Kevin Gu · Books
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Tibet, Day Zero

A First-Timer's Guide to the Walls You'll Actually Hit

By Kevin Gu

A first-timer's guide to Tibet, which is really two trips on one plateau: the Tibet Autonomous Region, where you travel on a permit and with a guide, and the Tibetan areas of Qinghai and Sichuan, where a passport is enough. Then come the walls every visitor meets: the visa and the permit behind it, choosing a tour without getting burned, altitude that decides your whole schedule, phone payments in a monastery shop, and checkpoints with their own rules.

Each chapter explains what stands in the way and how to get past it, then tells the story behind the Potala, the Jokhang and the Barkhor, with Gyantse, Shigatse, Everest and Kailash, the Amdo and Kham roads, and the facts checked for travel in 2026 and 2027.

This edition is written for readers from the United States and Canada, with their entry rules, embassy contacts and customs allowances.

Coming soon to ebook stores

Where to buy

The book is the same in both places. Buying direct also gets you the printable extras and next year's update.

Direct from the author

$19.99

  • EPUB and PDF, no DRM: read it on Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books, a phone or a laptop
  • Printable pre-trip checklist (PDF)
  • Printable taxi cards with addresses in Chinese to show your driver (PDF)
  • Next year's updated edition, free to download
Coming soon to ebook stores

Kindle edition on Amazon

$12.99

  • The full book, delivered to your Kindle library
  • Syncs across Kindle devices and apps

The printable checklist and taxi cards come only with the direct edition.

Coming soon to ebook stores

Contents

I — Before You Book Anything

  1. Two Tibets on One Plateau: Where You Need a Permit and Where You Don't
  2. The Permit Wall: Visa, Tibet Travel Permit and the Papers Behind It
  3. Choosing a Tour Without Getting Burned
  4. The Altitude Wall: Acclimatizing Without Wasting Days

II — Getting In

  1. Gateways: Chengdu, Xining, Kathmandu and the Flights to Lhasa
  2. The Train to the Sky: Xining to Lhasa on the Qinghai–Tibet Railway

III — Lhasa: The Story First, Then the Strategy

  1. The First 48 Hours in Lhasa: Slow Down, Get Your Bearings
  2. Potala Palace: Reading It Before You Climb It
  3. Jokhang and the Barkhor: Walking With the Pilgrims
  4. Monasteries and Gardens: Sera, Drepung, Ganden and Norbulingka

IV — Central and Western Tibet

  1. Lakes and Passes: Namtso and Yamdrok
  2. Gyantse and Shigatse: Fortresses, Stupas and the Panchen Lama's Seat
  3. To Everest's North Face: Rongbuk, Base Camp and What You Can Actually See
  4. Samye and the Yarlung Valley: Where Tibet Began
  5. Beyond the Classic Route: Nyingchi, Kailash and Guge

V — Amdo and Kham on Your Own

  1. Xining and the Amdo Heartland: Kumbum, Qinghai Lake and Rebkong
  2. The Grasslands of Northern Sichuan: Zoige, Langmusi and the Road North
  3. Kham: Litang, Garze, Derge, Yading and Yushu

VI — Living By the Rules

  1. Temples, Cameras and Conversations: Etiquette for Visitors
  2. Butter Tea and Beyond: Eating and Drinking at Altitude
  3. Seasons, Festivals and Closures: When to Go
  4. Sample Trips and What They Cost

Appendices

  1. Phrasebook by Situation, Not by Grammar
  2. The Plateau in Brief: From the Yarlung Kings to Today
  3. Practical A–Z
  4. Place Names in Tibetan, Characters and Pinyin