# Everest Base Camp (珠峰大本营)

Shigatse, Tibet Autonomous Region · Southwest, China · Guidebook rating: 5/5
Canonical: https://cnatrip.com/en/places/everest-base-camp
Language: en

## Key facts

- **Admission:** Included in the Mount Qomolangma Ecological Protection Fee
- **Opening hours:** Open all day (all year 2026; may be closed in winter)
- **Time needed:** 1-3 hours
- **Address:** Tingri County, Shigatse City, Tibet Autonomous Region
- **Getting there:** About 4 h by self-drive from Tingri county town along Everest Road; you need to transfer to the scenic area's eco-friendly shuttle bus at Zhaxizong Township
- **Good for:** Nature

## 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.

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Source: China Self-Guided Travel 2025 (《中国自助游》, Tianjin Science & Technology Press, Aug 2024), p. 565. Prices, hours and transport details are as printed in the August 2024 edition and may have changed. Always confirm with the venue before you travel.
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