Tibet_Places_Interest

Done by:

Grant

 * The Potala Palace**

The **Potala Palace** located in Lhasa, Tibt, was the chief residence of the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to Dharamsala, India after a failed uprising in 1959. Today the Potala Palace is a state museum of China. It is a popular tourist attraction, a UNESCO WorldHeritage Site, and was named by the American television show //Good Morning America// and newspaper //USA Today// as one of the "New Seven Wonders of the World.



Built at an altitude of 3,700 m (12,100 ft), on the side of Marpo Ri hill, the Red Mountain in the center of Lhasa Valley, Potala Palace, with its vast inward-sloping walls broken only in the upper parts by straight rows of many windows, and its flat roofs at various levels, is not unlike a fortress in appearance. At the south base of the rock is a large space enclosed by walls and gates, with great porticos on the inner side. A series of tolerably easy staircases, broken by intervals of gentle ascent, leads to the summit of the rock. The whole width of this is occupied by the palace. The tomb of the 13th Dalai Lama is located west of the Great West Hall and it can only be reached from an upper floor and with the company of a monk or a guide of the Potala. Built in 1933, the giant stupa contains priceless jewels and one ton of solid gold. It is 14 metres (46 feet) high. Devotional offerings include elephant tusks from India, porcelain lions and vases and a pagoda made from over 200,000 pearls. Elaborate murals in traditional Tibetan styles depict many events of the life of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama during the early 20th century.
 * The Tomb of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama**

Sho Dun Festival

The festival is celebrated in the summer, from the 15th to the 24th of the 5th lunar month - usually about the middle of August, after a month's retreat by the monks who stay within their monasteries to avoid walking on the emerging summer insects and killing them.

Tibet Museum
As Tibet's first museum in the modem sense, the museum of Tibet,situated at the southeastern comer of the Buddhist religious garden Norbulingka in Lhasa, was inaugurated in October 1999 on occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding the People's Republic of China and the 40th anniversary of the Democratic Reforms in Tibet as the product of one of 62 Chinese government funded projects launched in July 1994 in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the formation of the Autonomous Region of Tibet. Coveting 53,959 square metres, the museum is an enormous and magnificent building complex with a total floor area of 23,508 square metres, including exhibition halls with 10,451 square metres. In plan, strictly arranged along the axis of the com pound stand one after the other introductory hall, the main exhibition hall and the storehouse for culture relics. The architecture design, while bearing conspicuous signs of Tibetan ethnical tradition, obviously reveals the modernist emphasis on practical function and the post-modernist artistic features. It represents a harmonious application of those three distance elements. The whole treasure of cultural relics houses in the museum include a wide range of prehistoric cultural remains, statues of Buddha and Bodhisattvas made of different materials, ancient Tibetan scriptural texts written in inks of gold, silver and coral, delicate Tanghka paintings, various musical instruments and ritual articles. To these are added handicrafts characteristic of Tibet, pottery of unique styles etc. The inaugural show was exclusively dedicated to the general theme of "the history and culture of and art; and the folk culture". The museum performs the concurrent functions of preservation, academic research and social education. Furnished with air-conditional devices, multi-functional saccousto-optic equipment, sophistic

Norbulingka
There is a beautiful park in the western suburbs of Lhasa. It used to be the Summer Palace for the Dalai Lamas where they handled political affairs, and practiced religious activities. The construction started in 40s of the 18th century, covering a floor space of 46ha. The whole park has more than 370 rooms of different sizes,and lawns,shaded by green trees and embrided by various flowers.With the clear water, and the flowers and trees around, it is known as the "park within the park"

Drepung Monastery
It is situated 5km's distance to the western suburb of Lhasa at the foot Mt. Ganpoi Uze. Drepung Monastery was founded in 1416 by Jamyang Choje, a disciple of Tsongkapa, the founder of Gelugpa Sect. The monastery, occupying an area of 250,000 square metres with a fixed number of 7,700 monks, is the largest monastery in Tibet. The monastery keeps plentiful historical relics ,Buddhist scriptures, arts and crafts.

Sera Monastery
Lies at the foot of a mountain in the northem outskirts of Lhasa. It was founded in 1419 by Jamchen Choje, one of the eight disciples of Tsongkhapa, the founder of Gelugpa Sect, covering an area of 114,964 square metres. The structure is imposing, picturesque in disorder, and splendid in green and gold. It is a typical Tibetan architecture. Sera Monastery, together with Ganden Monastery and Drepung Monastery in Lhasa, is reputed as the Three Great Monasteries of Tibet.

Gandan Monastery
Located in Taktse County, founded in 1409 by Tsongkapa, the founder of the Gelugpa Sect, it is the earliest of the Three Great Monasteries of Tibet.

Terrestrial Heat in Tibet
Northern grasslands called "Changthang" in Tibetan bear an extremely cold climate. Eight or nine months a year, here, are freezing seasons, but boiling springs with their cloudy vapors rising into the air are found here and there. Whatsmore, hot springs lying in pools and then flowing in rivulets produce more beauty to the land. The terrestrial heat in Yangpachen, eighty-seven kilometers to the northwest of Lhasa, covers some forty kilometers in area where one can see underground steams shooting up a hundred meters into the air and can be seen from ten kilometers' distance.

Namtso Lake
With an area of 1,940 square kilometers, the Namtso Lake is the second largest salt-water lake. In the lake, there are 3 islands, which is an ideal habitat for all kinds of aquatic life. One of the islands is made of calcareous sandstone. It is characterized by the stone pillars, natural stone bridges and the stalactite caves. The beaches of the lake are a beautiful natural pasture. Wild life is having a good time there

Mt. Everest
Qomolangma meaning "Goddess" in Tibetan, is the highest mountain on earth with an altitude of 8, 848.13 metres. Mtl Qomolangma,known to the western world as Mt. Everest, stands at the south of Tingri county in southern Tibet, at the border of the central Himalayas, between China and Nepal, capped with accumulated eternal snow. Its snow peak sends out silver radiance year after year. Its waist is hidden in the clouds. The optimum weather to visit Mt. Everest is from April to June, a golden period for mountaineers. Each year, a great number of brave robust mountaineers come from all over the world to visit and climb Mt. Everest,hope to fulfill a life-long wish by climbing onto and looking over from the world's highest peak,