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LHASA
Potala Palace
The Potala Palace was the place of the Dalai Lama. It was originally built in the 7th century by King Songtsan Gampo and rebuilt to the present size by the 5th Dalai Lama in the 17th century. Its 13-story main building is 117metershigh and is composed of the Red and White Palaces, with the red one in the middle. The main building consists of the Halls of Stupas of Dalai Lamas from various historical stages and halls of Buddhist statues. The White Palace is the residence of the Dalai Lamas and places for handing political affairs. The Potala Palace houses great amounts of rare cultural relics including the Pattra-leaf scripture from India, Bak’gyur and the imperial edicts, golden seals and titles of nobility granted by the Qing emperors to the Dalai Lamas.
Potala Palace is composed of 2 parts, the Red Palace as the center and the White Palace as two wings.
The Red Palace or Potrang Marpo is the highest part in the center that is completely devoted to religious study and Buddhist prayer. It was painted to red to represent stateliness and power. It consists of a complicated layout of different halls, chapels and libraries on many levels with an array of smaller galleries and winding passages: The Great West Hall, Dharma Cave, The Saint’s Chapel, The Tomb of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama and etc. The 725 sq meters (about 7,804 sq ft) Great West Hall is the largest hall of Potala Palace, with beautiful murals painted on its inner walls. Around the Great West Hall are three chapels, the east chapel, the north chapel as well as the south chapel. The Dharma Cave and the Saint’s Chapel are the only two remained constructions of the 7th century with the statues of Songtsen Gampo, Princess Wen Cheng, and Princess Bhrikuti inside.
The White Palace or Potrang Karpo once served as the office building of Tibet local government makes up the living quarters of Dalai Lama. Its wall was painted to white to convey peace and quiet. The Great East Hall on the fourth floor, occupying a space of 717 sq meters (about 7,718 sq ft), was the site for momentous religious and political events. The fifth and sixth floors are used as the living quarters and offices of regents while the seventh floor, the top one, is the living quarters of Dalai Lama consisting of two parts named the East Chamber of Sunshine and the West Chamber of Sunshine due to the plentiful sunshine.
Potala Palace has other annexes including the School of Buddhist Logic, the seminary, the printing House, gardens, courtyards and even the jail. For more than 300 years, It has treasured many culture relics such as murals, stupas, statues, thangkas, and rare sutras.
Jokhang Monastery
Located in the center of the ancient city of Lhasa, the Jokhang Temple was built in the seventh century by Songtsan Gambo, the Tang Princess Wen Cheng and Nepalese Princess Bhrikuti. Its four-story main building demonstrates a combination of the Han, Tibetan, Indian and Nepaless architectural styles, as well as a Mandala world outlook of Buddhism. With the Hall of Amitayus Sutra as its center, the temple symbolizes the nucleus of the universe. The Hall of Sakyamuni is the essence of the temple.
The Jokhang Temple was built on the former site of a lake. According to the legend, the lake site was chosen after many failed attempts to build a temple in the region. Prior to this, every time a monastery was built, it would collapse. Confused by this phenomenon, Princess Bhrikuti turned to Wen Cheng for help. Being a learned woman, Wen Cheng told the Princess that the geography of Tibet was very much like a hag, with the lake at the heart. In order to build the monastery, Wen Cheng advised they must demolish the hag by filling and leveling the lake using 1,000 goats to carry soil from a mountain far away. When the construction work was done, it was called Ra-Sa-Vphrul-Snang (‘ra’ meaning goat and ‘sa’ meaning earth in Tibetan) to commemorate those goats.
Whether the legend is true or not, this temple brought Buddhism into this land and became an inseparable part of Tibetan history and culture. The city of Ra-Sa grew around the temple and over time, become known as Lhasa, a holy land.
Norbulingka Palace
Norbulingka, meaning ‘Treasure Park’ in Tibetan, is situated in the western suburb of Lhasa City, at the bank of the Kyichu River, about one km (about 0.6 mile) southwest of Potala Palace. The garden covers an area of 360,000 square meters (about 430,000 square yards), with 374 rooms inside. It is the biggest man-made garden in Tibet Autonomous Region.
Construction began in the 1740s. The area used to be wasteland with wild animals, weeds and scrub which the Seventh Dalai Lama liked and often visited, and, as a result, the Qing magistrate had a palace built. Years later, Kelsang Potrang was built by order of the Seventh Dalai Lama. Later it was used as the Summer Palace for successive Lamas, where they solved the political problems and held festive celebrations. After a series of expansions and renovations, the appearance was improved with potrangs, pavilions, gardens and woods. It has now been turned into a park open to the public.
Norbulingka consists of several palace complexes, such as the Kelsang Potrang, Tsokyil Potrang, Golden Linka and Takten Migyur Potrang. Each palace complex is divided into three sections – the palace section, the section in front of the palaces and the woods.
Sera Monastery
The Sera, Gadan and Drepung Monasteries are known as the 3 great monasteries of Tibet. It is the best locations to witness the “Monk Debates” on the teachings of Buddha and the philosophy of Buddhism.
Located at the foot of Tatipu Hill in the northern suburb of Lhasa City, Sera Monastery is one of three famous monasteries in the city along with the Drepung Monastery and the Ganden Monastery. It is dedicated to the Gelugpa or Yellow Hat Sect, a branch of Tibetan Buddhism, founded by Tsong Khapa. Jamchen Chojey, one of Tsong Khapa’s disciples built it in 1419 during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The monastery was named Sera which means wild rose in the Tibetan language, because the hill behind it was covered with wild roses in bloom when it was built.
The monastery is magnificent and covers an area of 114,946 square meters (28 acres). Its main buildings are the Coqen Hall, Zhacang (college) and Kamcun (dormitory). Scriptures written in gold powder, fine statues, scent cloth and unparalleled murals can be found in these halls. Colorful debates on Buddhist doctrines are held here and these employ a style distinctive from those at Lhasa’s other famous monasteries.
Sera Monastery developed over the centuries as a renowned place of scholarly learning, training hundreds of scholars, many of whom have attained fame in the Buddhist nations.
Barkor Street
Today even still many pilgrims hold the prayer wheels to walk clockwise there from dawn to dark. Also you can see some pilgrims walking or progressing body-lengths by body-lengths along the street. Even some of them are teenagers or have experienced thousands of miles’ walk to reach this sacred place. The way they express their piety could make you understand the holiness of religion.
For tourists, Barkhor Street is a magical place showing the original outlook of Lhasa. The street was paved by hand-polished stone boards.
To sum up, Barkhor Street is a place full of religious atmosphere and a world of exotic articles. If you have been attracted by it, you should go there. Believe your eyes, and you will get a lot of surprise there.
Drepung Monastery
Situated at the foot of the Mountain Gambo Utse, 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from the western suburb of Lhasa, the Drepung Monastery is known as the most important monastery of Gelugpa in Tibetan Buddhism. It is considered one of the ‘Three Great Monasteries’ (the other two are the Ganden Monastery and the Sera Monastery. Covering an area of 250,000 square meters (299,007 square yards), it held 7,700 monks in total and possessed 141 fazendas and 540 pastures in its heyday, and is the largest-scale monastery among the ones of the same kind. Seen from afar, its grand, white construction gives the appearance of a heap of rice. As such, it was given the name ‘Drepung‘, which, in the Tibetan language, means ‘Collecting Rice.
The ground of the monastery is organized on the caves and temples for Jamyang Qoigyi, together with two magnificent white pagodas. The buildings here then are centered on these pagodas, The major buildings are Ganden Potrang, Coqen Hall, the four Zhacangs (or Tantric colleges), and Kamcuns.
The Ganden Potrang, in the southwest corner, was built under the supervision of the second Dalai Lama Gendun Gyaco around the year of 1530. It became the residence of the second, third, fourth, and the fifth Dalai Lamas. After the fifth Dalai Lama moved to the Potala Palace, it was served as the meeting place for the local regime for both politics and religion.
QIANGTANG GRASSLAND
Qiangtang, meaning “northern highland", is the north Tibetan plateau. Many mountains covers Tibet. Among the famous kunlung mountains, the Tanggula mountains and Ganddis mountains covers 2/3 of the whole Tibet, with the total area of over 600 thousand square kilometers. The altitude if those mountains varies about 4000 meters above sealevel. The climate if the region is cold, windy and snowy. And such climate lasts for 8 or 9 months in a year. During this time, you can find frozen land almost everywhere. There is an old folk song sings: “The mysterious Qiangtang, it is so wild and desolate when you are here the first time; it becomes your lovely hometown when you get to know more."
Due to such severe climate, the north of Qiangtang Plateau is called “No People Area". But it on the other hand makes the place the paradise for rare animals. These animals live in the area of the north of the Gangdisi Mountains and Nyainqen-tanggula Mountains and the wide area south of Kunlun Mountains. Thousands of wild animals live in the Qiang Tang Grasssland, including 40 specially proteced by the state or regional government, such as Wild yaks,Bharals, Tibetan wild donkeys, White-lipped deer, etc. Now they have been in good condition in the area, with many rare animals researches being carried out every year.
There are vast prairies and glaciers, huge mountains and great lakes, hot springs, terrestrial heats in Qiangtang Nature Reserve. The best time to go there is during period from June to September, when the temperature is around 7-12 C. You can enjoy the beautiful view of the north of Tibetan plateau, feeling the gentle wind, bathing in the mild sunshine, and watching huge groups of cattles and sheep grazing around the mountains.
The region is also renown for animal husbandry. There are large range of pasture land and grass here. All are in high quality. The Yak, with the famous name of “plateau boat", and Tibetan antelope live in this area. Those herdsmen build their homes, “dong wozi", by the foot mountains and the sides of lakes. In summer, they will put their simple packing on their horseback. Then, they will wander and herd around the boundless prairie, singing songs accompanying the melody of their footsteps. Their life is lonely, yet by hardworking and singing, they have created their beautiful and colorful life.
NAMTSO
Namtso, literally heavenly lake, is situated in a mountainous area about 60 km northwest of Damshung County, Namtso Lake extents 70 km from east to west, and 30 km from south to north, covering an area of 1920 sq.km and altitude of 4748 m above sea level. It is the biggest lake in Tibet and the second biggest salt lake in China as well as the highest lake in the world. Namtso Lake is one of the three holy lakes in Tibet, playing an important role among Tibetans.
Being the second largest saltwater lake in China only after Qinghai Lake, Namtso is the biggest lake throughout Tibet. Meanwhile, it is the highest altitude saltwater lake in the world. The water here is a storybook crystal-clear blue. Clear skies join its surface in the distance, creating an integrated, scenic vista. Soul of every visitor who has ever been here seems to be cleansed by the pure water.
Namtso Lake maintains its levels from rainfall and melted snow flowing from high mountains. Five islands stand in the water area, among which the largest one is Liangduo island. In addition another five bylands stretch into the water from different directions. Zhaxi byland is the largest in area of these five. A great many bizarre stone peaks can be found on this byland. Some of them are like trunks; some look like human beings; some resemble trees. Various kinds of vivid shapes can easily arouse your imagination. At the same time there are many quiet grottos which are masterpieces of nature. Some grottos are narrow and long like subways; some are full of stalactites; still, others are like louvers. Queer rocks, steep peaks, natural stone ladders and other landform wonders on Zhaxi byland present visitors a picture filled with mystery and enchantment.
Summer is the best time to pay a visit here. Wild yaks, hares and other wild animals leisurely look for food along the expansive shores; countless migratory birds fly here to lay eggs and feed their young; sometimes lovely fishes jump out of the water, enjoying the warmth of the sunshine; sheep and cows herds are like flowing white blanks on the green grassland which can stretch as far as your eyes can see; the dulcet songs of Gauchos resound through the valleys. This time of the year Namtso Lake is full of life and activity. Therefore it is no wonder Tibetans take it the symbol of goodliness and happiness. Really the lake is a blessing from nature.
Besides the beautiful scenery, the place is also a famous sacred Buddhist site. There is a Zhaxi Temple in Zhaxi byland. In every Tibetan year of sheep, thousands of Buddhism adherents will come here to worship. As a rule, they will walk clockwise along the lake in order to receive the blessing of the gods.
YAMDROK LAKE
One of the three holy lakes in Tibet . Yamdrok Lake is situated in the Lhoka area, covers 621 square KM with the elevation of 4441 metres. That is the largest lake on the northern slope of the Himalayas. You will enjoy the beautiful sightseeing of the lakes and take some memorable pictures.
The Yamdrok Yumtso Lake has some beautiful and vivid names like Coral Lake or Green Jade Lake. The former name is derived from its irregular shape, as the lake has many short streams winding into the nearby mountains and it appears much like the coral. The latter name implies its beautiful appearance for pure clean water there is as smooth as the surface of fine jade. Lying under the sunshine, the peaceful water seems like a bright mirror. The reflection of sunshine in different depths lends the lake gorgeous and mysterious colors. Overlooked from the nearby high mountain, one could see the Yamdrok Yumtso Lake, like a holy sapphire, set in the group of mountains. In the lake, are dotted several small islands. On the islands, fertile grasses and groups of wild birds betray peaceful but vigorous natural scenery. Embraced by the uninterrupted snow-capped mountains and lying under the clear blue sky, the Yamdrok Yumtso Lake appears very holy and evokes solemnity.
Yamdrok Yumtso Lake is also said to be the female Guardian of Buddhism in Tibet. People here believe that it will bless and protect them. Every year, many devotional followers in Tibet or from other places would come here for pilgrimage. Some of them start on foot and give one prostration every three steps even from hundreds of kilometers away. All of these visitors bring much mystery and dignity to the charming holy Yamdrok Yumtso Lake.
GYANTSE
Palcho Monastery
The Palcho Monastery is in coexistence of the three sects namely, the Sakya, the Kagyu and the Gelug. The full name of the Palcho Monastery is called “The Auspicious Wheel Joy Monastery". According to the historical records, this monastery was built in 14 th or 15 th century. It consists of the Assembly Hall, the 100000-Buddha pagoda, dratsangs and an enclosure wall as its construction unitsContinue to Shigatse and stay overnight.
Pelkhor Choede enjoys a high status in Tibet Buddhism history because it houses three sects – Sakyapa, Kadampa and Gelugpa together. Those three sects get along well with each other though they once quarreled and fought. The Bodhi Dagoba, the Main Assembly Hall, murals and Zhacang (hall for the monks) in the monastery are the most renowned.
The Bodhi Dagoba about 32 meters (105 feet) high is a nine-tier building which has 108 gates, and 76 chapels and shrines. It is the symbol of the Pelkhor Choede. In Tibetan, the Bodhi Dagoba is called ‘Kumbum’. It also has another name ‘Ten Thousand Buddha Pagoda’. About ten thousand figures of Buddha are celebrated in the chapels, shrines or as murals in the pagoda, hence its name. The pagoda comprises nearly one hundred chapels which overlap one another. People call this kind of structure ‘tower upon tower’.
The Main Assembly Hall has a history of about five hundred years. In Tibetan, it is called ‘Tshomchen’. It is a three-storied building. On the first floor are the Main Chapel, Eastern and Western Chapels, and the cloister. In the Main Chapel is the bronze statue of Sakyamuni with a height of nearly eight meters (26 feet). It is said that about 14,000 kilograms (30,865 pounds) of copper were used to build the statue. Built with 48 columns, the chapel is decorated with numerous silk ‘Thangkas’. On the second floor, Manjusri Bodhisattva, White Tara and Arhats are enshrined in the chapels. The eighteen-Arhat clay sculptures in the Arhat chapel are renowned in Tibet. On the third floor, Amitabha Buddha, Dakinis and esoteric Buddhism murals are displayed in the chapels.
SHIGATSE
Tashilumpo Monastery
The monastery houses a 22.4-meter-high gilded bronze statue of Qiangba Buddha, the tallest of its kind in the world. The image of the Buddha is kind, generous and vivid.
The Tashilumpo Monastery was founded in 1447, which is recorded hightest Lama in the Gelukpa tradition, and the seat of sucessive Panchen Lamas in the Xigaze Prefecture. It is located on a hill in the center of the city, the full name in Tibetan of the monastery means “all fortune and happiness gathered here" or “heap of glory". The Tashilumpo monastery remains popular among the tibetans, as they carry on coming here on pilgrimage.
The monastery is an interesting sprawling amalgam of traditional Tibetan monastic style halls, chapels and other structures connected by precipitous steps and narrow cobblestone alleys. The interplay between Tashilumpo’s golden roofs and its white, red and black exterior walls creates a striking composition.
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Tibetan food
Even if you have explored all Tibet attractions, your trip to Tibet is never complete without trying Tibetan food. Tibetans eat a lot of yak meat and mutton but they don’t eat horse, dog, donkey or even fish. Butter tea, Tibetan Sweet tea, milk curd, yogurt,tsampa and mutton are all famous Tibetan food.
