The easiest and time-saving way to travel from Shanghai to Tibet is to take a plane from Shanghai to Xining (the real starting point of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway), and then take a train from Xining to Tibet. There are several daily trains to Lhasa in Xining, and the capacity even exceeds that of Shanghai to Lhasa. It is much easier to get a train ticket.
Since most of the scenery appears in the last section of the Qinghai-Tibet railway line - Golmud to Lhasa, and staying 47 hours on the train is quite a long time, if you have enough budget, we recommend that you fly from Shanghai to Xining, and then take a train to Lhasa, so you can save much time and energy.
Since most of the scenery appears in the last section of the Qinghai-Tibet railway line - Golmud to Lhasa, and staying 47 hours on the train is quite a long time, if you have enough budget, we recommend that you fly from Shanghai to Xining, and then take a train to Lhasa, so you can save much time and energy.