Places to Visit

Lhasa
Lhasa, the capital of China's Tibet Autonomous Region, has a recorded history more than 1,300 years old. It is the political, economic, cultural and transport center of the region. Lhasa covers an area of close to 30,000 square km. It has a downtown space of 544 square km and a population of 400,000; 140,000 of its people live in the downtown area.

Lhasa is home to the Tibetan, Han, and Hui peoples, as well as many other ethnic groups, but the Tibetan ethnic groups make up 87 percent of the total population.

The scenery in Lhasa is wonderful. The Lhasa River, known as the "merry blue waves," runs through the snow-covered peaks and gullies of the Nyainqentanglha Mountains, extending 315 km. The river empties into the Yarlung Zangbo River at Quxu, creating a spectacle of blue and white waves.

The ancient city of Lhasa stands alongside the Lhasa River. Inside the city towers the Potala Palace. The city features a hybrid of the traditional and the modern; prayer wheels coexist with computers. Located at the bottom of a small basin surrounded by mountains, Lhasa has an elevation of 3,650 meters and sits at 91'06E and 29'36N, in the center of the Tibet Plateau. Blessed with flat land and mild weather, Lhasa is free of frigid winters and unbearably hot summers, having an annual average daily temperature of 8 degrees C (43 degrees F). It enjoys 3,000 hours of sunlight annually, much more than all other cities in this regard, giving the city its title of the "sunlit city."

Lhasa enjoys an annual precipitation of 500 mm. It rains mainly in July, August and September. The rainy seasons in the summer and fall are the best seasons of the year, when it rains mostly at night, and is sunny in the daytime.

Tsedang
Tsedang (Zetang) is the birthplace of the earliest Tibetans, and is the political and economical centre of Shangnan prefecture. It sits on the south bank in the middle section of the course of the Yarlung Tsangpo River. At 3,600 metres it is endowed with a moderate climate.

The nearby Yarlung river courses through a national park with the Samye Monastery, the Yumbu Lhakang Palace, a burial site for Tsampos and the Traduk Monastery dotting the region. The reserve is located between two mountain ranges on the northern side of Himalayas, to the south of the Nyanchen Tanggula mountains, just by the Yalong Zangbu river, with a land area of over 800,000 square kilometers. The Yalong flows from the south through the area to empty itself into the Yalong Zangbu, forming a huge delta at the confluence.

Shigatse
Shigatse, also Xigatse, means "fertile land" and stands at the junction of the Yarlong Tsangpo and Nyangchu River. It used to be the capital of Tsang but now is the capital of Shigatse prefecture. The 600-year old city is the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, who is one of the two prestigious spiritual leaders in Tibet, and the abbot of the Tashilhunpo Monastery. About 300 km from Lhasa, it is an important stop between Lhasa and west Tibet where pilgrims and tourists often travel. Shigatse has a population of over 80,000, of which 97% is Tibetan. It is the second largest city in Tibet and has undergone large scale development. Most tourist facilities stand along Jiefang Dong Lu, Beijing Bei Lu, Zhufeng Lu and Shandong Lu. West of the market and below the Dzong is the old Tibetan quarter that many people like to visit.

Shigatse is situated at the altitude of 12,600 ft. It is renowned for Tashilhunpo Monastery, the seat of the Panchen Lama, who is regarded as the reincarnation of the Buddha of Endless Enlightenment. Items of interest inside this monastery built in 1447 by the First Dalai Lama are: the relics of Sakyamuni, the Hall of Maitreya, and an incredible collection of thangkas, frescoes and statues. There is also a dynamic 'free' market where one can buy local handicrafts embedded with coral and turquoise, Tibetan daggers, Chinese pottery and yak butter. Since it is Tibet's second largest city, it is the centre for transportation and distribution of agriculture and other products.