To the north of the Himalayas within the Chinese borders, there lies
          a vast land of tranquility and vigour, This is the Tibet Autonomous
          Region of China, Here there are snow-capped mountains deep acre
          highland lakes dense forests rare birds and animals peculiar to the
          highlands, Tibet covers an area of 1 .2 million square kilo-meters
          and has a population of 2.32 million, of whom 95 percent are
          Tibetans, It is the highest plateau in the world, with an average
          elevation of 4,000 metres above sea level, Lhasa, the capital city
          of Tibet, is the holy city of Tibetan Buddhism and the Potala Palace
          is its sacred palace, Every year hundreds of thousands of Buddhists
          come to worship here.
         .
          Tibet is located in the southwest of China. It formally belonged to
          the domain of the Yuan Dynasty in the mid - thirteenth century.
          Although China has undertaken changes and replacements of dynasties
          and central governments in Chinese history, Tibet has always been
          under the control by the central government and been an inseparable
          part of China.
         
          Today is an age of information with jet aircrafts, highways and
          network of computers as its symbols. Mysterious places are rare to
          be found in the world, but Tibet is an exception.
         
          Because of its geographical position , unique topography and terrain
          ; unknown but existent original customs and natural scenery ; and
          various propagandas brought back by foreign explorers, all these
          render people possible to form a mysterious picture of Tibet.
         
          Tibet is located in the southwest of China. It is bounded by
          Xingjiang, Qinghai , Sichuan, and Yunan provinces of China. The
          south and west of Tibet is joined with Burma, India, Sikkim, Bhutan,
          Nepal and the Kashmir region. The boundary line reaches 4000 km
          long. Tibet has 1.2 million Square kilometers which is equivalent to
          the total area of five countries as U.K. , France, Germany,
          Netherlands and Luxembourg.
         
          The averaged altitude is above 4000 metres high. Tibet is the
          largest and highest plateau in the world, Therefore it is called
          the'' roof of the world'' , and shares the name of the '' third pole
          of the earth''. Tibet is surrounded by high mountains with Kunlun
          mountains in the north, Himalayas mountains in the south, Kela Kunlun
          ranges in the west and the steep Hengduan ranges in the east. The
          Mount Qomolangma is situated between China and Nepal with 8848
          meters high, which is the highest peak in the world. It is the ideal
          place for mountain climbers of the world.
         
          Due to the different geographical conditions, temperatures of the
          south grassland and north plateau differ sharply. The south is warm
          and rainy. The mean annual temperature is 8; with the lowest -1 6;
          the highest 1 6; in July. Most rain falls during May to September.
          The north climate belongs to continental climate. The mean annual
          temperature is below 0; .Freeze time covers half year. The highest
          temperature is under 10;in July, It is warm from June to August. It
          is a relatively dry area in the north, The weather differs sharply
          during day and night, The best time for travelling is from March to
          October.
         
          Tibet has more than 1500 lakes and rivers which cover 30 % of the
          total lake area in China. The Yarlung Zangbo River, which is one of
          the main rivers in the region, is 2057 km long. Tibet is one of the
          largest forest areas in China. High forests are found mainly in the
          mountains from the east to Yungui plateau. Rdza - yul, Sman -gling,
          Me - tog and Spo - bo counties have more than 90 % surface areas
          covered by forests. Wild animals are indicative of Tibetan abundant
          natural heritage. Wild cattle, donkey, yellow lamb, antelope, roe -
          deer, deer, leopard, tiger, bear, wolf , lynx, otter, snow pig, snow
          chicken and yellow duck. The natural reserves and extensive
          wilderness make Tibet a virgin land for ecological and hunting
          travel .
         
          Tibet has a long historical culture. Ancient remains show that human
          beings lived here from 4 thousand to 20 thousand years ago. Tibetans
          are so diligent and brave that they create vital and diverse
          cultural customs. This is a nation filled with special traditional
          culture and a nation keen on dancing and Singing.
         
          Tibet is advanced in astronomy, ancient algorithm and medicine.
          Tibet is abounded of classics and literature works. Among Tibetan
          greatest art treasures are painting, architecture, carving, music,
          dancing, folk opera, and famous ancient art sites all around Tibet.
         
          The most well - known sites are the Potala Palace, Norbo -glingkha,
          Sera Temple, Drepung Temple, Dgavldan Temple, Gtsug- lag - Khang
          Temple and Ramoche Temple in Lhasya ; Zhaxilhunbo Temple, Gzhis -
          rtse - rdzong in Gzhis - ka - rtse ; Rnan - sras -gling Garden, and
          Smin - grol - gling in Granang ; Byang - pa - gling Temple, Kharub
          site in Chab - mdo ; Mtho - Iding - dgon - pa in Rgyal rtse; Mtho -
          Iding Temple, Guge Kingdom site in Rtsamdva ;Khra - vbrug Temple,
          and Yambulha - khang in Snevu - gdong ; the tomb of Tibetan King in
          Qiongjie. The tour of these places and the custom of the nationality
          are the most special in the world.
         
          At the beginning of this century, Mr. Sven Hedin, a Sweden explorer
          who made the first travel to Tibet from the western world, arrived
          at Gzhis - ka - rtse with only two horses and one mare which were
          ever as many as 130 horses and mares when he first entered Tibet. He
          said in his"Travel in the Asian Continent'' that in Tibet, " every
          step we'd taken made a new discovery about the earth and each name
          of the place meant a new occupation. We knew nothing about this part
          of our planet as we did the back of the moon until Jan.1907 '' .
         
          Transportation in Tibet has changed a lot through out this century.
          From the time Mr. Sven Hedin entered Tibet at the first half of the
          century, there was not even one mile of road or one truck, and the
          transportation was based on man's labour and stock. Yak conveyance
          from Lhas to Yaan was only once a year. After 1 950 when slavery was
          eliminated, four distinct roads from Sichuan, Qinghai , Xingjiang
          and Yunnan to Tibet were built through great difficulties. And at
          the same time inside this autonomous zone, road nets formed centred
          Lhasa, Gzhis - ka - rtse, Chabmdo and Nagqu, which extended to 98
          percent of the counties. Railway from Qinghai to Tibet was built at
          this time. Skin raft and wooden boat could pass through the Yarlung
          Zangbo River, Lhasa River, Nianchu River and Niyang River. In 1 956
          , airmen succeeded in their first aerial navigation above the
          Qingzang plateau which ever meant the ''forbidden area '' . Now
          there are regular flights flying to and fro between Lhasa and many
          cities such as Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing and Kathmandu Of Nepal.
         
          Tibet, like many other areas, has changed much after ourcountry' s
          opening reform beginning at the end of 1 970s of this century. It
          attracts tourists coming from all over the world. Mending and
          exploring scenic spots and historical sites, building hotel ,
          arranging tour buses, training guides, managers and servants have
          made Tibetan tourism prosperous.
         
          Now tourists can enter Tibet in many ways, by bus from Xingjiang,
          Qinghai , Sichuan or Yunnan ; by air from Beijing, Chengdu or
          Chongqing to Lhasa .Through Dro - mo foreign tourists from Bhutan,
          Sikkim and India Can make their tour in Rgyal - rtse, Gzhis -ka -
          rtse, Ding - ri or Lhasa, or through Spu - hrangs tourists from
          Nepal and India can enter Ali area, if they are by air, they can
          take a direct flight from Kathmandu to Lhasa.
         
          In Tibet , not only can the tourists take the buses provided by
          local tourist department, but can ride a horse, a yak or a donkey
          and walk as well.
         
          Modern tourists are eager to return to and enjoy the nature. Tibet
          has large area, fewer population, high mountains covered with snow,
          rich forests, booming azalea on hillside, rampage rivers and calm
          lakes. Most of the places have not been polluted and are sending
          forth a delicate, original fragrance. In these places people enjoy
          the bounty of the nature.
         
          Many modern tourists yearn for an exotic atmosphere and the
          different culture of other countries and seek for new experience.
          Plentiful and particular content of Tibetan culture is one of the
          most characteristic parts of Chinese culture and the resources
          attracting many more tourists.
         
          Located along the Dmarpo - ri mountain, northwestern to Lhasa ,
          Capital of Tibet, the Potala Palace was built after the seventh
          century. It is 13 floors high, takes an area of 41 hectares and it
          is piled up with granites with thousands of halls.Inside the Palace,
          there are coffin towers of corpses of Lama through the ages and
          sorts of scripture halls. Every coffin tower is luxurious, decorated
          with gold foils, pearls and jades. The largest tower of the fifth
          Lama is 14.85 metres high, its decoration contains 119 thousand
          liangs of gold, 4 thousand pearls of all sizes and countless other
          jewels. Dalai lived, worked and made the Buddhist services in the
          Potala Palace. His bedroom was on the top of the Palace with a whole
          day 's sunlight so as to be called '' sunlight hall '' . After the
          peaceful liberation of Tibet, the Potala Palace was set up by
          Chinese Central Government to be the important site of preservation
          of cultural relics and maintained with fixed fund provided by
          government. From the spring of 1989 to the summer of 1994 ,
          government appropriated a sum of 53 million yuan to maintain it and
          this made the Potala Palace more splendid and luxurious.
         
          At the center of Lhasa, Vphrul - snang temple was built in 647 for
          Tubo king of Tibet, Songtsan Gambo to marry the Han princess
          Wencheng of Tang Dynasty. There were Buddhist and scripture halls
          inside the temple which was covered with golden tile ceiling to make
          it more brilliant. Vphrual - snang temple' s style originated from
          both Tang Dynasty and Nepal , India. Right on the center of the hall
          consecrates the same size of a golden statue as Sakyamuni when he
          was twelve. On the passage and four sides of the hall , there is a
          lively Tibet fresco, nearly one thousand meters long, which depicts
          the grand view when the Han princess Wencheng entered Tibet, and
          many fairy tales are told.
         
          Along the Barkhor street close to the Vphrul - snang temple stand
          stores one by one, which are opened and run by local merchants and
          those from Nepal an India. They sell many kinds of handicrafts with
          distinctive national features. What attracts the tourists most is
          people in the street. They put the palms together, put their heads,
          arms and knees down to ground, move forward slowly every step with a
          kowtow. This is the highest admiration of Lama to express the most
          honest hearts to the Buddhists, Some of them come here far away with
          a step, a kowtow ; and some from local areas. In the morning they
          kowtow around Vphrul - snang temple for half an hour, then go home
          to change their clothes, wash their hands, have breakfast and go to
          work. This kind of kowtow is a physical movement all over the body
          like Taiji and Qigong popular in the interior of the country.
          Although it is a religious movement, new content makes it a specular
          life style of Lhasa inhabitants.
         
          Tourists are also interested in Gzhis - ka - rtse rdzong and
          Zhaxilhunbo temple of Gzhis - ka - rtse city." Rdzong '' means a
          fort, or a mountain fastness in Tibet language. Like other religious
          buildings such as Potala Palace, Gzhis - rtse - rdzong is located on
          the top of a high mountain。 It was once used as both a military
          fortress and local authorities of former Tibet's local governors. It
          was built in Ming and Qing Dynasties installing scripture halls,
          Buddha halls, county magistrate offices, courts, jails, and
          storehouses, etc. There is a secret water channel connected with
          water resource. All these features are unique evolved from the long
          history of the old fort building development.
         
          Zhaxilhunbo temple is the biggest one of the Sect during the later
          Tibet with a history of five hundred years. It is the center of
          religious and political movement of Panchen Lamas. There are over
          fifty scripture halls and more than two hundred rooms built along
          the mountain slope. In the Maitreya Hall , 30 metres high, the
          seated Maitreya bronze statue, 26.2 metres high, is consecrated. The
          Maitreya ' s hat, face, breast, waist and foot each stands for one
          floor of the Hall. The bronze statue is composed of 6,700 liangs of
          gold and 230 thousand jins of red copper and there are one thousand
          and four hundreds of diamonds, pearls, and ambers and decorated
          between the brows of it.
         
          Despite that Tibetan scenic spots and historical sites
          have?plentiful contents and unique features, what makes the tourists
          yearn for is its charming local conditions and customs. There are
          many festivals here, even in every month, such as Tibet Calendar
          Year,the Lantern Festival, Bathing Festival and Flower Display
          Festival , etc. lf tourists happen to come to the festival, they
          will be invited to sing, dance, drink and enjoy together with local
          people. Tibetans are hospitable to ask the tourists to visit their
          homes, to understand and participate in Tibetan daily life, and to
          experience the new and interesting life styles.
         
          In 1 980 , there was only one hotel with less than 100 beds to
          receive abroad tourists in Tibet. But till the end of 1993 there
          were 78 restaurants or hotels with 1329 guest rooms. A Sino -
          foreign 3 - star hotel was built by the International Holiday Inn in
          Lhasa. Many hotels' architecture adopted the Tibetan style but was
          decorated inside with modern equipment. If the tourists want, they
          may live in Tibetan houses or Tibetan tents.
         
          There are traditional dishes and foods, such as butter from cow and
          sheep milk, butter tea mixed with butter and tea that is decocted
          from brick tea, glutinous rice cake made of highland barley and pea,
          , barley - brew drinks yoghurt, milk residue and air - dry meat,
          etc. ALL these are tasted specially. Hosts toast the tourists to
          make them in a more tipsy feeling and a higher tourist interest.
          Besides, there are Chuan, Lu, Cantonese and Yang dish series here
          and western - style food in some restaurants.
         
          Tourists can choose many mementoes, full of Tibetan feature, to buy,
          such as Tibetan wooden bowl with fine figure, colourful jadewares
          and stonewalls, antique earthenwares, exquisitely wrought gold and
          silver vessels, Tibetan knife and various handicrafts, wooden
          fabrics and Tibetan joss sticks.
         
          On the other hand there are plenty of recreational activities in
          Tibet. From long time ago Tibet has been called "Ocean of singing
          and dancing '' , and everyone here can sing movingly and dance
          gracefully. Tourists can enjoy or if they want, they can take part
          in all these activities.Guoxie and Guozhang dance are the popular
          collective dances in Tibet. Hand in hand, arm in arm, with one side
          the men and the other side the women, people dance while singing
          following the rhythm by stamping their feet. Sometimes they sing
          separately and sometimes collectively. Drum dancers and Reba dancers
          put on colorful clothes, hang big drums on their waists, wave the
          drumsticks, move ahead and back with powerful rhythm. In addition,
          there are other dances like Duixie dance and Lexie dance or Tap
          dance that highlights the foot movements, romantic dance that is
          expressed by buckling the breasts and holding the arms, and Some,
          prompt dances while singing and dancing imitating sowing seeds,
          pulling up weeds, harvesting, twisting the sheep's wool, spinning
          cottons, milking cows and making butter, etc. Moreover, Tibetan
          drama is spectacular to the tourists as its performers act while
          singing with colorful masks.
         
          Touring in Tibet, the unique contents of food, shelter,
          transportation and bargain can make the tourists greatly excited.
          When they enter Tibet, they enjoy revealing the mysterious veil
          covering this area and seeing the amazing and elegant demeanour
          behind the veil.
         
          Now there are many tourist activities such as
          mountain-climbing, river-expioring. skiing, motor - bicycle - riding,
          hiking, horse - riding, boat - rowing, hunting, fishing, sun and hot
          spring bathing. Categorical tourists like scientific exploration and
          sorts of scientific conferences have begun, including Tibetan study,
          Tibetan medical science, ethnology, meteorology, geology, geography,
          trade, architecture, religion, history, archaeology, culture, art,
          altitude disease and highland animal and plant. And with the further
          development of the reform, business and vacation tour will be seen
          in the making.
         
          Two circular tour routes are open in Tibet in 1 993, the east one
          and the west one.The east one goes from Lhasa through
          Maldrolgungkar-Kongpo rgya-mdav-Nying Khri-Sman-gling- Snang - shan
          - Rgya - tcha - Rtse - thang back to Lhasa again, the west one :
          Lhasa - Gzhis - ka - rtse-Rgyal - rtse-Sa- dgav- Vbrong -
          pa-spuhrang-sger-Shiquanhe-Dge - rgyas-Sger - rtsa -Tshochen-22
          Daoban-Rgyal rtse-Lhasa. The two routes enlarge the territory in
          activity for tourists in Tibet.
         
          It is more convenient to ask help of the travel agency rather than
          walk alone. The travel agency can provide both single and manifold
          services such as communications, receptions, lodgings,
          interpretation, and tour guide. Among 21 travel agencies, 14 are
          exclusively providing services for foreign tourists. They have many
          guides and interpreters of English, Japanese, German and French. In
          addition, they have set up agencies in Beijing and Chengdu and long
          - term organizations in Hongkong and Kathmandu to supply the
          consulting services for the tourists.
         
          From 1980 to 1993 , admissions to the Tibet totalled about two
          hundred thousand and foreign exchange earnings were up to $ 65
          million. In 1994 , 27 , 927 person - times were received which was
          an increase of 13 % of that in 1993. And each tour norm had reached
          the highest level of the history. By the end of 1993, in Tibet there
          have been 3,128 persons engaging in tour profession of the first
          stage.
         
          There is huge potential capacity of Tibetan tour. The tour film "
          Tibet- Tibet '' , shot by Chinese Travel Agency in 1 985, gained the
          gold medal in the international tour film festival in France. It
          reflected the world's big interest in Tibetan tour. The film
          festival committee praised the film highly, '' The magnificent
          figure, a new view to the old civilization and melodious music has
          pulled the film's exotic atmosphere to the climax.''
         
          At the beginning of 1990s, the World Tour Organization sent experts
          to Tibet to discuss and form "the Development Project of Tibetan
          Tour in 1991- 2005 '' . In this project, the annual growth rate of
          both guests and earnings will be 20 % to 30 % with the development
          of the guest market, the communication, the infrastructure and the
          advertisement. To 2000 , Tibetan tour will show a state of high
          speed development by receiving 75 thousand person - times and foreign
          exchange earnings of 52 million dollars.
         
          Tibetan tour' s mystery is being desalinated with the fast
          development of Tibetan tour and more tourists. And for seeking and
          enjoying the remaining mystery, tourists should come to Tibet as
          early as possible.