I read today, that from October 1st the Tibet permit will not be necessary anymore. They are opening Tibet up for tourism. I read that the Vice Governor of Tibet Wu Jilie announced that to a group of German and Swiss Journalists.
Can Anyone confirm this?

Did you read this in the Sing Tao Daily? The backup I saw reported seems pretty flimsy--"unnamed offical..."

Since it's more of a tax than immigration control, it's not clear why the "permit" would be abolished as long as foreigners queue up to get into Tibet, especially now that the train connection makes getting there easier.

I read it on the German n-tv page. Sorry, only in German language.
http://www.n-tv.de/709515.html

A few theories:

-they believe that the net benefit to the economy will be greater if the permit system is scrapped
-capacity to Tibet has increased by several thousand percent this year (with the advent of the train)
-permit enforcement on the train is seemingly challenging because it is often hard to tell foreigners apart from chinese

The permit thing has been a bit of a hit and miss thing for years now. Theoretically you are required to have one, and sometimes you have to show it when you check in for a flight to Lhasa. We went to Tibet last year and nobody asked for it the whole time we were there. Lots of people we met didn't have one.

I phoned customer service of Spring Travel agency which is one of the top three travel agencies in China for this question, I was told till Oct the Tibet permit for foreigners is still necessary, and the permit cost is Y500 for one person by the copy of your passport, the agency can handle it with the charge Y500.

Well, that the permit is still necessary til October 1st is clear. My question and the whole thread is about what happenes after,

I would be skeptical at best that they would actually do away with the permit system, as much I would like them to. I have heard rumblings for the past 5 years that they would get rid of it but nothing has happened. Even if it does happen it is likely to take a while before everyone fully understands that. I still have police trying to find my visa in my passport, convinced that my residence permit is not a valid visa, this is a few years after the change.

Also the permit often times is never seen by the tourist at check-in at the airports. It is usually needed to purchase the ticket but is usually not actually ever seen by the tourist. It is really just a "tax" that people will pay. I agree that now with the train it will be harder to enforce.

After my last post I just read an article stating that the permit would indeed be ended as of October 1st.

http://www.tibet.ca/en/wtnarchive/2006/9/12_6.html

I would still not hold my breath on it just yet, things like this seem to change at a moments notice...

Ok, holding ones breath or not, Oct. 1st is just a little over a fortnight to go. So those close to the knowledge what is really going on, please keep us updated.

I made clear permit is necessary till Oct. (whole month), not just Oct.1, which means the biggest travel agency doesn't get any notice from the Municipal Tourism Administrative Commission about cancelling the permit. I viewed both websites of Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administrative Commission and China National Tourism Administration and there is no any new policy or notice about the permit. Also phoned Sichuan Municipal Tourism Administrative Commission about it, nobody heard this news. So I think foreign travellers who expected no permit will be disappointed now. Obviously it's not on the Chinese government scheme to change the permit policy.

OK, I got your message, you mean through october, not til october then. Please inform us as soon as things change. Thanks.

well, you didn't make it that clear. in fact, i've been toying the idea of going there on oct 1 because this thread has aroused my interests. but, permit revenue is something china will never see from me.

i will go there some day, but until that day arrives, thailand will continue to receive the bulk of my free-time coin.

As far as US (don't know about Europe) the interpretation of till Oct would
mean ends the last day of September. Thats why most expiration dates give the exact date so as not to confuse.

Ok, I think I need to learn more about English language, hope my chicken English will not cause misundersanting any more.

I think when you have Chinese friends in China then you can find a way to avoid the permit, trian ticket is possible, but plane ticket is impossible.