去西藏走一圈的梦想。

在大家正式开始阅读指南之前，有几件事情大家需要了解：

• 因为照片很多，我现在都还没有整理完所有照片，所以这次只是不完全指南的第一期
• 不完全指南的第一部分主要是讲进藏的几条不同的路线和一些需要注意的事项，在这部分里面我还不会涉及到我进藏之后的经历，但我会讲讲我去看云南省香格里拉市的梅里雪山的经历。
  *英文很烂，英语大神别介意
• 之所以叫不完全指南，是希望大家也要去看看我没来得及去看的地方，把我一起完成这个指南。同时也欢迎留言

谢谢大家这么耐心的读完了简介，欢迎大家来到进藏不完全指南!

Must-Knows before traveling to Tibet
进藏须知

1. Altitude Sickness
   高原反应
   DO NOT travel to Tibet when you are having a common cold. If you are having a common cold while you are traveling to Tibet, you have a higher chance to develop high-altitude pulmonary edema, which is life threatening (There are precedents, here is a more scientifically accurate review of this topic for reference :https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3678789/)
   进藏是尽量选择身体健康的时候，尤其是不能在感冒的时候进藏，带病进藏会导致肺水肿 (有前例)

   To prevent you from getting a cold, you should pack your cloth accordingly. The day in Tibet can be very hot and the night can be very cold.
   西藏昼夜温差很大, 要带好合适的衣服，防止感冒

   Tibet has an average altitude of 4500 meters (the world average is 840 meters), so you are very likely to suffer from altitude sickness. You can buy portable oxygen supplies like this one pretty much everywhere in Tibet or even in the cities near Tibet.
   西藏平均海拔为4500m (世界平均海拔为840m), 所以很多人都有可能会有高原反应。你可以从很多藏区内甚至藏区附近的便利商店里面买到这样的便携式氧气
   
   (image source 图片来源: http://img.diytrade.com)

   Try to move gently and avoid large meal to avoid altitude sickness
   进藏之后，别做大动作，别吃太多，好好休息能防止高原反应

   If you do suffer from altitude sickness, you can buy some integripetal rhodiola herb oral liquid (translation from: www.1688.com) you can buy them from local pharmacies. It is a herb made from golden root. Here's a picture of what they typically look like. The medicine should help alleviate the symptoms of altitude sickness (If you have access to them in your local market, you can also take the medicine according to instructions, starting a week before you flight to Tibet. )
   如果遇到高原反应，可以试试看红景天口服液，基本很多药店都会有 （也可以进藏一周之前开始服用红景天来防止高原反应。）
   
   (image source图片来源: http://www.lasalvxingshe.com)

2. What to watch out for when planning a trip to Tibet
   旅行时需要注意的地方
   When I was in Tibet, ID is required in a lot of places like gas station, airport arrival, etc.. So make sure you have your ID with you all the time. Since they check for ID in many places, things move a bit slower, so make sure you plan ahead.
   我在藏区的时候有很多地方需要查验身份证，像是刚出机场或者在加油站加油，因为要查身份证，所以加油这些会花很长时间，一定要做好提前准备，不要让这些小事耽误了行程

3. Three different routes to Tibet
   三条不同的进藏路线

   1. Flight
      飞机
      There is nothing much to say about this, just make sure you get a window seat on the plane to Tibet so you can get a view on the mountains
      坐飞机的话就没啥好说的了，如果能选到靠窗的座位最好，能看到山
   2. Driving
      自驾
      Driving is definitely the recommended way to explore Tibet. However, there are two things that you need to watch out for: First, the road can be dangerous and challenging to some drivers, choose the safest way to travel! Second, the speed limit in Tibet can be a pain, especially for inter-city traveling: on some road (such as the road to Shigatse, a city in Tibet), the police measures your time spent between checkpoints to decide if you exceeded the speed limit or not. That being said, they still have speedometer along the road. If you drove too fast and about to arrive a checkpoint before the designated time, you can pull over along the road and have some snack to kill the time (you might need to some timing and simple math on your own)
      去西藏的话自驾游是最推荐的一种方式，但自驾需要注意以下两点，西藏的路况不是很好,如果车技不佳可以选择其它安全一些的方式，例如公交车或者火车。第二点是限速，在很多西藏的高速公路上，限速是通过你在两个检查点之间花的时间来看的，所以我建议除了在有摄像机的地方，可以开快一些，快到检查点的时候在路边停车休息等着时间到了再走（需要自己算时间）
      1. Yunnan Province Route
         云南省路线
         If you choose this route to enter Tibet, be sure to stop by Mainri Snow Mountains. I will talk more about this later.
         如果你选择 从云南省进藏，一定要去梅里雪山，我后面会详细讲
      2. Sichuan Province Route
         四川省路线
         Larung Gar Buddhist Academy
         If you choose to drive into Tibet through Sichuan Province Route, be sure to go to Larung Gar Buddhist Academy first. Its an amazing sight to see
         色达五明佛学院
         如果你选择从四川省路线入藏的话，一定要去色达五明佛学院, 很震撼的景观

Now you know what to watched out for and what to expect from a trip to Tibet, I will start talking about my trip to Tibet
现在大家都清楚该注意哪些地方之后，我就来讲讲我进藏的经历吧

First Stop----Mainri Snow Mountain
第一站----梅里雪山

(image source 图片来源：https://www.google.com/maps)

Deqing, Yunnan Province
云南省迪庆藏族自治州
We spent a few days in deqing, Yunnan province with my parent's friends, who are a Tibetan couple. As soon as we arrived, they offered us some gold-root broth to help prevent altitude sickness (This broth is similar to the integripetal rhodiola herb oral liquid i mentioned earlier, but works way better )
在我进藏之前，我先在我父母的藏族朋友在云南省迪庆藏族自治州的家中度过了几天。我到达迪庆之后，父母的藏族朋友给我准备好了红景天（功效和红景天口服液类似，但效果更好）

Other Great Views near Deqing
附近景观

There are some great views near Deqing! We went to the first bend of the yangtze river on our way to Mainri Snow Mountains.
迪庆附近也有很多很好的景观。我们去了长江第一湾

(image source 图片来源：https://www.google.com/maps)

This is a pile of Mani stone placed by the Tibetan. They place Mani stone piles like this one on the side of the road. The Mani stone piles are usually placed on a spot where a lot of car accident happened to give blessing to the dead. The piles also warn other drivers to drive cautiously because Mani stones mark accident hazardous locations
(more information about Mani Stone: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mani_stone)
这个玛尼石堆是藏族人放在交通事故多发地点的。这些石堆也警示其他司机此处是事故多发路段（玛尼石堆：http://www.baike.com/wiki/%E7%8E%9B%E5%B0%BC%E7%9F%B3%E5%A0%86）

Mainri Snow Mountain
梅里雪山

Mainri Snow Mountains are also known as Kawagarpo (or kawagarbo). legend has that the first smaller, shorter peak on the right of the tallest peak is Kawgarpo's wife. Kawagarpo's wife was originally sent to him to distract him from his attack on another country. However, Kawagarpo's wife falls in love with Kawagarpo.
大家可能都知道梅里雪山的另外一个名字，卡瓦格博。对于这个名字背后的故事，大家可以点进链接阅读。在我给大家的图中，从主峰向右数，第一座峰应该就是卡瓦格博之妻 （大致故事介绍）：https://zhidao.baidu.com/question/449130315.html）

Another Fun Fact about Mainri Snow Mountains: None of the major peaks of Mainri Snow Mountains have ever been summited . The worst climbing accident in China happened on Mainri Snow Mountain during which six Chinese and eleven Japanese climbers are killed by avalanche. My Parent's friend told me that Kawagarpo is a sacred mountain. When the climber showed up and try to climb the mountain, the Tibetan Lama starts to chanting , which caused the avalanche.
大家很可能都知道到目前为止所有梅里雪山的主峰都还没有被登顶过。中国史上最严重的一起登山事故就发生在梅里雪山，六个中国登山队员和十一个日本登山队员死于雪崩。爸妈的藏族朋友告诉我说据说当登山队攀爬的时候，山脚下的喇嘛就开始念经，然后召唤了雪崩。

When we got to the hotel near the Mainri Snow Mountain, its already 6pm . So we only get a glance of the Mainri Snow Mountains. Most of the peaks are covered by clouds .
当我到达在梅里雪山旁的宾馆时，已经是下午六点了，所以只是勉强的看到了雪山的一小部分，大部分的山峰都被云给遮着了。

Next morning, I woke up at 6am, because golden peaks (The snow on the mountain reflects the sun light so the peaks looks golden) often appears around sunrise. I was surprised to see that there is not a single cloud on the sky and the peaks are golden because of the sun light. Tibetan people always say that only the people who are destined to see the golden peaks can see them (sorry for bad English).
第二天早上我六点就起床了, 因为早上日出时更容易看到金山。早上的时候天空上一点云都没有，山顶上的血反射太阳光都变成金色的了。藏民都相信说只有有缘人才能看到金山。

Painting Made from yak butter
酥油画
We spent a night at Mainri Snow Mountain and returned to Deqing. I had some local food in Deqing (I will give some suggestions later). I found this really nice yak butter painting in my hotel, it pictures a rabbit, a monkey, and an elephant with really sinister facial expression.
我在梅里雪山附近住了一晚之后就回到了迪庆。我享用了一些本地的美食（稍后介绍）。 我在住宿的酒店看到了这张酥油画，画的是表情诡异的兔子猴子和大象。

Food
食物
I will suggest some food to try in Deqing, I can't guarantee they all taste good to everybody, but it would be an interesting experience (Sorry for the lack of pictures, I didn't take any picture of food along the way, but I will try my best to find a good picture from the internet).
接下来我给大家推荐一些可以再迪庆吃到的食物，不一定所有人都会喜欢，但是可以试一试。

1. Yak yogurt
   牦牛酸奶：
   Yak yogurt is not for everybody, I hated it, but if you like diary product, you should try it.
   牦牛酸奶味道有些怪，我不是很喜欢，喜欢奶味重的人可以试一试
   
   (image source图片来源: http://qcyn.sinaimg.cn)

2. Yak
   牦牛肉
   Yak meat is very different. I liked it a lot, I think it as a beefier version of beef. Here is a picture of a yak.
   牦牛肉和其他肉不太一样，我是挺喜欢的，比牛肉要筋道一些的。
   
   (image source图片来源：http://media.istockphoto.com)

3. Nixi Black Earthenware Pot Chicken (word to word translation)
   尼西黑砂锅土鸡
   If you are a fan of the TV show "A Bite of China" (A Bite of China:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB28E942197290160), you should be able to recognize this one (make sure you don't miss this one).
   一定不要错过这个，舌尖上的中国推荐的.
   
   (image source图片来源:https://i2.kknews.cc)

4.Butter tea
酥油茶
You have to try this one in Tibet. I really liked like (more information about butter tea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butter_tea).
酥油茶很好喝 (酥油茶：https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%85%A5%E6%B2%B9%E8%8C%B6).

(image source图片来源: https://upload.wikimedia.org)

Here is the end of part 1 of the Almost Complete Guide to Tibet! Thank you for reading this post, please leave comments and help me improve! In part 2 of the Almost Complete Guide to Tibet, I will talk about Lhasa. See you next week.
到这里进藏不完全指南的第一期就结束啦。有需要改进的地方或者漏掉的信息请帮我指出来。在第二期，我会讲讲我在拉萨的一些经历。下周见！