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With featured pure white Hada under the blue sky, Lhasa is rightly one of the most featured and dreamt-about cities in the world. This is not only because of its high altitude at 3,650 meters which means remoteness and limited accessibility, but also because of its over 1,000 years' cultural and spiritual history which leaves an impressive heritage that has helped to create the romantic and mysterious Tibetan religion.
Lhasa, which means "Land of the Gods", is the heart of Tibet. Lhasa is the administrative capital of Tibet. It is the second most populous city on the Tibetan Plateau. Lhasa Prefecture covers an area of close to 30,000 km2 (12,000 sq mi) and at an altitude of 3,490 meters (11,450 ft), Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world. It has a central area of 544 km and a total population of 500,000; 250,000 of its people live in the urban area. Lhasa is home to the Tibetan, Han, and Hui peoples, as well as several other ethnic groups, but overall the Tibetan ethnic group makes up a majority of the total population. Being called the “sunlit city” by Tibetans, the city enjoys nearly 3,000 hours of sunlight annually.
The city contains many culturally significant Tibetan Buddhist sites such as the Potala Palace, Jokhang temple and Norbulingka palaces, many of which are located in Chengguan District, the city seat.
The Jokhang Temple (Tsuglagkhang) - constructed in the 7th century AD to house the statues of Buddha that princesses Bhrikuti from Nepal and Wen Cheng from Tang Dynasty China brought as gifts for their future husband, King Songtsan Gampo. Though the temple has been enlarged many times over the centuries, the original statue of Jowo Sakyamuni Buddha that Princess Wen Cheng brought from Chang’an over 1300 years ago is definitely its most sacred and famous possession, and is perhaps the most venerated religious artifact in all of Tibet. Also, there is another famous construction that we have to mention. The Potala Palace (Phodrang Potala) - A stronghold probably existed on Red Hill as early as the 7th century AD when King Songtsen Gyalpo built a fortress on it for his two foreign wives.
As the religious and political centre of old Tibet and the winter residence of Dalai Lamas, the palace witnessed the life of the Dalai Lamas and the important political and religious activities in the past centuries. Potala Palace also houses great amounts of rare cultural relics including the gold hand-written Buddhist scriptures, valuable gifts from the Chinese emperors and a lot of priceless antiques. The Potala was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994, the Jokhang Temple Monastery in 2000 and the Norbulingka Summer Palace in 2001.
Coming to Lhasa, it’s also exiting to drink tea and eat thugpa in the many teahouses near the Jokhang, or do the koras with other pilgrims, besides, Barkhor square will be a perfect place for your to shop anything.
You can do lots of things there, and it’s easy to find your way to achieve your ultra relaxing no matter what you are seeking for.