Everest Base Camp
Eight kilometres beyond Rongbuk Monastery lies the Chinese Everest Base Camp, famous throughout the mountaineering world. The only permanent structure there is a small stone hut belonging to the Chin…
Everest Base Camp, Shigatse · AI illustration for China Trip
Key facts
- Guidebook rating
- 5 / 5
From China Self Guided Travel 2025, page 565. Open in Google Maps
About Everest Base Camp
Eight kilometres beyond Rongbuk Monastery lies the Chinese Everest Base Camp, famous throughout the mountaineering world. The only permanent structure there is a small stone hut belonging to the Chinese Mountaineering Association, but during the climbing season, hundreds of tents crowd the foot of the mountain, housing challengers of every nationality and the finest Sherpa guides. On a small hill near the camp stands the new survey marker for Everest's height. On the slope beside it are many gravestones, where numerous brave climbers rest eternally.
On the way from Xegar to Everest, you cross the Gyu La Pass at 5,170 metres, where you can gaze out over the Roof of the World: Cho Oyu, Everest, Makalu and Shishapangma stand in a row, a magnificent sight!
Tips from the guidebook
- Climbing Everest
- 1. Chartered vehicle: You usually need to charter a vehicle from Lhasa. A Toyota is best, so that a breakdown on the road does not disrupt your plans. Hitching a ride between Xegar and Laori Dingri (老日定) is possible only by luck, and long waits are almost inevitable.
- 2. Fees: Entry ticket ¥160; sightseeing shuttle ¥120.
- 3. Food and lodging: Outside the base camp boundary there are many herders' tents offering simple meals and beds, but food is expensive. It is advisable to bring raw ingredients from towns along the way and have them cooked up there; the cooking fee is negotiable. Any leftover ingredients can be given to local Tibetan families.
- 4. Mobile signal: Mobile phone signal now reaches the base camp and even stretches along the climbing route, which is somewhat surprising.
- Everest Management Office
- It is just a small hut. Beyond it, a stony riverbed formed by several snowmelt streams blocks the way, and it is hard to cross without wetting your shoes. On the far side, a heap of gravel rises before you, only a few metres high; climb over it and there is another, and another. Here the oxygen content is only two-thirds that of Beijing, so you gasp for breath after every two breaths. If you can keep walking for three hours at around 5,300 metres, you will see the ice tower forest of the Rongbuk Glacier, and only then will you truly feel you are standing at the foot of Everest.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Everest Base Camp?
Everest Base Camp is in Shigatse, Tibet Autonomous Region, in the Southwest of China.
More places in Shigatse
Mount Everest (Qomolangma)
The final 100 kilometres require passing a border checkpoint, then continuing up the valley. You will pass the ruins of an ancient fortress, a village, rabbits, antelopes, and increasingly sparse vegetation, until there is nothing at all. There are only loose stones, snowmelt, and peaks, with no grass or moss, and very little life to be seen. Winding around one mountain after another, the driver says, 'Look, Qomolangma.'
Mountain entry fee ¥160; sightseeing bus ¥120
Rongbuk Glacier
The Rongbuk Glacier lies in the vast area at the foot of Mount Everest, between 5,300 and 6,300 metres. Made up of the West Rongbuk and Central Rongbuk glaciers, it extends 22.4 km and is the world's most fully developed and best-preserved valley glacier. Cirques, glaciers and hanging glaciers are widespread, and countless glacial lakes, ice cliffs, ice caves and ice streams create breathtaking scenery. Known as “China's most beautiful glacier” and the world's largest “high-mountain park,” it is an extraordinary sight.
1 hour
Tashilhunpo Monastery
A pitch-black passageway lets you walk around the Buddha statue. The precious beads and agates inlaid on the base are within arm's reach, and the splendour feels like a dream. Founded in 1447 by Gendun Drupa, a disciple of Tsongkhapa and the First Dalai Lama. From the Fourth Panchen Lama onward, it became the centre of the Panchen Lamas' religious and political activities. It is the fourth-largest monastery of the Gelug school and houses the world's largest gilded bronze Buddha, 22.4 metres tall. The bronze figure is inlaid with more than 1,400 gemstones, and a huge diamond on its brow is set off by over 30 diamonds the size of broad beans. Tashilhunpo has four colleges (扎仓) built into the slope of the mountain. Of the monastery's 64 khang-tsen (康村), many have moved away. Try walking through the dark little chambers: the wooden stair railings have been polished glossy by countless touches, and through narrow window openings you can look out at the bustling monastery grounds, as if gazing across another age.
Peak season ¥100, off-season ¥55 (free during the Jumping Buddha Festival) · 2 hours
Samzhubze Dzong Fortress
Over six centuries of changing times, this former political and religious centre of Tsang, and the seat of successive Panchen Lamas, has retained its simple dignity. Samzhubze Dzong is known as the 'Little Potala Palace'. Compared with the Potala Palace, where crowds fill the square despite daily visitor limits, this place feels like a luxury: there is no entrance ticket and no booking required, and you can enjoy its sacred serenity beneath blue skies and white clouds.
Free · 1 hour
Karola Glacier
This is one of the glaciers closest to Lhasa. The upper ice cap has a gentle slope, and the lower part consists of two ice tongues in the form of hanging glaciers. Beyond its natural beauty, it attracts visitors with its mysterious legends and rich history and culture. Sadly, in the 1996 film “Red River Valley,” a triangular gash blasted into the glacier by the film crew became a permanent “wound” on this beautiful glacier.
¥50 · 1–2 hours
Zhangmu Port
Located on the border with Nepal. The roads are rough, but the scenery along the way is stunning. Zhangmu Port sits at an altitude of only 2,800 metres. The town is a commercial hub where Tibetans and Han Chinese are joined by many Indians and Nepalis, and the streets are full of colourful Nepali trucks. Goods are displayed in dazzling variety, and travellers from north and south often gather here, earning it the nickname 'Little Hong Kong' of Tibet.