How to get to Tibet from Xiamen

There are many ways to get to Tibet from Xiamen. From next January, you can take direct flights from Xiamen or Fuzhou, with a stopover in Chongqing. From Jan. 15, 2012, Xiamen Airlines will open two new flight routes to Lhasa, Xiamen to Lhasa flight and Fuzhou to Lhasa flight, after an inbound trial flight from Xiamen landed successfully at the Gonggar Airport in Lhasa on December 13th.
The Fuzhou to Lhasa flight is expected to open on January 15th. The flight MF8411 will start from Fuzhou at 7:20am every Wednesday and Saturday and arrive at Lhasa at 12:50pm, making a stopover in Chongqing at 9:45am.
The Xiamen to Lhasa flight is expected to open on January 17th. The flight MF8467 will start from Xiamen at 7:25am every Tuesday and Friday and also arrive at Lhasa at 12:50pm, making a stopover in Chongqing at 9:40am.
The air trip from Fuzhou to Lhasa is expected to take about 5.5 hours, and will cost about 3,000 RMB for a one-way economic ticket. For travellers’ convenience, they can book the air tickets on Internet, and can enjoy 50% discount at the beginning of the operation.
At present, you can take a bus to Guangzhou for around 160RMB and then take a flight or train to Lhasa from Guangzhou. The buses from Xiamen to Guangzhou departs every hour. The flight CZ3463 operated by China South Airline starts from Guangzhou at 9:10am every day and arrives at Lhasa 14:05pm, with a stop over in Chengdu. It costs you around 2500RMB. The train from Guangzhou to Lhasa departs every other day at 12:19 from Guangzhou Train Station, and arrives at Lhasa Railway Station at 18:30 on the third day after over 54 hours covering a distance of 4980 kilometers. It costs around 1500RMB for a first-class sleeper berth, about 900RMB for a second-class sleeper berth and half that for a soft seat.
Or you can take a plane from Xiamen to Xinning for around 1630RMB (the economy class up to 50% discount), and then take a flight or train from Xining to Lhasa. There are several trains from Xining to Lhasa. But most of them start from other cities of China and stop at Xining Train Station generally for 20 minutes. Only two trains, K9801 and K9811, start from Xining to Lhasa. The train K9801 from Xining to Lhasa departs every other day at 15:02 from Xining Train Station, and arrives at Lhasa Railway Station at 14:55 on the second day after over 24 hours covering a distance of 1960 kilometers, while the K9811 starts every other day from Xining at 22:00 and reaches Lhasa at 21:40 on the second day. It costs around RMB800 for a first-class sleeper berth, about RMB500 for a second-class sleeper berth and half that for a soft seat.
You also can fly straight from Xiamen to Chengdu, and then from Chengdu to Lhasa by train or by flight. The train from Chengdu to Lhasa departs every other day at 20:59 from Chengdu Train Station, and arrives at Lhasa Railway Station at 16:50 on the third day after nearly 44 hours covering a distance of 3348 kilometers. It costs around RMB1100 for a first-class sleeper berth, about RMB700 for a second-class sleeper berth and half that for a soft seat. There are more than 10 flights from Chengdu to Lhasa in peak travel season and 5 flights in low travel season, from early morning to late afternoon. The full price for one way flight ticket is 1500RMB and the airport tax is about 190RMB, while the roundtrip flight tickets Chengdu-Lhasa-Chengdu unusually at 70-90% of the full price.