Tibet is one of the most mysterious and the purest places in the world. As the "Roof of the World," Tibet has long been a favored destination for tourists from around the world. Located in by towering mountains, Tibet on the southwestern border lies in the main part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the highest in the world, at an average altitude of 4,000 meters. Set up as an autonomous region in 1965, it has an area of more than 1.2 million square kilometers
The mysterious Buddhist holy place was hidden from the outside world for thousands of years. For adventurers and traders it was a legendary land of treasure and riches.
Potala Palace, situated on the Hongshan Hill in Lhasa, means "the Sacred Palace of Buddhism" in Sanskrit. It was built in the 7th century by king Songtsan Gambo for his bride, the princess Wen Cheng of Han nationality, and was enlarged and renovated by the successive Da1ais. The 13 story palace, 117 metres high, 360 metres east-west, with an area of 130,000 square metres was constructed completey by stone and wood. It includes temple, seminary, chanting hal1, domitory, mouming hall and yard. The eight mouming halls house the stupas of seveal Dalai Lamas, which are covered with gold 1eaf and studded with jewels. Enormous precious histrical relics and frescos on various themes are kept in the building. Potala Pa1ace was the winter residence of Dalai Lamas. The imposing
grand building was constructed on the slope of the hill, which demonstrates a combined style of T1betan and Han architecture
To pilgrims, the first place of visit is Jokhang temple because it is the very center for Buddhists and Lhasa got its name due to her. It was also built in 7th century for the place of Holy statue of Lord Buddha. You could also buy some small souvenirs in Barchor Bazaar circling the temple after the visit. Here you could see some very religious people prostrating countless on the ground.
Yamdrok Lake is one of the four largest sacred lakes in Tibet. It is over 72 km (45 miles) long. The lake is surrounded by many snow-capped mountains and is fed by numerous small streams. The lake does have an outlet stream at its far western end. Around 90 km to the west of the lake lies the Tibetan town of Gyantse and Lhasa is 100 km to the northwest. According to local mythology, Yamdok Yumtso lake is the transformation of a goddess.
Lavishly enjoying the most delicious food, playing various mind soothing games, singing and dancing at every corner. Further more a variety of sports, song and dance contests, cultural shows are organized. The Tibetan Opera dance and horse race are the most interesting events on Losar.
Tibetans live on beef, mutton and milk products. As everybody knows, beef and mutton contain high heat energy, which is helpful for people living in high attitude areas to withstand the cold. It is very interesting that Tibetans have the practice of eating raw meat. Dried beef and mutton will be found hanging in Tibetans' tents if you pay a visit to the local families and the host may ask you to taste the dried raw beef and mutton.
The basic Tibetan meal is tsampa, a kind of dough made with roasted barley flour and yak butter with water, and terror beer. It has a certain novelty value the first time you try it, but only a Tibetan can eat it every day and still look forward to the next meal. Outside Lhasa, Tibetan food is limited mainly to momos and thugpa.
Highland Barley, also called Barley is the principal material used to make Tsam-pa. Tibetan barley is widely grown in Tibet and on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau due its endurance to the local harsh climate.
The method of making: grind the salted Highland Barley into flour then mix it with ghee. The Tsam-pa made of Highland Barley are not only the traditional food of the Tibetan people, but frequently appears in main hotels in Lhasa as the main dish used to feed guests from home and abroad. In religious festivals, Tibetans will cast Tsam-pa to express their blessing to each other.
There are two main ways of preparing and eating the tsam-pa. One is to make a tsam-pa dough with the Tibetan buttered tea while the other is to make a porridge together with beef or mutton and vegetables such as turnip. The tsam-pa porridge is known as tu-pa.
Unlike the tsam-pa dough served with the Tibetan buttered tea, the tu-pa porridge is often served with sugar. The tsam-pa dough served with the Tibetan buttered tea more often than not tastes salty.
The prevalent milk products are yogurt and milk sediment. Yogurt has two types as well; one is cheese, Daxue in Tibetan, which is made of milk from which ghee has been refined. The other is Exue made of milk from which ghee has not been refined. Yogurt is a kind of food after saccharification, richer in nourishing components and easier to Digest. Milk sediment can be made into milk cakes.
The ingredients of Ginseng fruit gruel are: drinking water, granulated sugar, ginseng fruit, unripe wheat seed, maize and polished glutinous rice. The special ingredients made the fruit meal quite different from those fruit ones in other places.
Tibetan New Year, “LOSAR” is the most important festival for Tibetans. The traditional Losar celebrations last 15 days concluded by the great Monlam Chenmo, mass prayer and offerings on the auspicious 15th day of the first month under the bright light of the full moon. Tibetans show up in new and colorful clothes with the most extravagant and precious jewelries. The only occasion, on which no Tibetan dares to make fuss with the daily stuffs than to spend the time
Situated in the southwest of China, Tibet has long been known as “ the Roof of the World” . With a total area of 1.2 million s.q.km, Tibet occupies one-eighth of the nation’s total territory. Tibet neighbors with Sichuan, Yunnan, Qinghai, Xinjiang, and bounded by Myanmar, Indiaq Bhutan, Nepal on the south and Kashmir region on the southwest. Tibet has a population of more than 2.7 million with Tibetan as the major population. Other nationalities such as Han, Luoba, Menba, Naxi, Hui and Mongol have also been the inhabitants of this wonderland.
Famed for its highland geographical and cultural uniqueness, Tibet is standing on the summit of the earth with its grandness. Unparalleled snow-land landscapes, glamorous southern scenery, snow-capped mountains, vast grassland and immense forest. Famous Himalaya range is striding over the southern border of Tibet. The world highest mountain --- Mt. Everest erects aloft above all the other high mountains.
Yaks...The official animal of Tibet
Yaks. When people think of the animals of Tibet, a yak has to be among the first they think of. Eighty-five percent (or about 10 million) of the world's yaks live on the Tibetan Plateau. A yak is built to survive tough environments. Yaks have three times more red blood cells than normal cows so they are able to live without any problems on the high elevation grasslands of Tibet. Their long, thick hair insulates their bodies from winter temperatures that can get to -30C (-22F) or colder. Most yaks are black, but it is not uncommon to see white or gray ones especially on the grasslands of northern Amdo (modern day Qinghai province).
Tibetans have a long history of using yaks. Experts believe that yaks were first domesticated in Tibet at least 3000 years ago. They are sturdy, sure-footed and perfect for using as pack animals to cross high mountain passes. They can easily carry loads of 70kg (154lb) along rough and steep mountain trails. For centuries yaks have been used to carry salt from the Changtang (northern Plateau) to towns across Tibet and even across the Himalaya into the Dolpo region of Nepal. Yaks can begin being used as pack animals at age 2 and can often live to be over 20 years old.
Yaks are the most important animals to the Tibetan people. Nomads keep yaks in herds between 20 and 100. Most of Tibet is treeless, so dried yak dung is used as fuel for fires. Yak hair is woven into yarn and used to make tents and rope. Yak hide is used to make boots and boats. Yak meat is eaten by nearly every Tibetan family. It is high in protein with only one-sixth the fat of regular beef. In the summer months it is dried, but in winter it is often eaten raw. Yak milk is high in fat and is usually made into butter, yogurt and cheese. Yaks are always given names, but their names are different from the names given to people.
Wild yaks, called "drong" in Tibetan, once roamed all across Tibet. They were hunted to near extinction and now number less than 1000. Males can measure up to 2m (6ft 6in) at the shoulder and weigh up to 1000kg (2200lb). Most of the wild yaks of Tibet now live in the Kekexili Nature Preserve located in southwest Qinghai and northeast Tibet Autonomous Region. Inside Kekexili they are protected from hunters. China government officials are spending a lot of money in hopes of multiplying the number of wild yak in Tibet.
In nomadic areas, yaks are still used as a mode of transportation. Yaks are either fitted with a saddle or are ridden bareback. It is not uncommon to see children riding a yak while out grazing the yaks. Many towns across Tibet hold annual summer horse festivals. Nearly every horse festival will hold a yak race which adds to the fun of the festival. |
