Golmud (Qinghai)

Introduction

Golmud is a town to be avoided at all costs. It really only a stopping point for oilmen, miners and all things industrial or people trying to get into Tibet. The town was created when the highway was built and has always been the last town before the Tibet and really just an overgrown truck stop. Just spend as little time here as possible.

Getting There

By Plane

Golmud Airport (GOQ) only has flights with China Eastern Airlines to and from Xining.

By Train

There are several trains a day to Lhasa, depending on the time of the year. Golmud is also connected to dozens of other cities in China, and all trains to Lhasa from these cities (including Beijing) pass Golmud as well.

Keep Connected

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

Post

China Post (中国邮政) is the official postal service of the People's Republic of China, operated by the State Postal Bureau of the People's Republic of China (website in Chinese only), and has more details about price to send letters, postcards and parcels, both domestically as well as internationally. The Chinese postal service is very good. Remember that in more remote places usually only one post office in a city can handle sending international boxes or letters. Also many times it might be worth having the name of the country you are trying to send to in Chinese characters. Post offices have a striking green logo and can easily be found everywhere in the cities. They are mostly open every day (including weekends!) from 8:00am to 6:00pm, though small offices might have shorter opening times, while the bigger ones in central and touristic areas are sometimes open during evenings as well.