China Visa and Tibet

My friend and I are organizing a Tibet trip, most likely through Tibetan Connections, next year and I need to obtain China visa before departure. We will be getting Tibet permit, rail ticket to Lhasa in Xinang.

One thing puzzles me.-

I understand that I should not mention Tibet when applying for visa. This means that the itinerary I supply to China Embassy should be 'adjusted' to show me spending a few more days in various (non-Tibetan) Chinese cities than I actually will be.

The question is- so what happens if some official wants to know how come I am in Tibet when my itinerary submitted with visa application had no mention of Tibet?

Or doesn't anyone care less once you have your visa?

Just think of the itinerary you submit as hypothetical. I had to do a 60 day one for our first China trip and it had us going all over China when in fact, we only visited a small portion of the SW.

Great- thats the word I need to use!

They run on paperwork. Just dont mention it.

A friend here in Belgium returned from Tibet 2 weeks ago. They traveled with
Tibetan Connections for a month; classic tour and Kailash.
He told me they were VERY good, no problems at all.
Unfortunately they operate from Xining, and the tour we want
to do would be from Chengdu and fly to Lhasa (no train because
our time is limited and the train via Xining or Chengdu would take us 2 days from our itinerary )
Tibetan Connections mailed us they could sent the permit via post to airport of Chengdu,
( after arriving from Europe we would fly to Lhasa within 5 hours)
but that is to risky. To bad because now I have to look for another
company . I have contact with Snowlion and ttbfitsonam.
Now I'm going to try .. tibetnamchen.com (Dho Kho)
from Barkhor Namchen House.
My friend told me they looked great to travel with.
and is was fabulous to stay there.

HP WWW.MADCURRY.BE ( sculptures I've made inspired by our travels)

Many thanx- Xining suits me as a starting point as I'm coming across from Kashgar which makes Xining much more convenient than Chengdu.

"The question is- so what happens if some official wants to know how come I am in Tibet when my itinerary submitted with visa application had no mention of Tibet?"

This is highly unlikely. I have lived on the Tibetan Plateau for over 8 years and have arranged over 400 custom tours across Tibet and never have had this happen to anyone. Just list the main places in mainland China that you plan to go to. There is no problem going to places not listed on your visa application.

I usually recommend people to write something as simple as this for the visa application, even if you want to come to Tibet:

Flying into China, (first city in China) for one week, then Xi'an and around for one week, Chengdu for one week, Guilin and Yangshuo for one week, then exit Hong Kong.

The Chinese Embassy won't give you any trouble at all.

Or simply write down, one month in Beijing.

They will not ask you any question at all. If they are curious what you want to do in Beijing for a month, just tell them you are visiting friends there...

If I am coming from Xining, then I am able to go to Amdo Tibet, instead of Tibet proper if I cant get flights and trains on the required day.

Always have a 'Plan B'!

It's very important to have a contingency plan if you come to Tibet.

But if you come around March, some areas of Amdo Tibet may also be closed to foreigners.