Xi'an-Lhasa

It's hard to say what the likelihood of catching the train to Tibet is. You cannot purchase the train ticket until you have the Tibet permit, and the train books quickly. The catch then is to head to a travel agent for your Tibet permit ASAP after arriving in China. You may or may not be able to get the permit in Beijing - I got mine in Chengdu. Good luck!

I would advise you not to risk it. None of the trains going to Lhasa originate in Xi'an, making it even more difficult to get tickets, when tickets from other originating stations are already so difficult to get.
Just curious though, how is it that almost no travellers have reported trying to get train tickets from Chongqing, or even Lanzhou?
Cheers!

I tried to get tickets in Xi'an and Lanzhou - both impossible. Ended up having to travel overnight from Xi'an to Chengdu, then return 90% of the way to Xi'an with the ticket from Chengdu. The tickets are in so much demand that the station workers snap them up, then on-sell them to tour agenices. I had Chinese friends try to buy them for me in both places, but in the end could only buy them in Chengdu.

Thanks guys, sounds like I'll be giving Xi'an a miss on this trip so! It would be a complete disaster for me to miss the group in Lhasa, so will make that my mission!

I have been told different things about the train from Xi'an to Lhasa. A chinese travel guide told me it was virtually impossible to get a sleeper on the Xi'an-Lhasa route but then I went to Shu Yuan hostel the other day and they said that it would not be a problem. They said they could purchase the ticket for me before I had my permit - although they would charge 100RMB commission. I think some hostels or travel agencies have 'good contacts'.