What is the Hard Seat

All Tibet Trains have three kinds of seats – Softer Sleeper, Hard Sleeper and Hard Seat. Hard Seat is the cheapest but not recommended for long distance travelers. There are four Hard Seat carriages in every train to Lhasa and every carriage is equipped with 98 cushioned seats. The seats are fixed in the two sides of the aisle, two seats in one side and three seats in the other side usually. The adjacent rows of seats are face to face with a small table between them. The seats are 40cm (16 inches) wide and almost vertical.

Recommended Tibet Tour by Train: ☛ 8 Days Lhasa Tour from Beijing by Train

Hard Seats Carriage

Seating Plan of Hard Seats

Generally, the seats beside the window are more popular because the passengers can enjoy the scenery conveniently. What’s more, the tables between the two rows of seats are in rather short length and it unable to be used by the passenger with seats clear the aisle. Getting a seat beside the window means getting an opportunity to sleep at the desk. The numbers of seats by window includes 1, 98 and other numbers which ends with 0, 5, 4 and 9. Check the following chart as a reference.

Hard Seat Plan

Note: You could ask the ticket seller to offer you a seat by the window if they are available. But you are unable to choose position if you book a ticket on line.

Facilities and Amenities in Hard Seat Carriage

The facilities in the Hard Seat carriage of Tibet trains are not as good as Hard Sleeper Carriage and Soft Sleeper Carriage. They are rather basic but much better than other Z-trains or K-trains in China.

Prices of Soft Sleepers for Top Tibet Train Routes

Currently, there are Soft Sleeper tickets selling for the trains to Lhasa from Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Xian, Xining, Lanzhou, Chongqing and Guangzhou. The prices are more expensive than the Hard Sleepers but reasonable. Travelers have to stay for two nights if taking a train to Lhasa from Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing. The prices of Lower Soft Sleepers are more expensive than the prices of Upper Sleepers are not the same, but not very much.

Travelers who take a train from Chengdu, Chongqing, Shanghai or Guangzhou to Lhasa have to change to a Plateau Train at Xining Railway Station. Please check following table for details:

Route	Hard Seat Price	Duration
Beijing - Lhasa	About ¥360.00	About 40h
Chengdu - Lhasa	About ¥302.50	About 36h
Shanghai - Lhasa	About ¥402.50	About 47h
Xian - Lhasa	About ¥293.50	About 31h
Xining - Lhasa	About ¥224.00	About 21h
Lanzhou - Lhasa	About ¥240.00	About 23h
Chongqing - Lhasa	About ¥335.00	About 35h
Guangzhou - Lhasa	About ¥447.00	About 53h

Important Notice: Since there are more Hard Seats than Hard Sleepers and Soft Sleepers on each train to Tibet, you are suggested to book the tickets earlier. The tickets can be booked 30 in advance on line and 28 days in advance at the railway station.)

Comparison between Hard Seat, Hard Sleeper and Soft Sleeper

Generally speaking, the Hard Sleeper is much better than Hard Seat, and the Soft Sleeper are the best Choice. Because it offers much larger space, more facilities, more clean environment.

	Hard Seat	Hard Sleeper	Soft Sleeper
Amount of Seats/Sleepers	5 in a row	6 in a compartment	4 in a compartment
Size of Size/Sleeper	Width: 0.5m	Width: 0.7m/Length: 1.9m	Width: 0.5m/Length: 1.8m
Toilet	Squat-style	Squat-style	Western Style
TV	No	No	Yes
Power Supply	No	Yes	Yes
Vacuum Flask	No	Yes	Yes
Door	No	No	No

Check more information for Hard Sleepers and Soft Sleepers

Useful Tips on Sleeper and Seat on Tibet Trains

1. Hard Seat is Not Recommend.

♦ There are 98 passengers in one carriage and it will be always crowded.

♦ The seat is almost vertical and unable to adjust, which means that you can only sit. Without a good rest, passengers are easier to get a high altitude sickness.

♦ The lights in the Hard Sleeper Carriages won’t be turned off for the whole nights. There might be some people walking around or playing games.

2. If you persist on Hard Seat, take something helpful for you, like a U-shaped Pillow, earplugs, eye-patch, wet paper napkin etc.

3. Tibet Travel Permit is required when getting on the train.

How to Plan A Tibet Tour