How to Travel to Tibet during Naqu Horse Racing Festival

Naqu Horse Racing Festival is usually held since August 10th of Tibetan calendar every year. It is the largest and most bustling festival in northern Tibet, which is well known by tourists. As one of the important Tibetan festival, find how to travel to Tibet during Tibetan festival will offer you a chance to participate the special Tibetan folk custom, enjoy the scenery of northern Tibet, but also witness the love may happened in this holy land.

How to Travel to Tibet during Naqu Horse Racing Festival

a. Naqu Horse Racing Festival is fully called Naqu Qangtang Qiaqing Horse Racing Art Festival. Naqu Horse Racing festival is the largest and the most bustling festival in northern Tibet. It is usually held since August 10th every year according to Tibetan calendar and lasts about 5-15 days. During the festival, Tibetan herdsmen will gather together around horse racing field to enjoy the performances.

b. The most important part of this festival is horse racing. The race distance is usually about 10 kilometers available to different people in different group. The details of horse racing include archery, target practice, athletics, barley wine giving, and Hada picking on the horse, etc.

Besides, other performances out of race field are also showed very happily, such as Tibetan literature and art, dancing, sports, and commodity fair gathering, etc.

c. If you are lucky enough, you will find many young men and women dressed very beautiful to show their love to each other during Naqu horse racing festival.

d. Regular public buses are opened and available from Lhasa to Naqu, which holds two passenger stations respectively in western Lhasa and northern Lhasa. It takes about 5 hours on the way. In the meanwhile, the train between Lhasa and Naqu is also available to tourist.

e. We usually arrange your accommodation in Naqu town during Tibetan horse racing festival, as many hotels will be booked 1-2 month ago in advance by other tourists and Tibetans. Some other Tibetans will live in a tent in the grass outside Naqu town if there are no more hotels.

f. You will have a chance to taste local northern Tibetan food such as mutton, pork, butter tea, Tibetan cheese, tea with milk, fresh milk and yoghourt.