Has anyone been to Tibet recently? Need to know the new rules re travel within. I plan to stay in Lhasa and not go beyond . Does that mean all I need is a travel permit or will I have to hire a guide and a car or must I always travel in a group. The rules keep changing and wanted to know more details before I leave a few months later. Thanks.

You should also check Lonely Planet's thorntree - http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntre...9&keywordid=90

And that website says Lhasa and Nagqu regions are open to foreign travelers and no need for Travel Permit.

I have heard that Tibet permits for foreigners will not be issued from March 8 until 'April'.

Tibet is open now.

What you need to do to travel to Lhasa:
- Contact a travel agency and arrange a tour
- Fix an itinerary and the agency will apply for the permit(s) for you (you can't do this yourself)
- Your tour will include a guide and, if you leave Lhasa, a car and driver. (If you just stay in Lhasa, you don't need a car and driver.)
- You don't have to be part of a group, but it does bring costs down.

Travel in the Tibetan regions east of the TAR have no requirements -- travel around as freely as you please and see whatever you like!

Tkiely - Could you -please explain what the last para means "Travel in the Tibetan regions... etc" By this you refer to the far north of "Yunnan" which was taken by the Chinese forcibly - is that right. It is true that that area remains 80-85% Tibetan population and now probably is more densely Tibetan than Tibet. Is that the "region" you refer to or some other one?

Hey merck,

Tibetan regions extend far beyond the border of the Tibet Autonomous Region into Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan. Only a small part of Yunnan is Tibetan, but almost all of Qinghai is Tibetan, half of Sichuan, and a small part of Gansu!

These areas are all on the Tibetan plateau and part of what is considered historic Tibet.

To be more clear, check out this wikipedia map: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TAR-TAP-TAC.png

This map shows all of the ethnic Tibetan entities in China, including the Tibet Autonomous Region and all Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures & Counties in other provinces.