Hotels near Labrang Monastery, Xiahe

Ideal way to get to experience Tibet in less than a day's travel from Beijing! The hotel is really just in front of the big Labrang monastery, which can easily compete with the big temples in Lhasa. However, one does not need any special permits for Labrang/Xiahe, which is much easier to get to using the high speed train from Beijing to Lanzhou, followed by a 3.5 hours car ride organized by Losang, the owner of the Overseas Tibetan Hotel. While most of the travelers in 2023 were obviously Chinese tourists, this is one of the places that will also appeal to Westerners as the owner and several of the staff speak very good English. Losang has been a travel agent for many years and can provide excellent recommendations for excursions around Xiahe and travel to other regions. The hotel has spacious rooms with private bathrooms, all with reliable services. The staff is really making an effort to accommodate any requests from their guests to allow to maximally enjoy your stay in Labrang. I would recommend to stay at least 3 nights, but one can easily stay a week. It's a pity that Western tourists have not yet found the way back to China and Tibet, traveling around individually is not a problem. A few tips for foreign travelers to China: - Make sure you book your hotels before applying for your Chinese Visa. Bring printouts to the visa application centre. - Install both WeChat and Alipay on your smartphone, and do the validation of your ID before departure. You can then link your credit card upon arrival in China and pay for virtually everything with either App. Cash is barely used anymore in China. - Make sure to book a SIM/eSIM card with unlimited mobile data, you will need internet connection everywhere in China to pay. Labrang also has perfect coverage, only in the surrounding grasslands can one loose connection at some locations. - Use trip.com for train bookings, other apps ask for a Chinese phone number.