The Qinghai–Tibet Railway runs at the world's highest elevation by rail. Opened in 2006, it links Lhasa, capital of Tibet, with Xining in Qinghai Province over 1,956 km. "Qing" comes from Qinghai; "Zang" from Xizang, another name for Tibet. The highest point is 5,072 m at Tanggula Pass.
A train leaving Beijing West at 20:09 arrives at Lhasa on the third day at 16:00—a journey of 43 hours 51 minutes over 3,703 km. From Shanghai it is even longer: depart 19:28, arrive Lhasa 19:15 on the third day, 47 hours 47 minutes, 4,373 km nonstop.
Locomotives are GE (General Electric, USA); passenger cars emphasize airtightness for high altitudes and are built by Bombardier of Canada, an aircraft maker—like an airplane racing across the plateau.
It truly "races"—no other word fits. Doze two hours and wake to the same scenery: green grassland, lakes, and the Kunlun range crowned with snow in the distance. With luck you may spot Tibetan gazelles beside the tracks.
The Mainichi Newspapers (head office: Palaceside Building) held a Tibet exhibition some 30 years ago, I recall, centered on mandala displays and lamas chanting. Tibet then belonged to adventurers and Buddhist scholars; the Qinghai–Tibet Railway has brought it much closer to us.