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Lhasa  ་ས་ %0891 / POP 500,000 / ELEV 3650M ©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd Lhasa ་ས་ %0891 / POP 500,000 / ELEV 3650M Why Go? Drepung Monastery . .78 Despite rampant modernisation and expansion, Lhasa (the Nechung Monastery . .83 Place of the Gods) is still a city of wonders. Your fi rst view of the red and white Potala Palace soaring above the holy Sera Monastery . .83 city will raise the goosebumps, while the whitewashed old Pabonka Monastery . .87 Tibetan quarter to the east continues to preserve the fl a- Ganden Monastery . .89 vour of traditional Tibetan life. It is here in the Jokhang, Drak Yerpa . .92 an otherworldly mix of fl ickering butter lamps, wafting incense and prostrating pilgrims, and the encircling Bark- Drölma Lhakhang . .93 hor pilgrim circuit that most visitors fi rst fall in love with Shugsheb Nunnery . .94 Tibet. These days the booming boulevards of the modern Chi- nese city dwarf the winding alleyways of the whitewashed Best Places to Eat Tibetan quarter but it is in the latter that you should focus your time. Hired transport is not required in Lhasa and » Snowland Restaurant most guides will let you explore the city by yourself. If (p 71 ) possible, budget a week to acclimatise, see the sights and » Woeser Zedroe Tibetan explore the backstreets before heading off on an overland Restaurant (p 72 ) adventure. » New Mandala Restaurant (p 71 ) When to Go Best Places to Temperatures are comfortable during April to September, Stay with days surprisingly warm and nights pleasantly cool. » Y a b s h i P h u n k h a n g ( p 6 4 ) Sunlight is strong at this altitude so always wear sunscreen. The major festivals of Saga Dawa (spring) and Losar » K y i c h u H o t e l ( p 6 4 ) (winter) bring huge numbers of pilgrims to the city, and » R a m a K h a r p o ( p 6 5 ) the August Shötun festival is also a major draw. Accommodation can be tight during the fi rst weeks of May and October and the months of July and August, when Chinese tourists fl ock to the city. ::::::::::: ‚ :::::::::: #4 To Sera Monastery ::::::::::: (Drap-Zaji Luc (8km) 00.8km r hi Rd) Zhaji L e# e u (Drap 00.5miles v chi Rd :::::::::::::::::i ) Lalu Wetland R :::::::::::::::: ) a h d s u ::::::::::::::: 6666R 66 u L i h u t n ::::::::::::::::L L See Lhasa Map (p44) r u i o ::::::::::::::: c d N n o i u :::::::::::::::::: x a e r D To Xu e :::::::::::::::::::) S #4 Drepung Monastery d ( D u ) R angr Dangre Xilu e D l onglu u ‚ :::::::::::::::: l d h i g (23km) t R e n u r u :::::::::::::::l t o i o B L u s e N D i a L a j :::::::666666 666666l 6 B y o a e u e u u rE k k G S k z c o i B n e er h ij i ing D X a k i ( L lu ( Li B Min nk u n e B o B ij u eilu i ing l (Linkh W i or Nor e th Rd) L st e Rd ( Najin Lu (Ngachen Roadd) ) B i ilu j J Ludin X ia Bei e o n ulinka lu ( D # g Luob Nuo 3 Potala Palace s bul u ink inku B a N L D gLu ort o a h Rd) R Meru Nyingba Monastery n 666y 666666666666666g 6666 i Parma Ri lu L Potala #7 ( 22 u u Tengye Ling #7 # J a L R 1 Barkhor Circuit ia 22 Luobulink Square n Lu Rd) Chagpo Ri g 22 obul a #6 s inka Nan (Norbulink Jokhang Temple #2 u (No lu E 22 rbulin a ka Sou Jia Old Town Walking Tour s 22 th Rd) ngsu D t ongqi Lu onglu R H (Jian d Jinzh ::::::::::::::gsu Eas Jiangs ) u Xilu ( t Rd) t Rd) u Lu Gongbutang L st Rd) Jinzhu Wes u u (Jin::::::::::::zhu We : ::::::::::::::::: u u Xil Liu 6Jinzh 6666666666666666Taiyang (Sun) Island66666L 6666 ::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::u L w (Former Gumolingka ha nj i ::::::::::::::::::::u :::::::::::::::::::Island) :::::::: L sa Bridge ::::::::::::::::::Bri ::::::::::::::::: :::::::: d ::::::::::::::::::::chu) g :::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::: i- e er (Ky :::::::a Riv :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: : :::::::: Lhas :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: :::To Ganden:::::: Monastery #5 :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::(38km)::::::‚ :: 6 6 66666666666R 6 Lhasa Highlights 1 Follow monks, mendicants shrines of the Jokhang (p 45 ), 4 Take in a prayer meeting test your sin on its fascinating 7 Track down one of Lhasa’s and fellow pilgrims around the Tibet’s holiest sanctum or some monk-debating at kora (pilgrim path) delightful off -the-beaten-track fascinating medieval pilgrim 3 Ogle the murals and Sera (p 83 ) or Drepung (p 78 ), 6 Explore the architecture, temples, such as the Meru circuit, the Barkhor (p 43 ) stupas of the Potala (p 52 ), the Tibet’s great monastic cities teashops and craft workshops Nyingba Monastery (p 45 ) or 2 Join the lines of awed impressive but spiritless citadel 5 Take a day trip out to of Lhasa’s backstreets on our Tengye Ling (p 61 ) of the Dalai Lamas old town walking tour (p 66 ) 41 LHASA LHASA LHASA pilgrims around the glowing Ganden Monastery (p 89 ) and History a Tiānānmén-style public square, complete 42 Lhasa rose to prominence as an important with a 35m-tall monument to the ‘libera- administrative centre in the 7th century tion’ of Tibet (under constant guard to pre- AD, when Songtsen Gampo (c 618–49), a vent vandalism). local ruler in the Yarlung Valley, continued Physically the city has at least doubled the task initiated by his father of unifying in size in the last 20 years and it now takes Tibet. Songtsen Gampo moved his capi- at least 20 minutes to drive through the LHASA LHASA tal to Lhasa and built a palace on the site sprawling Chinese-style western suburbs. now occupied by the Potala. It was at this The Tibetan quarter is now an isolated en- time that the temples of Ramoche and the clave at the eastern end of town, comprising Jokhang were founded to house the price- only around 4% of the city, and even these less Buddha statues brought to Tibet as the lingering enclaves of tradition are under dowries of Songtsen Gampo’s Chinese and threat from the bulldozers, despite offi cial Nepali wives. protection. Lhasa has probably changed With the break-up of the Yarlung em- more in the last 20 years than in the thou- pire 250 years later, Buddhism enjoyed a sand years before. gradual resurgence at monastic centres outside Lhasa and the centre of power Permits shifted to Sakya, Nedong (Ü) and then Shi- Lhasa is currently the only part of Tibet gatse (Tsang). No longer the capital, Lhasa that doesn’t require you to hire pricey languished in the backwaters of Tibetan transportation. The only time you will be history until the fi fth Dalai Lama (1617–82) asked for your Tibet Tourism Bureau (TTB) defeated the Shigatse kings with Mongol permit is when you check in to a hotel. No support. other permits are required for the city or The fi fth Dalai Lama moved his capital surroundings. At the time of research you to Lhasa and started construction on his had to visit the main monasteries of Dre- palace, the Potala, on the site of the ruins pung, Sera, Ganden and the Jokhang (but of Songtsen Gampo’s 7th-century palace. not the Potala) in the company of your Lhasa has remained Tibet’s capital since guide, but other parts of the city were fi ne 1642, and most of the city’s historical sights to explore by yourself. date from this second stage of the city’s development. 1 Sights Modern Lhasa in many ways provides THE BARKHOR བར་འ ར་ 八廓 the visitor with both the best and the worst The fi rst stop for most newcomers to Lhasa of contemporary Tibet. Photographs of is the Jokhang in the heart of the Tibetan the city taken before October 1950 reveal old town. But before you even venture a small town nestled at the foot of the Po- into the Jokhang it’s worth taking a stroll tala, with a second cluster of residences around the Barkhor (Map p 48 ), a quadran- surrounding the Jokhang, housing a popu- gle of streets that surrounds the Jokhang lation of between 20,000 and 30,000. To- complex. It is an area unrivalled in Tibet day the city has a population of around for its fascinating combination of sacred 500,000, and Chinese residents outnumber signifi cance and push-and-shove market Tibetans. economics. This is both the spiritual heart Shöl, the village at the foot of the Potala, of the Holy City and the main shopping dis- has long since disappeared, and the area trict for Tibetans. in front of the Potala has been made into The Barkhor is the one part of Lhasa that has most resisted the invasions of the modern world. Pilgrims from Kham, Amdo and further afi eld step blithely around a PUBLIC TRANSPORT prostrating monk and stop briefl y to fi nger At the time of research, foreigners a jewel-encrusted dagger at a street stall; were not allowed to travel on public monks sit cross-legged on the paving stones transport out of Lhasa, with the pos- before their alms bowls muttering mantras, sible exception of buses to the airport as armed police march by provocatively and the pilgrim bus to Ganden. Basic anti-clockwise in strict formation. It’s an ut- information is included here in case terly fascinating place you’ll want to come the situation changes.
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