Hi everyone,
From the offical information that Tibet will be closed to foreigners after 20th next month because of the 60th anniversary of Tibet's emancipation. That is to say no foreigners are allowed to travel in Tibet after 20th May. And we don't know when it is reopen.
So for those, who make a plan for touring in Tibet can put the time schedule in advance. At least, before 20th May.
You could put this in big writing and people will still ask about travel and permits at that time.
Could I ask where you found this information? I'd like to read more about it myself. I'm sorry to hear this! My fiance and I were planning to visit Tibet for our Honeymoon, sometime in late June, early July. That is really a bummer. I wonder when it will be re-opened? Any ideas or new info you could pass along?
-MA
@kangjuan100
It would really help if you tell us the source for this.
Anyone else? As I can imagine, a lot of us are going to be edgy with this, I'm supposed to be headed there 14th onwards :(
#2, its usually only been closed for part of May then reopens in June. Happened other years, including last. So this year, not unexpected. As for reopening, who knows??
It seems awfully early for an announcement regarding a closure in May. In fact, other reports suggested that access might be closed in July when the official celebration of the "emancipation of Tibet" will occur (actual date is in May but reports suggest officials intend to move celebration to July).
OTOH There are also current reports of closing of non TAR Tibetan areas in Sichuan due to "unrest" so one never knows if and when closings and re-openings will occur.
When planning travel to TAR, it is important to have a backup plan.
Ruth
The current main source for closure information is the Tibet Tourism Bureau. (Which all agencies liase with). The only problem with this source is that the TTB (or TTA depending on which label it has on the day) does not make the decisions.......much higher levels of government actually make the closure decisions and the TTB just has to react accordingly. So TTB is trying to placate the tour operators but they haven't actually been told of any final decisions.....they never do until the last minute. So TTB is just the messenger.....
The govt. does this so they can then respond to international pressure and proudly announce that Tibet is not closed to foreigners. Its a deliberate govt. policy to leave the decision to the last minute. The usual official media announcement is something like "we had to close Tibet due to safety concerns or weather issues at short notice...."........yeah right!!
There is no place to read about the planned closures in greater detail as they have not been officially announced yet and won't be until relatively short notice. Subsequently we're going to hear lots of rumours about closure dates but we won't hear "official" word until the govt. tells the TTB - the TTB calls in the agencies in Lhasa for a meeting to let them know the bad news - then the agencies will be able to pass on this info through email and web etc.
Its time for a very zen approach to travel in Tibet this summer........