Qamdo Travel Tips

This page offers some useful Qamdo Travel Tips for you to get a better travel experience. Qamdo is the third largest city after Lhasa and Shigatse. Connecting Sichuan Province to the east, Deqin County to the southeast, Nyingchi area to the southwest and Nagqu to the northwest. In ancient time, Qamdo is the important stop of Tea Horse Route and famed as the 'Pearl of Tibet' due to its pivot position on Tibetan commerce and trade. You may find both brilliant historic sites and fabulous sights in Qamdo. Qamdo travel tips will also be helpful to your Tibet Tours.

Useful Numbers

Here below are some useful numbers in Qamdo, in case the emergency while you are traveling (such as fire or traffic accidents), or have other complaints or questions.

Read More: Useful Numbers for Travelers in Tibet

How to Get to Qamdo

Qamdo is located in eastern Tibet, and traffic mainly relies on road and aviation. Most travelers choose to go to Qamdo from Lhasa because Lhasa is usually the starting destination of a Tibet tour. From Lhasa, travelers can take a flight to Qamdo which costs only about 1.5 hours or take long-distance bus which could spend a long time. Qamdo Bangda Airport is more than 130 kilometers from the downtown area, and currently opens the routes to Lhasa, Chengdu, Chongqing, Tianjin and Xi 'an. Moreover, there are long-distance buses from Qamdo Bus Station to Chengdu, Lhasa, Markam, Zayu, Nagqu, Nyingchi, Bome and other places. 

More about Qamdo Transportaion

Best Time to Visit Qamdo

In Qamdo, the summers are long, comfortable, and mostly cloudy and the winters are freezing, dry, and partly cloudy.  Due to special geographical and weather conditions, the best travel time for Qamdo is from April to June and September to October. In these months, the weather is not as cold as winter and spring, as well as not as wet as the rainy season. In early summer, the grass was green and wild flowers are blooming on the plateau. Tibetan families usually dress up to visit friends and have a good time. Plateau in late autumn is a magnificent picture of the colorful and beautiful scenery, blue sky and clean water, mountains and rivers. In other seasons, road traffic may be disrupted by the rainy season and heavy snow.

Dressing Tips

Bring multiple layers of long-sleeved and warm clothes with you so you will be prepared no matter the temperature. The temperature at night is much lower than it is during the day even in summer time, so also be prepared with cold weather gear like a hat, gloves, a scarf and a thick winter coat. 

More about Qamdo Weather and Climate

Other Tips

Necessary Permits

Tibet Travel Permit is a must to travel in Tibet, and you can't board your flight or trains to Tibet without it. It is issued by Tibet Tourism Bureau only and can be applied by travel agencies on behalf of you only. To get the permit, you need book a Tibet tour with us, and send us your passport and Chinese visa about 30 days in advance, and then we will apply for the permit (all Tibet permits can only be applied by travel agency). Do remember to bring your Tibet Travel Permit, Passport and Chinese Visa when travelling in Qamdo. You are not allowed to travel in Tibet independently.

Altitude Sickness

Due to the high altitude, many tourist may feel sick and dizzy when they first come to Tibet. It's recommended to take medicines to protect from the altitude reaction before starting your trip, or you are suggested to stay in Lhasa for one or two days to acclimatize high altitude. And the local drugstores in Lhasa sell medicines against altitude sickness. And please delay your trip to Tibet if you have a cold.

Taboo behaviors

• Please don't hang flags in republic place.
• When entering monasteries, please don't show your arms and legs and wear hats and sunglasses.
• Ask for permission before taking photos for Tibetan people.
• Don't touch Tibetan's head and shoulder.
• Don't watch celestial burial without permission.

Post Offices

Zip code in Qamdo is 854000. There are many post offices and expresses in Qamdo with the development of logistics industry.

• Qamdo Post Offices昌都市邮政局
  Address: East Changqing Street, Karuo District, Qamdo昌都市卡若区昌庆街东
  Tel: 0895-4241224
• Yuantong Express(YTO Express)圆通速递
  Address: No.390, Qamdo West Road, Karub District, Qamdo昌都市卡若区昌都西路390号
  Tel: 95554
• Shunfeng Express(SF Express)顺丰速递
  Address: Tea Horse Square, Karub District, Qamdo昌都市卡若区茶马广场
  Tel: 95338

Banks

There are many banks you can see in Qamdo. Here are several of them.

• Bank of China(Qamdo Branch)中国银行(昌都分行)
  Address: No.174, Macaoba Road, Karub District, Qamdo昌都市卡若区马草坝路174号
• China Construction Bank(CCB)
  Address: No.19, Qamdo West Road, Karub District, Qamdo昌都市卡若区昌都西路19号
• Agricultural Bank of China(ABC)
  Address: No.3, Qamdo Middle Road, Karub District, Qamdo昌都市卡若区昌都中路3号
  Tel: 0895-4823643
• Industrial and Commercial Bank of China(ICBC)中国工商银行
  Address: No.94, Qamdo West Road, Chengguan Town, Karub District, Qamdo昌都市卡若区城关镇昌都西路94号

Hospitals

• People's Hospital of Qamdo昌都市人民医院
  Address: No.168, South Road Gate, Karub District, Qamdo昌都市卡若区南路大门168号
  Tel: 0895-4821745
• Xiehe Hospital(协和医院)
  Address: No.118, Shenzhen Road, Karub District, Qamdo昌都市卡若区深圳路118号
• Tibetan Medical Hospital of Qamdo昌都市藏医院
  Address: Hainan Street, Karub District, Qamdo昌都市卡若区海南街
  Tel: 0895-4821053
• Huaxie Hospital昌都华协医院
  Address: No.168, Jusheng Road, Chengguan Town, Karub District, Qamdo昌都市卡若区城关镇聚盛路168号
  Tel: 0895-4666888 

Special Remarks for Visiting Qamdo Tibet

• 1. Bring multiple layers of long-sleeved and warm clothes with you so you will be prepared no matter the temperature. The temperature at night is much lower than it is during the day even in summer time, so also be prepared with cold weather gear like a hat, gloves, a scarf and a thick winter coat. 
• 2. It is not a good idea to have a tour in China during the national holidays. The three busiest national festivals in China are the Spring Festival(usually at the end of January or early February), International Labor Day(May 1-3) and National Day(October 1-7). The Spring Festival is a particularly crowded time to travel. The advantage of coming to China at this time is that you will have the opportunity to experience and know Chinese culture more directly.
• 3. Don't forget to prepare medicines based on your health condition, such as cold medicine, carsick medicine, altitude sickness medicine and so on. Because of long sunshine duration and strong solar radiation, please prepare a hat, sun cream and other sunscreen products.

Further Reading:

• The Best Time to Visit Qamdo