[photopress:tangula_mountain.jpg,full,alignright]Should this be under Logisitics or Hotels? Hotels because the prime mover is Kempinski Hotels. It has got together with Tangula International to manage the new Tangula luxury trains in China.
Think of Orient Express level trains taking you from Lhasa, Lijiang and Beijing in spring 2008. The purpose-built Tangula trains will take guests on two distinctive routes through China, crossing wild grasslands, desert plains and vast plateaus.
Departing from Beijing, the five-day/four night journey to Lhasa goes across the Tibetan plateau.
The Beijing to Lijiang route also takes five-days/four nights and explores the landscapes of Guangxi and Yunnan provinces.
On all routes there are daily off-train excursions. Each Tangula luxury train will accommodate up to 96 passengers in 48 suites. The suites each have an en-suite bathroom with shower, mini bar and in-room entertainment system with music, TV and satellite Internet. A butler is on call throughout the journey, while a doctor is available during the ascent to Lhasa.
Reto Wittwer, President and CEO of Kempinski, said ‘Tangula is a very exciting project that matches Kempinski’s pioneering spirit perfectly. We are delighted to manage the Tangula luxury trains. We can introduce our guests to a very new and exclusive travel experience in China, courtesy of Kempinski.’
So why the name Tangula?
The Tangula (sometimes spelled with two ‘g’s) Pass is in Tibet and rises to over 5,000 meters. It is here the Qinghai–Tibet Highway reaches its highest point of 5,231 meters. The Tangula Pass is home to the highest railway in the world, surpassing the altitude of the highest Peruvian railway by 255 meters at 5,068 meters.
Source: Hotel News Resource