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Qinghai Tibet Railway 13 images Created 14 Sep 2011

The Qinghai Tibet Railway is the world's highest railway. The Golmud-Lhasa section zigzags more than 1000 kilometers across the Kunlun and Tanggula mountain ranges - about 500 kilometers of the tracks run on frozen earth, considered a marvel of train technology and engineering. The maximum train speed can reach 100 kilometers per hour in the frozen earth areas and 120 kilometers per hour on regular terrain but it sometimes slows down to take in the majestic landscape on one of the world's great train adventures.
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  • Engine of the Tibet Train - The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the highest rail line in the world, is usually called the Tibet Train.  Its 1,200 miles of tracks traverse 342 miles of permafrost, lots of it at altitudes exceeding 12,000 feet. The end of the line is Lhasa, Tibet. Proponents of the new railway say it will bring economic development to the Tibet and China's hinterlands as Tibet and China's far west lag behind the rest of the country, and rail connectivity promises to be a crucial tool for closing that gap.  Critics say the railway is  a political tool to strategically stitch Tibet into the fabric of China and facilitate the westward migration of ethnic Chinese.  The only thing about the train that everyone agrees on,  the the Tibet  train is an engineering marvel.
    tibet-train-5.jpg
  • A Kora is both a type of pilgrimage and meditation following Tibetan Buddhist tradition. The Kora is performed by walking around a temple, stupa, or other sacred site in a clockwise fashion and is often performed 108 times.  Kora many be performed while spinning prayer wheels, chanting mantra or repeatedly prostrating oneself. A kora functions as a calming meditative exercise.
    tibetan-pilgrims-1.jpg
  • View out the Window of the Tibet Train - The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the highest rail line in the world, is usually called the Tibet Train.  Its 1,200 miles of tracks traverse 342 miles of permafrost, lots of it at altitudes exceeding 12,000 feet. The end of the line is Lhasa, Tibet. Proponents of the new railway say it will bring economic development to the Tibet and China's hinterlands as Tibet and China's far west lag behind the rest of the country, and rail connectivity promises to be a crucial tool for closing that gap.  Critics say the railway is  a political tool to strategically stitch Tibet into the fabric of China and facilitate the westward migration of ethnic Chinese.  The only thing about the train that everyone agrees on,  the the Tibet  train is an engineering marvel.
    tibet-train-6.jpg
  • A prayer flag is a colorful panel or rectangular cloth often found strung along mountain ridges and peaks high in the Himalayas to bless the surrounding countryside or for other purposes. Unknown in other branches of Buddhism, prayer flags are believed to have originated with Bon, which predated Buddhism in Tibet. Traditionally they are woodblock printed with texts and images.
    tibetan-prayer-flags-4.jpg
  • Dining Car on the Tibet Train - The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the highest rail line in the world, is usually called the Tibet Train.  Its 1,200 miles of tracks traverse 342 miles of permafrost, lots of it at altitudes exceeding 12,000 feet. The end of the line is Lhasa, Tibet. Proponents of the new railway say it will bring economic development to the Tibet and China's hinterlands as Tibet and China's far west lag behind the rest of the country, and rail connectivity promises to be a crucial tool for closing that gap.  Critics say the railway is  a political tool to strategically stitch Tibet into the fabric of China and facilitate the westward migration of ethnic Chinese.  The only thing about the train that everyone agrees on,  the the Tibet  train is an engineering marvel.
    tibet-train-1.jpg
  • Debating Monks at Sera Monastery - One of the striking features of Tibetan monk debates is that they are quite physical. They are marked by emphatic gestures such as the loud clapping of hands used by the questioner to punctuate each question.  These gestures have great symbolic value though debaters are rarely aware of such symbolic meanings, at the time. For them, the clapping and gestures  bring them a clarity that can help mobilize the intellectual capacities of the debaters and capture the attention of the audience.
    debating-tibetan-monks-1.jpg
  • Engine of the Tibet Train - The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the highest rail line in the world, is usually called the Tibet Train.  Its 1,200 miles of tracks traverse 342 miles of permafrost, lots of it at altitudes exceeding 12,000 feet. The end of the line is Lhasa, Tibet. Proponents of the new railway say it will bring economic development to the Tibet and China's hinterlands as Tibet and China's far west lag behind the rest of the country, and rail connectivity promises to be a crucial tool for closing that gap.  Critics say the railway is  a political tool to strategically stitch Tibet into the fabric of China and facilitate the westward migration of ethnic Chinese.  The only thing about the train that everyone agrees on,  the the Tibet  train is an engineering marvel.
    tibet-train-3.jpg
  • The Potala Palace was the chief residence of the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to Dharamsala, India, after the invasion of Tibet in 1959.  The palace was slightly damaged during the Tibetan uprising against the Chinese in 1959, when Chinese shells were launched into the palace's windows. Almost all of the  volumes of scriptures, historical documents and other works of art were either removed, damaged or destroyed.  Today the Potala Palace has been converted into a museum by the Chinese government.
    potala-2.jpg
  • Tibetan Novice Monks taking a break from their kora circumnavigation at Barkhor Square.
    tibetan-monks-3.jpg
  • Pilgrims at Barkhor Square, Lhasa - Barkhor Square is an area of narrow streets and a public square located around Jokhang Monastery in Lhasa. <br />
The square has been the most important devotional circumabulation for Tibetan pilgrims for centuries as it still is today. The walk was is about one kilometre long and encircles the entire Jokhang,  Most of the tiny alleys have been demolished in recent years and replaced with wider streets and new buildings by the Chinese government.
    barkhor-square-8.jpg
  • Conductor on the Tibet Train - The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the highest rail line in the world, is usually called the Tibet Train.  Its 1,200 miles of tracks traverse 342 miles of permafrost, lots of it at altitudes exceeding 12,000 feet. The end of the line is Lhasa, Tibet. Proponents of the new railway say it will bring economic development to the Tibet and China's hinterlands as Tibet and China's far west lag behind the rest of the country, and rail connectivity promises to be a crucial tool for closing that gap.  Critics say the railway is  a political tool to strategically stitch Tibet into the fabric of China and facilitate the westward migration of ethnic Chinese.  The only thing about the train that everyone agrees on,  the the Tibet  train is an engineering marvel.
    tibet-train-4.jpg
  • Jokhang Monastery is the most important Buddhist temple in Tibet, located right in the center of Lhasa at Barkhor Square.  Its name means 'House of Buddha'.  For Tibetans it is the most sacred temple in Tibet and has been the key center of Tibetan Buddhist pilgrimage for centuries.
    jokhang-monastery-1.jpg
  • Beijing Railway Station opened in the 1950s, as can be seen from its architecture which merges traditional Chinese architecture with 50s design. . <br />
The traffic load of Beijing Railway Station has decreased somewhat with the opening of the Beijing West Railway Station in 1996. Still, it remains a busy railway station. Generally, trains for Manchuria, Mongolia, Shanghai, Nanjing,  Hangzhou depart from this station while the remainder depart from Beijing West.
    beijing-railway-station.jpg