The Beijing Lhasa Railway is a rail route completed on July 1, 2006. The section of track between Golmud, in northwestern China and Lhasa, in the Tibet Autonomous Region, contains the highest section of rail line in the world and passes through the highest rail tunnel in the world. The majority of this route is on permafrost. The engineering challenges for the construction of the railway were immense. Construction took five years and cost $3.68 billion. China argues that the railway will foster tourism and help economic and industrial development in the region. Critics point to the environment impact and also the effect on the indigenous culture of Tibet.

1. Construction began June 29, 2001
2. Finished on July 1, 2006
3. Total cost $3.68 billion
4. Total length 1,215 miles
5. 80% over 13,123 feet
6. Tanggula Pass, 16,640 feet, is the highest rail track in the world
7. It takes 48 hours to travel from Beijing to Lhasa

• Wikipedia: Qingzang Railway
• Google News: Beijing Lhasa Railway
• The American: The Lhasa Frontier (February, 2007)
  • "Between 2001 and 2006, the People's Republic of China spent $4 billion building a 710-mile rail line to connect the western Chinese city of Golmud and Tibet's ancient capital, Lhasa. The new connection completes a 2,525-mile route across China that is no less important than the rail link between the east and west coasts of the United States, finished in 1869 when the "golden spike" was hammered at Promontory Summit, Utah."
• The Guardian: The Railway Across the Roof of the World | World News | the Guardian (Spetember 20, 2006)
• Washington Post: Train 27, Now Arriving Tibet, in a 'Great Leap West' (July 4, 2006)
• BBC News: First Beijing Train Reaches Lhasa (July 3, 2006)
  • "The line boasts high-tech engineering to stabilise tracks over permafrost and oxygen pumped into cabins to help passengers cope with the high altitude."
• China Daily: Beijing-Lhasa Train Tickets Selling Fast (June 29, 2006)
• People's Daily: Direct Beijing-Lhasa Train Available for Travelers Next July (December 12, 2005)