Chamdo Travel Advice

The Best Travel Time to Chamdo

Generally, Chamdo enjoys a warm and humid summer and a windy and dry winter and spring. The best time to visit Chamdo is from April to May, or September to October. In early summer, grass becomes green, and wild flowers are blooming on the highland. In late fall, you will see a magnificent picture of the multi-color and splendid scenery, blue sky and clean water, mountains and rivers on the plateau. In other time, the motor road may be interrupted by the rain and heavy snowfall.

Dining in Chamdo

Food in Chamdo is dominated by Tibetan Cuisine and Sichuan Cuisine. Tibetan restaurants are less than those offering Chinese food and mostly located in the eastern part of Chamdo Town. In the east of Jinchuan Hotel, there are many good but cheap Chinese restaurants. Moreover, there is a collection of tasty Shaguo food (food cooked in an earthen pot) in north of the square in front of Post Hotel.

Lodging in Chamdo

Hotels in Chamdo offer lodging conditions relatively lower than in most places of Tibet. Despite this, excellent lodging options of starred hotels are available Chamdo and Markham counties.

What to Pack

In winter, tourists should take enough heavy clothes to keep from cold while in summer it is advisable to take some sweaters and woolen trousers. Besides, Take some medicines for daily use according to one's health conditions, such as medicine for cold, diarrhea, sunburn and medicine against the oxygen deficit.

Laundry

Laundry services are available in Chamdo, especially near hotels, such as Kangsheng Hotel.

Money and Currency Exchange

You can find branches of Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China and China Construction Bank in Chamdo Town, but foreign currency and checks are not acceptable here. Therefore, it is advisable to bring enough cash or open an account in China Post which has more branches than banks in Chamdo Region.

Post and Internet Access

China Post, China Telecom and China Mobile branches which can provide you postal and telephone services can be found in Chamdo Town. You can also find lots of internet cafes there though the internet connection may be slow.

Transportation in Chamdo

There are three national highways running across Chamdo area, the Sichuan-Tibet Highway from Chengdu to Lhasa ( both the northern route and the southern route), and the Yunnan-Tibet Highway from Kunming to Lhasa. So tourists can travel overland to Chamdo from Sichuan and Yunnan. What's more, tourists can go to Chamdo by air. There are also buses shuttling between Chamdo Town and Lhasa and other places in Chamdo prefecture.