Yes, 进藏还是坐火车好:
1. Beijing/Shanghai/Chengdu => Lhasa, 47/48 hours
2. Xining => Lhasa, 25 hours. You can fly to Xining, 2 days in Qing Hai Hu, then to Lhasa. Better.
3. Permission (Bian1 Fang2 Zheng4), you need to have it before to Everest (Zhu Feng), but not need with Chinese passport. Lhasa and RiCaZe not need.