What is a travel license for vehicle?
Starting from 1 June 2009, all private vehicles involving in the tourism industry in Tibet must have a travel license. It’s easy to see if a car has this license or not, just check the car number plate. All number plate in Tibet will be started with a Chinese word “Zang” (Tibet), followed by an alphabet assigned for each prefecture, e.g. A for Lhasa, B for Shigatse. A car with travel license will have one more letter “L” (lv-you, travel). e.g. A car with a number plate of “Zhang A L 12345” has a travel license. A car with number “Zang A 54321” did not. A car with travel license has insurance and is monitored by the Tourism Bureau. And most important, any tour agency who was caught with using unlicensed vehicle will be fined RMB 20,000 or above. If a tour agency risks arranging an unlicensed vehicle to tourists, you may want to ask why.
