Lhasa

Coordinates: 29°39′14″N 91°7′3″E / 29.65389°N 91.11750°E / 29.65389; 91.11750
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the inner urban district. For the city, see Lhasa (city). For other uses, see Lhasa (disambiguation).

Lhasa
拉萨市 城关区
ཁྲིན་ཀོན་ཆུས། · ल्हासा
Chengguan, Chênggoin, Chengguān
Postal code
850000
Area code891
Websitewww.cgq.gov.cn (in Chinese)
Lhasa
Lhasa IPA
[l̥ásə] or [l̥ɜ́ːsə]
Chengguan District
Chinese name
Tibetan
ཁྲིན་ཀོན་ཆུས།

Lhasa,[a] officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City,[b] is the inner urban district of Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China.[4]

Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining and, at an altitude of 3,656 metres (11,990 ft), Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world. The city has been the religious and administrative capital of Tibet since the mid-17th century. It contains many culturally significant Tibetan Buddhist sites such as the Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple and Norbulingka Palaces.

Toponymy

Lhasa literally translates to "place of gods" (ལྷ lha, god; ས sa, place) in the

Tibetan language. Chengguan literally translates to "urban gateway" (Chinese: 城关; pinyin: Chéngguān) in the Chinese language. Ancient Tibetan documents and inscriptions demonstrate that the place was called Rasa (ར་ས),[5] which meant "goat's place", as it was a herding site.[5][6][7] The name was changed to Lhasa, which means "place of gods", upon its establishment as the capital of Tibet, and construction of the Jokhang temple was completed, which housed a holy statue of the Buddha.[8][9] Lhasa is first recorded as the name, referring to the area's temple of Jowo, in a treaty drawn up between China and Tibet in 822 C.E.[10] In some old European maps, where Tibet is depicted, a town under the name Barantola can be come up with; this town has mostly been suggested to be Lhasa, at other times to refer to modern Bulantai/Boluntay in the western part of the Qinghai province.[11]

History

Songtsen Gampo

By the mid 7th century,

Chongye County (pinyin: Qióngjié Xiàn), southwest of Yarlung, to Rasa (Lhasa) where in 637 he raised the first structures on the site of what is now the Potala Palace on Mount Marpori.[13]
In CE 639 and 641, Songtsen Gampo, who by this time had conquered the whole Tibetan region, is said to have contracted two alliance marriages, firstly to a Princess
Buddha statues, the Akshobhya Vajra (depicting the Buddha at the age of eight) and the Jowo Sakyamuni (depicting Buddha at the age of twelve), respectively brought to his court by the princesses.[15][16] Lhasa suffered extensive damage under the reign of Langdarma in the 9th century, when the sacred sites were destroyed and desecrated and the empire fragmented.[17]

A Tibetan tradition mentions that after Songtsen Gampo's death in 649 C.E., Chinese troops captured Lhasa and burnt the Red Palace.[18][19] Chinese and Tibetan scholars have noted that the event is mentioned neither in the Chinese annals nor in the Tibetan manuscripts of Dunhuang. Lǐ suggested that this tradition may derive from an interpolation.[20] Tsepon W. D. Shakabpa believes that "those histories reporting the arrival of Chinese troops are not correct."[19]

From the fall of the monarchy in the 9th century to the accession of the

Tibetan Muslim
communities have lived in Lhasa with distinct homes, food and clothing, language, education, trade and traditional herbal medicine.

By the 15th century, the city of Lhasa had risen to prominence following the founding of three large

Drepung which were built as part of the puritanical Buddhist revival in Tibet.[25] The scholarly achievements and political know-how of this Gelugpa Lineage eventually pushed Lhasa once more to centre stage.[26]

The 5th

lintels
of the Jokhang Temple date to the 7th century, the oldest of Lhasa's extant buildings, such as within the Potala Palace, the Jokhang and some of the monasteries and properties in the Old Quarter date to this second flowering in Lhasa's history.

Lhasa's (western gate)- the Tibetans called this chorten, Pargo Kaling pictured here at the time of the 1904 British expedition to Tibet.

By the end of the 17th century, Lhasa's

Barkhor area formed a bustling market for foreign goods. The Jesuit missionary, Ippolito Desideri reported in 1716 that the city had a cosmopolitan community of Mongol, Chinese, Muscovite, Armenian, Kashmiri, Nepalese and Northern Indian traders. Tibet was exporting musk, gold, medicinal plants, furs and yak tails to far-flung markets, in exchange for sugar, tea, saffron, Persian turquoise, European amber and Mediterranean coral.[31] The Qing dynasty army entered Lhasa in 1720, and the Qing government sent resident commissioners, called the Ambans, to Lhasa. On 11 November 1750, the murder of the regent by the Ambans triggered a riot in the city that left more than a hundred people killed, including the Ambans. After suppressing the rebels, Qing Qianlong Emperor reorganized the Tibetan government and set up the governing council called Kashag
in Lhasa in 1751.

1938 Lhasa with the Potala as seen from the roof of Men-Tsee-Khang or Tibetan Medical College founded by the 13th Dalai Lama

In January 1904, a

Convention Between Great Britain and Tibet with the remaining Tibetan officials after the Dalai Lama had fled to the countryside. The treaty was subsequently repudiated and was succeeded by a 1906 Anglo-Chinese treaty. All Qing troops left Lhasa after the Xinhai Lhasa turmoil in 1912.[32]

On November 2, 1949, the local Tibetan government sent a letter to

Tsepon Shargyalpa and Tsejang Khenpo Tubten Gyalpo were sent as representatives, but no consensus was reached.[33] On October 7, 1950, the Chinese People's Liberation Army launched the Battle of Chamdo. After the battle, the PLA ceased military operations, released all Tibetan prisoners, and expressed its hope for a settlement through peace talks. At the invitation of the Central Government, the Dalai Lama and a Tibetan government delegation traveled to Beijing for peace talks, and in April 1951, a five-member delegation headed by Ngapo-Ngawang Jigme traveled to Beijing and reached a consensus on peace talks.[34][35][36]

On October 26, 1951, the advance troops of the Chinese People's Liberation Army marched into Lhasa with red flags in their hands.

In 1951, Chinese rule over Tibet was restored, forcing the expulsion of the Dalai Lama and thousands of Tibetan refugees. Lhasa remained the political, economic, cultural and religious center of Tibet. In January 1960, Lhasa City was established.[37] In 1964, the autonomous region and Lhasa city leaders jointly formed the Lhasa City Municipal Construction Command, led from the country's brother provinces and cities to mobilize the construction team, has built the Lhasa City YuTuo Road, KangAng East Road, NiangJe South Road, JinZhu East Road, DuoSen South Road and Beijing West Road. Lhasa local officials paved more than 100,000 square meters of asphalt. The new city center of Lhasa is three times larger than the old city center, and the population of the city has increased by more than 20,000 people.[38] In September 1965, the Tibet Autonomous Region was established, and Lhasa became the capital of the region.[39]

Of the 22 parks (lingkas) which surrounded the city of Lhasa, most of them over half a mile in length, where the people of Lhasa were accustomed to picnic, only three survive today: the Norbulingka, Dalai Lama's Summer Palace, constructed by the 7th Dalai Lama;[25] a small part of the Shugtri Lingka, and the Lukhang. Dormitory blocks, offices and army barracks are built over the rest.[40]

The

chorten and contained holy relics of the Buddha Mindukpa.[42]

In 2000 the urbanised area covered 53 square kilometres (20 sq mi), with a population of around 170,000. Official statistics of the metropolitan area report that 70 percent are Tibetan, 24.3 are Han, and the remaining 2.7 Hui, though outside observers suspect that non-Tibetans account for some 50–70 percent. According to the Sixth Population Census in 2010, the population of Tibetans is 429,104, accounting for 76.70% of the total population of Lhasa. The second most populous ethnic group is the Han Chinese, with a population of 121,065, accounting for 21.64% of Lhasa's total population. These two ethnic groups account for the vast majority of Lhasa's total population, while other ethnic minorities account for only about 1.66% of Lhasa's total population.[43]

Geography

Lhasa sits in a flat river valley
Lhasa from the Pabonka Monastery. The Potala Palace rises above the old city.
DMA
, 1973)

Lhasa has an elevation of about 3,600 m (11,800 ft)

Nyainqêntanglha mountains, extending 315 km (196 mi), and emptying into the Yarlung Zangbo River at Qüxü, forms an area of great scenic beauty. The marshlands, mostly uninhabited, are to the north.[46] Ingress and egress roads run east and west, while to the north, the road infrastructure is less developed.[46]

Administration

The built-up area (pink) within the Chengguan District (yellow)

Chengguan District is located on the middle reaches of the

Dagzê County to the east and Lhünzhub County to the north. Gonggar County of Lhoka (Shannan) Prefecture lies to the south.[47][48]

Chengguan District has an elevation of 3,650 metres (11,980 ft) and covers 525 square kilometres (203 sq mi). The urban built-up area covers 60 square kilometres (23 sq mi).The average annual temperature of 8 °C (46 °F). Annual precipitation is about 300 millimetres (12 in) to 500 millimetres (20 in), mostly falling between July and September.[49]

View of Lhasa in 2017

The term "Chengguan District" is the administrative term for the inner urban area or the urban centre within a prefecture, in this case the Prefectural-city of Lhasa. Outside of the urban area much of Chengguan District is mainly mountainous with a near nonexistent rural population. Chengguan District is at the same administrative level as a county.[50] Chengguan District of Lhasa was established on 23 April 1961. It currently has 12 fully urban subdistricts.[51]

Name
Tibetan
Tibetan Pinyin
 Chinese Pinyin Population (2010)[52]
Pargor Subdistrict བར་སྒོར་ཁྲོམ་གཞུང་། Pargor Tromzhung 八廓街道 Bākuò Jiēdào 92,107
Gyirai Subdistrict སྐྱིད་རས་ཁྲོམ་གཞུང་། Gyirai Tromzhung 吉日街道 Jírì Jiēdào 21,022
Jêbumgang Subdistrict རྗེ་འབུམ་སྒང་ཁྲོམ་གཞུང་། Jêbumgang Tromzhung 吉崩岗街道 Jíbēnggǎng Jiēdào 29,984
Chabxi Subdistrict གྲ་བཞི་ཁྲོམ་གཞུང་། Chabxi Tromzhung 扎细街道 Zāxì Jiēdào 30,820
Gündêling Subdistrict ཀུན་བདེ་གླིང་ཁྲོམ་གཞུང་། Gündêling Tromzhung 公德林街道 Gōngdélín Jiēdào 55,404
Garmagoinsar Subdistrict ཀརྨ་མ་ཀུན་བཟང་ཁྲོམ་གཞུང་། Garmagoinsar Tromzhung 嘎玛贡桑街道 Gámǎgòngsāng Jiēdào 19,472
Liangdao Subdistrict གླིང་ཕྲན་གཉིས་ཀྱི་ཁྲོམ་གཞུང་། Lingchain Nyi'gyi Tromzhung 两岛街道 Liǎngdǎo Jiēdào 14,055
Jinzhu West Road Subdistrict བཅིངས་འགྲོལ་ནུབ་ལམ་ཁྲོམ་གཞུང་། Jingzhoi Nublam Tromzhung 金珠西路街道 Jīnzhū Xīlù Jiēdào established in 2013
Ngaqên Subdistrict སྣ་ཆེན་ཁྲོམ་གཞུང་། Ngaqên Tromzhung 纳金街道 Nàjīn Jiēdào 29,575
Togdê Subdistrict དོག་སྡེ་ཁྲོམ་གཞུང་། Togdê Tromzhung 夺底街道 Duóde Jiēdào 15,186
Caigungtang Subdistrict ཚལ་གུང་ཐང་ཁྲོམ་གཞུང་། Caigungtang Tromzhung 蔡公堂街道 Càigōngtáng Jiēdào 8,800
Nyangrain Subdistrict ཉང་བྲན་ཁྲོམ་གཞུང་། Nyangrain Tromzhung 娘热街道 Niángrè Jiēdào 26,354

Climate

Left: Chengguan District, Lhasa; right: Lhasa Valley

Owing to its very high elevation, Lhasa has a borderline

subtropical highland climate (Köppen: Cwb). Monthly possible sunshine ranges from 53 percent in July to 84 percent in November, and the city receives nearly 3,000 hours of sunlight annually. It is thus sometimes called the "sunlit city" by Tibetans. The coldest month is January with an average temperature of −0.3 °C (31.5 °F) and the warmest month is June with a daily average of 16.7 °C (62.1 °F), though nights have generally been warmer in July.[53] The annual mean temperature is 8.8 °C (47.8 °F), with extreme temperatures ranging from −16.5 to 30.8 °C (2 to 87 °F).[54]
Lhasa has an annual precipitation of 458 millimetres (18.0 in) with rain falling mainly in July, August and September. The driest month is December at 0.3 millimetres (0.01 in) and the wettest month is August, at 133.5 millimetres (5.26 in). Summer is widely regarded the "best" of the year as rains come mostly at night and Lhasa is still sunny during the daytime.

Climate data for Lhasa (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1951−2022)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 20.5
(68.9) 		21.3
(70.3) 		25.1
(77.2) 		25.9
(78.6) 		29.4
(84.9) 		30.8
(87.4) 		30.4
(86.7) 		27.2
(81.0) 		26.5
(79.7) 		24.8
(76.6) 		22.8
(73.0) 		20.1
(68.2) 		30.8
(87.4)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 8.3
(46.9) 		10.4
(50.7) 		13.4
(56.1) 		16.5
(61.7) 		20.5
(68.9) 		23.9
(75.0) 		23.3
(73.9) 		22.3
(72.1) 		21.1
(70.0) 		17.9
(64.2) 		13.3
(55.9) 		9.7
(49.5) 		16.7
(62.1)
Daily mean °C (°F) −0.3
(31.5) 		2.7
(36.9) 		6.1
(43.0) 		9.2
(48.6) 		13.2
(55.8) 		16.7
(62.1) 		16.5
(61.7) 		15.8
(60.4) 		14.2
(57.6) 		9.8
(49.6) 		4.1
(39.4) 		0.3
(32.5) 		9.0
(48.3)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −7.1
(19.2) 		−4.2
(24.4) 		−0.5
(31.1) 		3.1
(37.6) 		7.1
(44.8) 		11.1
(52.0) 		11.7
(53.1) 		11.1
(52.0) 		9.3
(48.7) 		3.7
(38.7) 		−2.5
(27.5) 		−6.3
(20.7) 		3.0
(37.5)
Record low °C (°F) −16.5
(2.3) 		−15.4
(4.3) 		−13.6
(7.5) 		−8.1
(17.4) 		−2.7
(27.1) 		2.0
(35.6) 		4.5
(40.1) 		3.3
(37.9) 		0.3
(32.5) 		−7.2
(19.0) 		−11.2
(11.8) 		−16.1
(3.0) 		−16.5
(2.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 0.9
(0.04) 		1.9
(0.07) 		3.5
(0.14) 		8.3
(0.33) 		31.1
(1.22) 		84
(3.3) 		140.5
(5.53) 		129.8
(5.11) 		64.8
(2.55) 		6.5
(0.26) 		0.9
(0.04) 		0.7
(0.03) 		472.9
(18.62)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 0.6 1.2 2.4 5.2 9.5 14.4 19.8 19.1 13.5 3.5 0.6 0.5 90.3
Average snowy days 1.3 2.2 5.5 5.6 0.9 0 0 0 0.1 1.1 1.3 0.7 18.7
Average
relative humidity
(%) 		25 24 27 36 41 48 59 61 57 43 32 27 40
Mean monthly sunshine hours 250.0 234.4 256.0 254.3 279.8 260.4 227.5 223.5 238.4 280.6 266.2 256.5 3,027.6
Percent possible sunshine 77 74 68 65 66 62 54 55 65 80 84 81 69
Source: China Meteorological Administration[55][56][57]all-time extreme temperature[54][58]
Climate data for Lhasa (1986−2015 normals, extremes 1951−2022)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 20.5
(68.9) 		21.3
(70.3) 		25.1
(77.2) 		25.9
(78.6) 		29.4
(84.9) 		30.8
(87.4) 		30.4
(86.7) 		27.2
(81.0) 		26.5
(79.7) 		24.8
(76.6) 		22.8
(73.0) 		20.1
(68.2) 		30.8
(87.4)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 8.4
(47.1) 		10.1
(50.2) 		13.3
(55.9) 		16.3
(61.3) 		20.5
(68.9) 		24.0
(75.2) 		23.3
(73.9) 		22.0
(71.6) 		20.7
(69.3) 		17.5
(63.5) 		12.9
(55.2) 		9.3
(48.7) 		16.5
(61.7)
Daily mean °C (°F) −0.3
(31.5) 		2.3
(36.1) 		5.9
(42.6) 		9.0
(48.2) 		13.1
(55.6) 		16.7
(62.1) 		16.5
(61.7) 		15.4
(59.7) 		13.8
(56.8) 		9.4
(48.9) 		3.8
(38.8) 		−0.1
(31.8) 		8.8
(47.8)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −7.4
(18.7) 		−4.7
(23.5) 		−0.8
(30.6) 		2.7
(36.9) 		6.8
(44.2) 		10.9
(51.6) 		11.4
(52.5) 		10.7
(51.3) 		8.9
(48.0) 		3.1
(37.6) 		−3
(27) 		−6.8
(19.8) 		2.7
(36.8)
Record low °C (°F) −16.5
(2.3) 		−15.4
(4.3) 		−13.6
(7.5) 		−8.1
(17.4) 		−2.7
(27.1) 		2.0
(35.6) 		4.5
(40.1) 		3.3
(37.9) 		0.3
(32.5) 		−7.2
(19.0) 		−11.2
(11.8) 		−16.1
(3.0) 		−16.5
(2.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 0.9
(0.04) 		1.8
(0.07) 		2.9
(0.11) 		8.6
(0.34) 		28.4
(1.12) 		75.9
(2.99) 		129.6
(5.10) 		133.5
(5.26) 		66.7
(2.63) 		8.8
(0.35) 		0.9
(0.04) 		0.3
(0.01) 		458.3
(18.06)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 0.6 1.2 2.1 5.4 9.0 14.0 19.4 19.9 14.6 4.1 0.6 0.4 91.3
Average
relative humidity
(%) 		26 25 27 36 41 48 59 63 59 45 34 29 41
Mean monthly sunshine hours 250.9 231.2 253.2 248.8 280.4 260.7 227.0 214.3 232.7 280.3 267.1 257.2 3,003.8
Percent possible sunshine 78 72 66 65 66 61 53 54 62 80 84 82 67
Source: China Meteorological Administration,[53] all-time extreme temperature[54][59]

Demographics

An elderly Tibetan woman holding a prayer wheel on the street in Chengguan District, Lhasa
Mendicant monk in Chengguan District, Lhasa
busking
in Chengguan District, Lhasa, 1993

Demographics in the past

The 11th edition of Encyclopædia Britannica published between 1910 and 1911 noted the total population of Lhasa, including the lamas in the city and vicinity was about 30,000,[60] A census in 1854 made the figure 42,000, but it is known to have greatly decreased afterwards. Britannica noted that within Lhasa, there were about a total of 1,500 resident Tibetan laymen and about 5,500 Tibetan women.[60] The permanent population also included Chinese families (about 2,000).[60] The city's residents included traders from Nepal and Ladakh (about 800), and a few from Bhutan, Mongolia and other places.[60] The Britannica noted with interest that the Chinese had a crowded burial-ground at Lhasa, tended carefully after their manner and that the Nepalese supplied mechanics and metal-workers at that time.[60]

In the first half of the 20th century, several Western explorers made celebrated journeys to the city, including William Montgomery McGovern, Francis Younghusband, Alexandra David-Néel, and Heinrich Harrer. Lhasa was the centre of Tibetan Buddhism as nearly half of its population were monks,[61] Though this figure may include monks from surrounding monasteries who travelled to Lhasa for various celebrations and were not ordinarily resident there.

The majority of the pre-1950 Chinese population of Lhasa were merchants and officials. In the Lubu section of Lhasa, the inhabitants were descendants of Chinese vegetable farmers, some of whom married Tibetan wives. They came to Lhasa in the 1840s–1860s after a Chinese official was appointed to the position of Amban.[62]

According to one writer, the population of the city was about 10,000, with some 10,000 monks at Drepung and Sera monasteries in 1959.[63] Hugh Richardson, on the other hand, puts the population of Lhasa in 1952, at "some 25,000–30,000—about 45,000–50,000 if the population of the great monasteries on its outskirts be included."[64]

Contemporary demographics

The total population of Lhasa Prefecture-level City is 521,500 (including known migrant population but excluding military garrisons). Of this, 257,400 are in the urban area (including a migrant population of 100,700), while 264,100 are outside.[65] Nearly half of Lhasa Prefecture-level City's population lives in Chengguan District, which is the administrative division that contains the urban area of Lhasa (i.e. the actual city).

The urban area is populated by ethnic Tibetans, Han, Hui and other ethnic groups. The 2000 official census gave a total population of 223,001, of which 171,719 lived in the areas administered by city street offices and city neighborhood committees. 133,603 had urban registrations and 86,395 had rural registrations, based on their place of origin.[66] The census was taken in November, when many of the ethnic Han workers in seasonal industries such as construction would have been away from Tibet, and did not count the military.[66] A 2011 book estimated that up to two-thirds of the city's residents are non-Tibetan, although the government states that Chengguan District as a whole is still 63% ethnic Tibetan.[67] As of 2014, half of Tibet's Han population resided in the district, where bilingual or wholly Chinese teaching was common in the schools.[68]

Economy

Left: Barkhor
Right: Jokhang Market

Competitive industry together with feature economy play key roles in the development of Lhasa. With the view to maintaining a balance between population growth and the environment, tourism and service industries are emphasised as growth engines for the future. Many of Lhasa's rural residents practice traditional agriculture and animal husbandry. Lhasa is also the traditional hub of the Tibetan trading network. For many years, chemical and car making plants operated in the area and this resulted in significant pollution, a factor which has changed in recent years. Copper, lead and zinc are mined nearby and there is ongoing experimentation regarding new methods of mineral mining and geothermal heat extraction.

Agriculture and animal husbandry in Lhasa are considered to be of a high standard. People mainly plant

machinery and traditional methods in the production of such things as textiles, leathers, plastics, matches and embroidery
. The production of national handicrafts has made great progress.

Barkhor

With the growth of tourism and service sectors, the sunset industries which cause serious pollution are expected to fade in the hope of building a healthy ecological system. Environmental problems such as

Himalayan landscape together with the many wild plants and animals native to the high altitudes of Central Asia. Tourism to Tibet dropped sharply following the crackdown on protests in 2008, but as early as 2009, the industry was recovering.[69] Chinese authorities plan an ambitious growth of tourism in the region aiming at 10 million visitors by 2020; these visitors are expected to be domestic. With renovation around historic sites, such as the Potala Palace, UNESCO has expressed "concerns about the deterioration of Lhasa's traditional cityscape."[70]

Banak Shöl Hotel

Lhasa contains several hotels.

mini-bar and other basic facilities. Some of the rooms are decorated in traditional Tibetan style. The hotel was operated by Holiday Inn from 1986 to 1997[71] and is the subject of a book, The Hotel on the Roof of the World. Another hotel of note is the historical Banak Shöl Hotel, located at 8 Beijing Road in the city.[72] It is known for its distinctive wooden verandas
. The Nam-tso Restaurant is located in the vicinity of the hotel and is frequented especially by Chinese tourists visiting Lhasa.

Lhasa contains several businesses of note. Lhasa Carpet Factory, a factory south of Yanhe Dong Lu near the Tibet University, produces traditional Tibetan rugs that are exported worldwide. It is a modern factory, the largest manufacturer of rugs throughout Tibet, employing some 300 workers. Traditionally Tibetan women were the weavers, and men the spinners, but both work on the rugs today.

The

Lhasa Brewery Company was established in 1988 on the northern outskirts of Lhasa, south of Sera Monastery and is the highest commercial brewery in the world at 11,975 feet (3,650 m) and accounts for 85 percent of contemporary beer production in Tibet.[73] The brewery, consisting of five-story buildings, cost an estimated US$20–25 million, and by 1994, production had reached 30,000 bottles per day, employing some 200 workers by this time.[74] Since 2000, the Carlsberg group has increased its stronghold in the Chinese market and has become increasingly influential in the country with investment and expertise. Carlsberg invested in the Lhasa Brewery in recent years and has drastically improved the brewing facility and working conditions, renovating and expanding the building to what now covers 62,240 square metres (15.3 acres).[75][76]

Architecture and cityscape

Main article: Architecture of Lhasa
The Potala Palace

Lhasa has many sites of historic interest, including the

Jokhang Temple, Sera Monastery and Norbulingka. The Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple and the Norbulingka are UNESCO world heritage sites.[77] However, many important sites were damaged or destroyed mostly, but not solely, during China's Cultural Revolution of the 1960s.[78][79][80]
Many have been restored since the 1980s.

The

World Heritage List
in 1994.

Inner and outer Zhol Village as seen from the Potala Palace in 1938.

The

Me Agtsom.[85][86]

Norbulingka

Sangye Gyatso (Sangs-rgyas rgya-mtsho)[88]
shortly before 1697.

beggars and pilgrims approaching the city for the first time. The road passed through willow-shaded parks where the Tibetans used to picnic
in summer and watch open air operas on festival days. New Lhasa has obliterated most of Lingkhor, but one stretch still remains west of Chokpori.

Jokhang Square
Old Barkhor street, 1993.

The Norbulingka palace and surrounding park is situated in the west side of Lhasa, a short distance to the southwest of Potala Palace and with an area of around 36 hectares (89 acres), it is considered to be the largest man made garden in Tibet.[89][90] It was built from 1755.

Full Moon period, which corresponds to dates in July/August according to the Gregorian calendar
.

The

Jokhang Temple and was the most popular devotional circumambulation for pilgrims and locals. The walk was about one kilometre (0.6 miles) long and encircled the entire Jokhang, the former seat of the State Oracle in Lhasa called the Muru Nyingba Monastery, and a number of nobles' houses including Tromzikhang and Jamkhang. There were four large incense burners (sangkangs) in the four cardinal directions, with incense burning constantly, to please the gods protecting the Jokhang.[92] Most of the old streets and buildings have been demolished in recent times and replaced with wider streets and new buildings. Some buildings in the Barkhor were damaged in the 2008 unrest.[93]

Ramoche Temple

The

Wen Cheng (niece of Emperor Taizong of Tang) and Princess Bhrikuti of Nepal and other important items.[94]

Ramoche Temple is considered the most important temple in Lhasa after the Jokhang Temple.[95] Situated in the northwest of the city, it is east of the Potala and north of the Jokhang,[96] covering a total area of 4,000 square meters (almost one acre). The temple was gutted and partially destroyed in the 1960s and its famous bronze statue disappeared. In 1983 the lower part of it was said to have been found in a Lhasa rubbish tip, and the upper half in Beijing. They have now been joined and the statue is housed in the Ramoche Temple, which was partially restored in 1986,[96] and still showed severe damage in 1993. Following the major restoration of 1986, the main building in the temple now has three stories.

Tibet Museum
Tibet Peaceful Liberation Monument, Potala Square

The Tibet Museum in Lhasa is the official museum of the Tibet Autonomous Region and was inaugurated on 5 October 1999. It is the first large, modern museum in the Tibet Autonomous Region and has a permanent collection of around 1000 artefacts, from examples of Tibetan art to architectural design throughout history such as Tibetan doors and construction beams.[97][98] It is located in an L-shaped building west of the Potala Palace on the corner of Norbulingkha Road. The museum is organized into three main sections: a main exhibition hall, a folk cultural garden and administrative offices.[97]

The

Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet, and the work in the development of the autonomous region since then. The 37-metre-high concrete monument is shaped as an abstract Mount Everest and its name is engraved with the calligraphy of former CCP general secretary and PRC president Jiang Zemin, while an inscription describes the socioeconomic development experienced in Tibet in the past fifty years.[99]

There are four mosques in and around Lhasa. The earliest mosque, called Khache Lingka, dates to 1650 and is located west of the city, and consists of two compounds.[100] The Lhasa Great Mosque is the most prominent and built by the early 1700s.[100] The Dokdé Mosque, north of Lhasa, has an adjacent cemetery and is dated to 1716.[100] The fourth mosque, commonly known as "Small Mosque" (but also Barkor or Rapsel Alley Mosque) was built in the early 1900s.[100]

Culture

Tibetan dancing in Lhasa, Tibet

There are some night spots that feature

Tibetan, and English
. Dancers wear traditional Tibetan costume with long flowing cloth extending from their arms. There are a number of small bars that feature live music, although they typically have limited drink menus and cater mostly to foreign tourists.

Duihuan (སྟོད་གཞས་) is a local form of music and dance in Tibet.[101] While the traditional Dui Huan in Tibet has only one instrument, the Dui Huan in Lhasa has four instruments: in addition to the Zainianqin and the Yangqin, there are the Jinghu, the bamboo flute, and the stringed bells that are specially used for playing the rhythm. Together with the singing, they play, pull, strum and sing.[102][103]

Tibet University Campus (2016)

Education

There are 2 universities of Tibet University and Tibet Tibetan Medical University and 3 special colleges of Lhasa Teachers College, Tibet Police College and Tibet Vocational and Technical College in the Lhasa city.[104]

Chinese government. About 8000 students are enrolled at the university. Tibet University is a comprehensive university with the highest academic level in Tibet Autonomous Region. It is a member of the prestigious Project 211, and is sponsored under the Double First-Class Construction initiative.[105]

Transport

Lhasa railway station in 2019

Rail

Lhasa has been served by rail since 2006, when the

Qinghai Province, some 2,000 km (1,200 mi) away, and ultimately links Lhasa with other major cities with China's extensive railway network.[106] Five trains arrive at and depart from Lhasa railway station each day. Train number Z21 takes 40 hours and 53 minutes from Beijing West, arriving in Lhasa at 13:03 every day. Train Z22 from Lhasa to Beijing West departs at 15:30 and arrives in Beijing at 08:20 on the third day, taking 40 hours, 50 minutes. Trains also arrive in Lhasa from Chengdu, Chongqing, Lanzhou, Xining, Guangzhou, Shanghai and other cities.[107] To counter the problem of altitude differences giving passengers altitude sickness, extra oxygen is pumped in through the ventilation system and available directly on each berth with close open control by a flap for convenience of passenger, and personal oxygen masks are available on request.[108] Within the soft sleeper cabins there are 64 seats per train, which have an electrical plug for electronics.[109]

Lhasa is also

Nyingchi County and into the interior ultimately terminating in Chengdu, began construction in June 2015.[112]

For onward rail travel in

South Asian railway network. There are preliminary plans to link Lhasa by rail with Kathmandu.[113]

As per a Chinese Tibetan spokesperson, extension of this rail line to Kathmandu with tunnelling under Mount Everest was, as of 2015, expected to be completed by 2020.[114]

Air

Lhasa Gonggar Airport

Qamdo.[116]

Road

Mainstreet

The

Qushui County, terminating between the north entrance of the Gala Mountain Tunnel and the south bridgehead of the Lhasa River Bridge, and en route goes over the first overpass of Lhasa at Liuwu Overpass.[117]

Maritime

The closest seaports are

West Bengal, India. The Nathu La
pass offers Chinese companies access to the port of Kolkata (Calcutta), situated about 1,100 km (680 mi) from Lhasa, for trans-shipments to and from Tibet.

Sports

In 2014, the

Beijing Municipality, which is the highest modern stadium in the world, the largest single building in Tibet and the largest modern building invested by the whole country in support of Tibet, and has won the Luban Prize, the highest honor in China's construction industry, and has been called the "Little Bird's Nest" by local people.[118][119][120]

See also

Notes

  1. Standard Tibetan: ལྷ་ས [l̥ɛː˥˥.sa˥˥]
    , lit. 'Place of Gods'
  2. ^ Chinese: 拉萨市 城关区

References

Citations

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Sources

Further reading

External links

Maps and aerial photos

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