The first Qinghai-Tibet railway tour packages to depart from Shanghai will be on July 16. Packages went on sale yesterday.

An eight-day tour costs 12,000 yuan (US$1,500) for foreign passport holders. The price includes a travel permit, meals, accommodation and all transportation. The entry permit to Tibet can only be purchased with a tour package. Chinese travelers will pay 7,500 yuan each as they don't have to purchase a permit to enter the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Two options are available.

The first includes a flight to enter Tibet and a departure via the Qinghai-Tibet railway. The train stops in Xining, Qinghai Province.

The train between Xining and Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, takes 20 hours. Trains depart from Xining every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Days 2 through Day 5 includes a tour of Potala Palace, Lhasa's biggest landmark, Jokhang Temple, as well as Lake Yamdroktso, one of Tibet's three holy lakes.

Tourists will see Tibetan sculptures and paintings in Gyantse, as well as Nojin Kangtsang Glacier.

Travelers return to Lhasa on the sixth day and take the train to Xining. The route passes Nagqu Town and Gelmu City in Qinghai. The group stays in Xining one night and returns to Shanghai via plane.

The second package goes the opposite way. Travelers fly to Xining, take the train to Lhasa and then a flight back to Shanghai, via Chengdu.

"More tour packages will be released this summer," said Wang Jiping, general manager of Shanghai Odyssey Travel Agency, the biggest agency specializing in Tibet tours.

Wang also suggested flying to Lhasa first as accommodations in Xining are almost fully booked for the first several weeks of the new rail route. Travelers can also contact a travel agent about a new flight from Xi'an to Lhasa.