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Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa City,

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), often shortened to Tibet in English or Xizang in Pinyin, Hanyu Pinyin, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China. It was established in 1965 to replace the ...

Southwestern China Southwestern China () is a region in the People's Republic of China. It consists of five provincial administrative regions, namely Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Xizang. Geography Southwestern China is a rugged and mountainous region, ...

. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the

Tibetan Plateau The Tibetan Plateau, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or Qingzang Plateau, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central Asia, Central, South Asia, South, and East Asia. Geographically, it is located to the north of H ...

after

Xining Xining is the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of Qinghai province in western China and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. As of the 2020 census, it had 2,467,965 inhabitants (2,208,708 as of 2010), of whom 1,954,795 l ...

and, at an altitude of , Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world. The city has been the religious and administrative capital of

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

since the mid-17th century. It contains many culturally significant

Tibetan Buddhist Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Darjeeling, Sikkim, and Arunachal Prades ...

sites such as the

Potala Palace Potala Palace ( Tibetan: པོ་ཏ་ལ་ཕོ་བྲང Chinese: 布达拉宫) is the name of a museum in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in China, built in the ''dzong''-style. It was previously a palace of t ...

Jokhang The Jokhang (, zh, s=大昭寺}), historically known as the Rasa Trulnang (ra sa 'phrul snang) or Qoikang Monastery or Zuglagkang ( or Tsuklakang), is considered the "heart of Lhasa"."Jokhang". MAPS, Places. University of Virginia. The Jokhang ...

Temple and

Norbulingka Norbulingka (; Wylie transliteration, Wylie: ''Nor bu gling ga''; zh, s=罗布林卡, t=羅布林卡; literally "Jeweled Park") is a palace and surrounding park in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibet built from 1755.Tibet (1986), p.71 It ser ...

Palaces.

Toponymy

Lhasa literally translates to "place of gods" ( , god; , place) in the

Tibetan language Tibetan language may refer to: * Lhasa Tibetan or Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dialect * Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard * Any of the other Tibetic languages See also * Ol ...

. Chengguan literally translates to "urban gateway" ( zh, s=城关, p=Chéngguān) in the Chinese language. Ancient Tibetan documents and inscriptions demonstrate that the place was called Rasa (), which meant "goat's place", as it was a herding site.Social Sciences Literature Press Social Sciences Academic Press, abbreviated as SSAP (traditional Chinese: 社會科學文獻出版社; simplified Chinese: 社会科学文献出版社), also spelled as Social Sciences Literature Publishing House or China Social Sciences Literatu ...

2014 p. 246"> The name was changed to Lhasa, which means "place of gods", upon its establishment as the capital of

, and construction of the

temple was completed, which housed a holy statue of the Buddha. 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. 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 Qinghai is an inland Provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. It is the largest provinces of China, province of China (excluding autonomous regions) by area and has the third smallest population. Its capital and largest city is Xin ...

province.

History

By the mid 7th century,

Songtsen Gampo Songtsen Gampo (Classical , pronounced ) (; (601–683 CE, reign 614-648) was the 33rd Tibetan king of the Yarlung dynasty and the founder of the Tibetan Empire. The first of three Dharma Kings of Tibet, he formally introduced Buddhism to Tib ...

became the leader of the

Tibetan Empire The Tibetan Empire (,) was an empire centered on the Tibetan Plateau, formed as a result of expansion under the Yarlung dynasty heralded by its 33rd king, Songtsen Gampo, in the 7th century. It expanded further under the 38th king, Trisong De ...

that had risen to power in the

Yarlung Tsangpo River The Yarlung Tsangpo, also called Yarlung Zangbo () and Yalu Zangbu River () is a river that flows through the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and Arunachal Pradesh of India. It is the longest river of Tibet and the fifth longest in China. The u ...

(whose lower reaches in India is known as the ''

Brahmaputra River The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Southwestern China, Northeastern India, and Bangladesh. It is known as Brahmaputra or Luit in Assamese language, Assamese, Yarlung Tsangpo in Lhasa Tibetan, Tibetan, the Siang/Dihan ...

'') Valley.Stein, R. A. ''Tibetan Civilization'' 1962. Revised English edition, 1972, Faber & Faber, London. Reprint, 1972. Stanford University Press, p. 62. cloth; pbk., p. 59. After conquering the kingdom of

Zhangzhung Zhangzhung or Shangshung was an ancient kingdom in western and northwestern Tibet, existing from about 500 BCE to 625 CE, pre-dating Tibetan Buddhism. The Zhangzhung culture is associated with the Bon religion, which has influenced the philos ...

in the west, he moved the capital from the Chingwa Taktsé Castle in Chongye County (

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''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

on Mount Marpori. 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

Bhrikuti Bhrikuti Devi (), known to Tibetans as , Bhelsa Tritsun ("Besa" Nepal ) or simply (), was a princess of the Licchavi kingdom in Nepal. In c.622Dr Poonam Rana, "Role of Bhrikuti (Bhelsa Tritsun) in spread of Buddhism", Sirjana Journal, p.208-115. ...

of Nepal, and then, two years later, to

Princess Wencheng Princess Wencheng (; ) was a princess and member of a minor branch of the royal clan of the Tang dynasty, who married King Songtsen Gampo of the Tibetan Empire in 641. She is also known by the name Gyasa or "Chinese wife" in Tibet. Both Wencheng ...

of the Imperial Tang court. Bhrikuti is said to have converted him to

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, which was also the faith attributed to his second wife Wencheng. In 641 he constructed the

(or Rasa Trülnang Tsulagkhang) and

Ramoche Temple Ramoche Temple (, ) is a Buddhist monastery in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region. It dates back to the seventh century and is considered to be the most important temple in the city after the Jokhang Temple. Situated in the northwestern part of the ...

s in Lhasa in order to house two

Buddha statue Much Buddhist art uses depictions of the historical Buddha, Gautama Buddha, which are known as () in Sanskrit and Pali. These may be statues or other images such as paintings. The main figure in an image may be someone else who has obtained B ...

s, 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. Lhasa suffered extensive damage under the reign of

Langdarma Darma U Dum Tsen (), better known as Langdarma (, "Mature Bull" or "Darma the Bull"), was the 41st and last king of the Tibetan Empire who in 838 killed his brother, King Ralpachen, then reigned from 841 to 842 CE before he himself was assas ...

in the 9th century, when the sacred sites were destroyed and desecrated and the empire fragmented.Dorje (1999), pp. 68–9. A Tibetan tradition mentions that after Songtsen Gampo's death in 649 C.E., Chinese troops captured Lhasa and burnt the Red Palace. Chinese and Tibetan scholars have noted that the event is mentioned neither in the Chinese annals nor in the Tibetan manuscripts of

Dunhuang Dunhuang () is a county-level city in northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Sachu (Dunhuang) was ...

. Lǐ suggested that this tradition may derive from an

interpolation In the mathematics, mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points. In engineering and science, one ...

. Tsepon W. D. Shakabpa believes that "those histories reporting the arrival of Chinese troops are not correct." From the fall of the monarchy in the 9th century to the accession of the

5th Dalai Lama The 5th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (; ; 1617–1682) was recognized as the 5th Dalai Lama, and he became the first Dalai Lama to hold both Tibet's political and spiritual leadership roles. He is often referred to simply as the Great Fif ...

, the centre of political power in the Tibetan region was not situated in Lhasa. However, the importance of Lhasa as a religious site became increasingly significant as the centuries progressed. It was known as the centre of Tibet where

Padmasambhava Padmasambhava ('Born from a Lotus'), also known as Guru Rinpoche ('Precious Guru'), was a legendary tantric Buddhist Vajracharya, Vajra master from Oddiyana. who fully revealed the Vajrayana in Tibet, circa 8th – 9th centuries... He is consi ...

magically pinned down the earth demoness and built the foundation of the

Jokhang Temple The Jokhang (, zh, s=大昭寺}), historically known as the Rasa Trulnang (ra sa 'phrul snang) or Qoikang Monastery or Zuglagkang ( or Tsuklakang), is considered the "heart of Lhasa"."Jokhang". MAPS, Places. University of Virginia. The Jokhang ...

over her heart. Islam has been present since the 11th century in what is considered to have always been a monolithically Buddhist culture. Two

Tibetan Muslim Tibetan Muslims, also known as the Khache (, ), are Tibetans who adhere to Islam. Many are descendants of Kashmiris, Ladakhis, and Nepalis who arrived in Tibet in the 14th to 17th centuries. There are approximately 5,000 Tibetan Muslims living ...

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

Gelugpa 240px, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Bodh_Gaya.html" ;"title="Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya">Bodhgaya (India) The Gelug (, also Geluk; 'virtuous')Kay, David N. (20 ...

monasteries by

Je Tsongkhapa Tsongkhapa ( Tibetan: ཙོང་ཁ་པ་, '','' meaning: "the man from Tsongkha" or "the Man from Onion Valley", c. 1357–1419) was an influential Tibetan Buddhist monk, philosopher and tantric yogi, whose activities led to the format ...

and his disciples. The three monasteries are

Ganden Ganden Monastery (also Gaden or Gandain) or Ganden Namgyeling or Monastery of Gahlden is one of the "great three" Gelug university monasteries located in Dagzê County, Lhasa, Tibet. The other two are Sera Monastery and Drepung Monastery. Ga ...

, Sera and

Drepung Drepung Monastery (, "Rice Heap Monastery"), located at the foot of Mount Gephel, is one of the "great three" Gelug monasteries of Tibet founded by Je Tsongkhapa. The other two are Ganden Monastery and Sera Monastery. Drepung is the largest of ...

which were built as part of the puritanical Buddhist revival in Tibet.Dorje (1999), p. 69. The scholarly achievements and political know-how of this Gelugpa Lineage eventually pushed Lhasa once more to centre stage. The 5th

Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣识一切瓦齐尔达喇达赖喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...

Lobsang Gyatso The 5th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (; ; 1617–1682) was recognized as the 5th Dalai Lama, and he became the first Dalai Lama to hold both Tibet's political and spiritual leadership roles. He is often referred to simply as the Great Fif ...

(1617–1682), unified Tibet and moved the centre of his administration to Lhasa in 1642 with the help of

Güshi Khan Güshi Khan (1582 – 14 January 1655) was a Khoshut prince and founder of the Khoshut Khanate, who supplanted the Tumed descendants of Altan Khan as the main benefactor of the Dalai Lama and the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. In 1637, Güsh ...

of the

Khoshut The Khoshut (Mongolian language, Mongolian: Хошууд,, qoşūd, ; literally "bannermen," from Middle Mongol language, Middle Mongolian ''qosighu'' "flag, banner") are one of the four major tribes of the Oirats, Oirat people. They established ...

. With Güshi Khan as a largely uninvolved overlord, the 5th Dalai Lama and his intimates established a civil administration which is referred to by historians as the ''Lhasa state''. The core leadership of this government is also referred to as the

Ganden Phodrang The Ganden Phodrang or Ganden Podrang (; ) was the Tibetan system of government established by the 5th Dalai Lama in 1642, when the Oirat lord Güshi Khan who founded the Khoshut Khanate conferred all spiritual and political power in Tibet t ...

, and Lhasa thereafter became both the religious and political capital. In 1645, the reconstruction of the

began on Red Hill.Laird, Thomas. (2006). ''The Story of Tibet: Conversations with the Dalai Lama'', pp. 175. Grove Press, New York. . In 1648, the ''Potrang Karpo'' ( White Palace) of the Potala was completed, and the Potala was used as a

winter palace The Winter Palace is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the House of Romanov, previous emperors, from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now house the Hermitage Museum. The floor area is 233,345 square ...

by the Dalai Lama from that time onwards.Karmay, Samten C. (2005). "The Great Fifth", p. 1. Downloaded as a pdf file on 16 December 2007 from

The ''Potrang Marpo'' ( Potala#Red Palace, Red Palace) was added between 1690 and 1694. The name Potala is derived from

Mount Potalaka Mount Potalaka (, Japanese: 補陀洛 ''Fudaraku-san''), which means "Brilliance", is the mythical dwelling of the Buddhist bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, said to exist in the seas south of India. Origins The mountain is first mentioned in the ...

, the mythical abode of the Dalai Lama's divine prototype, the

Bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...

Avalokiteśvara In Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara (meaning "the lord who looks down", International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ), also known as Lokeśvara ("Lord of the World") and Chenrezig (in Tibetan), is a Bodhisattva#Bhūmis (stages), tenth-level bodhisattva associ ...

. The Jokhang Temple was also greatly expanded around this time. Although some wooden carvings and

lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented/structural item. In the case ...

s 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 gateway 1905

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

Barkhor Barkhor (), is the commercial center and busiest street of the old city of Lhasa, Tibet. The Barkhor Ring Road is composed of Barkhor East Street, Barkhor South Street, Barkhor West Street and Barkhor North Street. The circumference of Barkhor Str ...

area formed a bustling market for foreign goods. The Jesuit missionary,

Ippolito Desideri Ippolito Desideri, SJ (21 December 1684 Pistoia, Grand Duchy of Tuscany – 14 April 1733 Rome, Papal States) was an Italian Jesuit missionary and traveller and the most famous of the early European missionaries who founded Catholic Church in ...

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. The

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

army entered Lhasa in 1720, and the Qing government sent resident commissioners, called the

Amban Amban (Manchu language, Manchu and Mongolian language, Mongol: ''Amban'', Standard Tibetan, Tibetan: ་''am ben'', zh, t=昂邦, Uyghur language, Uighur:''am ben'') is a Manchu language term meaning "high official" ( zh, t=大臣, p=dàchén ...

s, 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 The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, personal name Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China pr ...

reorganized the Tibetan government and set up the governing council called

Kashag The Kashag (; ) was the governing council of Tibet during the rule of the Qing dynasty and post-Qing period until the 1950s. It was created in 1721, and set by Qianlong Emperor in 1751 for the Ganden Phodrang in the 13-Article Ordinance for th ...

in Lhasa in 1751. In January 1904, a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

expeditionary force invaded and captured Lhasa during the

British expedition to Tibet The British expedition to Tibet, also known as the Younghusband expedition, began in December 1903 and lasted until September 1904. The expedition was effectively a temporary invasion by British Indian Army, British Indian Armed Forces under th ...

. The expedition's leader, Sir Francis Younghusband negotiated the Convention Between Great Britain and Tibet with the remaining Tibetan officials after the

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

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

(then

Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party The chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party ( zh, s=中国共产党中央委员会主席, p=Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Wěiyuánhuì Zhǔxí) was the party leader, leader of the Chinese Communist Party. The ...

) expressing its desire for talks.

Tsepon Shargyalpa Shakabpa Wangchuk Deden (, January 11, 1907 – February 23, 1989), better known as Tsepon W. D. Shakabpa, was a Tibetan nobleman, scholar, statesman and former Finance Minister of the government of Tibet. Biography Tsepon Shakabpa was born in ...

and Tsejang Khenpo Tubten Gyalpo were sent as representatives, but no consensus was reached. On 7 October 1950, the Chinese People's Liberation Army launched the

Battle of Chamdo The Battle of Chamdo (or Qamdo; ) occurred from 6 to 24 October 1950. It was a military campaign by the People's Republic of China (PRC) to take the Chamdo Region from a ''de facto'' independent Tibetan state.Shakya 1999 pp. 28–32. The campa ...

. 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 Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

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.Social Sciences Literature Press Social Sciences Academic Press, abbreviated as SSAP (traditional Chinese: 社會科學文獻出版社; simplified Chinese: 社会科学文献出版社), also spelled as Social Sciences Literature Publishing House or China Social Sciences Literatu ...
2015 p. 492"> PLA marching into Lhasa

In 1959, following a failed

uprising Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

, the 14th Dalai Lama and his associates fled Tibet. Lhasa remained the political, economic, cultural and religious center of Tibet. In January 1960, Lhasa City was established.Social Sciences Literature Press Social Sciences Academic Press, abbreviated as SSAP (traditional Chinese: 社會科學文獻出版社; simplified Chinese: 社会科学文献出版社), also spelled as Social Sciences Literature Publishing House or China Social Sciences Literatu ...
2015 p. 9"> 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. In September 1965, the Tibet Autonomous Region was established, and Lhasa became the capital of the region. Of the 22 parks (''lingka''s) 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

, Dalai Lama's Summer Palace, constructed by the

7th Dalai Lama The 7th Dalai Lama, Kelzang Gyatso (, also spelled Kalzang Gyatso, Kelsang Gyatso and Kezang Gyatso; 1708–1757), was recognized as the authentic 7th Dalai Lama of Tibet. He was seen as the true incarnation of the 6th Dalai Lama, and was enthr ...

; a small part of the Shugtri Lingka, and the Lukhang. Dormitory blocks, offices and army barracks are built over the rest. The Guāndì miào (關帝廟) or

Gesar The Epic of King Gesar (), also spelled Kesar () or Geser (especially in Mongolian contexts), is an epic from Tibet and Central Asia. It originally developed between 200 or 300 BCE and about 600 CE. Folk balladeers continued to pass on the sto ...

Lhakhang temple was erected by the Amban in 1792 atop Mount Bamare south of the Potala to celebrate the defeat of an invading

Gurkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with the endonym Gorkhali ( Nepali: गोर्खाली ), are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of North India. The Gurkha units consist of Nepali and ...

army. The main gate to the city of Lhasa used to run through the large Pargo Kaling

chorten In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and ''śarīra''—the remains of Bhikkhu, Buddhist monks or Bhikkhuni, nuns. It is used as a place of ...

and contained holy relics of the Buddha Mindukpa. In 2000 the urbanised area covered , 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.Social Sciences Literature Press Social Sciences Academic Press, abbreviated as SSAP (traditional Chinese: 社會科學文獻出版社; simplified Chinese: 社会科学文献出版社), also spelled as Social Sciences Literature Publishing House or China Social Sciences Literatu ...
2015 p. 23">

Geography

Lhasa has an elevation of about and lies in the centre of the

with the surrounding mountains rising to . The air only contains 68 percent of the oxygen compared to sea level.Dorje (1999), p. 68. The

Lhasa River The Lhasa River, also called Kyi Chu (, ), is a northern tributary of the Yarlung Tsangpo River in the south of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. The Yarlung Tsangpo is the upper section of the Brahmaputra River. The Lhasa River is subject t ...

, also Kyi River or Kyi Chu, a tributary of the

Yarlung Zangbo River The Yarlung Tsangpo, also called Yarlung Zangbo () and Yalu Zangbu River () is a river that flows through the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and Arunachal Pradesh of India. It is the longest river of Tibet and the fifth longest in China. The u ...

(Brahmaputra River), runs through the southern part of the city. This river, known to local Tibetans as the "merry blue waves", flows through the snow-covered peaks and gullies of the

Nyainqêntanglha The Nyenchen Tanglha Mountains (officially spelt Nyainqêntanglha Mountains in Chinese) are a long mountain range, and subrange of the Transhimalaya System, located in Tibet and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Geography One source s ...

mountains, extending , and emptying into the Yarlung Zangbo River at

Qüxü Qüxü or Chushur or Chusul or Chushul is a town and township and capital of Qüxü County in the Lhasa Prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It is located southwest of Lhasa and is connected directly by road. It lies on a r ...

, forms an area of great scenic beauty. The marshlands, mostly uninhabited, are to the north. Ingress and egress roads run east and west, while to the north, the road infrastructure is less developed.

Administration

Chengguan District is located on the middle reaches of the

, a tributary of the

, with land that rises to the north and south of the river. It is from east to west and from north to south. Chengguan District is bordered by Doilungdêqên District to the west, Dagzê County to the east and

Lhünzhub County Lhünzhub County, or Linzhou County ( zh, 林周县) is a county in Lhasa towards the north-east of the main center of Chengguan, Tibet, China. It covers an area of and as of 2000 had a population of 50,895 people, almost all classified as rural ...

to the north.

Gonggar County Gonggar County, also Gongkar (; zh, s=贡嘎县), is a county of Shannan, Tibet, Shannan in the southeastern part of Tibet Autonomous Region, China, it's one of the 12 counties of the prefecture. It has under its jurisdiction five towns, four tow ...

of Lhoka (Shannan) Prefecture lies to the south.Social Sciences Literature Press Social Sciences Academic Press, abbreviated as SSAP (traditional Chinese: 社會科學文獻出版社; simplified Chinese: 社会科学文献出版社), also spelled as Social Sciences Literature Publishing House or China Social Sciences Literatu ...
2015 p. 109">Social Sciences Literature Press Social Sciences Academic Press, abbreviated as SSAP (traditional Chinese: 社會科學文獻出版社; simplified Chinese: 社会科学文献出版社), also spelled as Social Sciences Literature Publishing House or China Social Sciences Literatu ...
西藏园林植物生态效益及研究方法 2014 p. 48"> Chengguan District has an elevation of and covers . The urban built-up area covers .The average annual temperature of . Annual precipitation is about to , mostly falling between July and September.Social Sciences Literature Press Social Sciences Academic Press, abbreviated as SSAP (traditional Chinese: 社會科學文獻出版社; simplified Chinese: 社会科学文献出版社), also spelled as Social Sciences Literature Publishing House or China Social Sciences Literatu ...
西藏园林植物生态效益及研究方法 2014 p. 50"> View from Potala Palace

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. Chengguan District of Lhasa was established on 23 April 1961. It currently has 12 fully urban subdistricts.

Climate

Owing to its very high elevation, Lhasa has a

cool semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''BSk''), bordering on both a monsoon-influenced

subtropical highland climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring c ...

(

: ''Cwb'') and a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

: ''Dwb''), with frosty winters and mild summers, yet the valley location protects the city from intense cold or heat and strong winds. 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 and the warmest month is June and July with a daily average of , though nights have generally been warmer in July. The annual mean temperature is , with extreme temperatures ranging from on 17 January 1968 and 24 June 2019 respectively. Lhasa has an annual precipitation of with rain falling mainly in July, August and September. The driest month is December at and the wettest month is August, at . Summer is widely regarded the "best" of the year as rains come mostly at night and Lhasa is still sunny during the daytime.

Demographics

Demographics in the past

The 11th edition of ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

'' published between 1910 and 1911 noted the total population of Lhasa, including the lamas in the city and vicinity was about 30,000, 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. The permanent population also included Chinese families (about 2,000). The city's residents included traders from

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

and

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India an ...

(about 800), and a few from

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

and other places. 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. In the first half of the 20th century, several

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

explorers made celebrated journeys to the city, including

William Montgomery McGovern William Montgomery McGovern (September 28, 1897 – December 12, 1964) was an American adventurer, political scientist, Northwestern University professor, anthropologist and journalist. He was a possible inspiration for the character of Indiana ...

Francis Younghusband Lieutenant Colonel Sir Francis Edward Younghusband, (31 May 1863 – 31 July 1942) was a British Army officer, explorer and spiritual writer. He is remembered for his travels in the Far East and Central Asia; especially the 1904 British ...

Alexandra David-Néel Alexandra David-Néel (born Louise Eugénie Alexandrine Marie David; 24 October 1868 – 8 September 1969) was a Belgian–French explorer, spiritualist, Buddhist, anarchist, opera singer, and writer. She is most known for her 1924 visit to Lha ...

, and

Heinrich Harrer Heinrich Harrer (; 6 July 1912 – 7 January 2006) was an Austrian mountaineer, explorer, writer, sportsman, geographer, and briefly SS sergeant. He was a member of the four-man climbing team that made the first ascent of the North Face of the ...

. Lhasa was the centre of Tibetan Buddhism as nearly half of its population were

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

s, 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

. 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. 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."

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. 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. 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. 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. , half of Tibet's Han population resided in the district, where

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

or wholly Chinese teaching was common in the schools.

Economy

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 Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, animal fiber, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising ...

. 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 Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

and

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

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

highland barley Highland barley, Tibetan barley or Himalayan barley ( Tibetan: ནས་; Wylie: nas; Chinese: ; qīngkē, or 藏青稞; zàng qīngkē) is the principal cereal cultivated on the Tibetan Plateau, used mainly to make tsampa and liquor ( chang). ...

and winter

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

. The resources of water conservancy,

geothermal heating Geothermal heating is the direct use of geothermal energy for some heating applications. Humans have taken advantage of geothermal heat this way since the Paleolithic era. Approximately seventy countries made direct use of a total of 270 PJ o ...

solar energy Solar energy is the radiant energy from the Sun's sunlight, light and heat, which can be harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating) and solar architecture. It is a ...

and various mines are abundant. There is widespread electricity together with the use of both

machinery A machine is a physical system that uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromolec ...

and traditional methods in the production of such things as

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning (leather), tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffal ...

s, plastics, matches and

embroidery Embroidery is the art of decorating Textile, fabric or other materials using a Sewing needle, needle to stitch Yarn, thread or yarn. It is one of the oldest forms of Textile arts, textile art, with origins dating back thousands of years across ...

. The production of national handicrafts has made great progress. 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

soil erosion Soil erosion is the denudation or wearing away of the Topsoil, upper layer of soil. It is a form of soil degradation. This natural process is caused by the dynamic activity of erosive agents, that is, water, ice (glaciers), snow, Atmosphere of Ea ...

acidification Acidification may refer to: * Ocean acidification, decrease in the pH of the Earth's oceans * Freshwater acidification, atmospheric depositions and soil leaching of SOx and NOx * Soil acidification, buildup of hydrogen cations, which reduces the ...

, and loss of

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plants and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular Taxon, taxa, life forms, structure, Spatial ecology, spatial extent, or any other specific Botany, botanic ...

are being addressed. The tourism industry now brings significant business to the region, building on the attractiveness of the Potala Palace, the Jokang, the

Summer Palace and surrounding large monasteries as well the spectacular

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 pea ...

n landscape together with the many wild plants and animals native to the high altitudes of

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

. Tourism to Tibet dropped sharply following the crackdown on protests in 2008, but as early as 2009, the industry was recovering. 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 The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

has expressed "concerns about the deterioration of Lhasa's traditional cityscape." Lhasa contains several hotels. Lhasa Hotel is a 4-star hotel located northeast of Norbulingka in the western suburbs of the city. Completed in September 1985, it is the flagship of CITS's installations in Tibet. It accommodates about 1000 guests and visitors to Lhasa. There are over 450 rooms (suites) in the hotel, and all are equipped with

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...

mini-bar A minibar is a small refrigerator, typically an absorption refrigerator, in a hotel room or cruise ship stateroom. The hotel staff fill it with drinks and snacks for the guest to purchase during their stay. It is stocked with a precise inventor ...

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 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. It is known for its distinctive wooden

veranda A veranda (also spelled verandah in Australian and New Zealand English) is a roofed, open-air hallway or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front an ...

s. 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 A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...

south of Yanhe Dong Lu near the

Tibet University Tibet University (UTibet; ) is a regional public university in Lhasa, Tibet, China. It is affiliated with the Tibet Autonomous Region and co-funded by the regional government and the Ministry of Education. The university is part of Project 211 ...

, produces traditional

Tibetan rug Tibetan rug making is an ancient, traditional craft. Tibetan rugs are traditionally made from Tibetan highland sheep's wool, called ''changpel''. Tibetans use rugs for many purposes ranging from flooring to wall hanging to horse saddles, though ...

s 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 Sera Monastery ( "Wild Roses Monastery"; ) is one of the "great three" Gelug gompa, university monasteries of Tibet, located north of Lhasa and about north of the Jokhang. (The other two are Ganden Monastery and Drepung Monastery.) The origin ...

and is the highest commercial brewery in the world at and accounts for 85 percent of contemporary beer production in Tibet. 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. Since 2000, the

Carlsberg group Carlsberg A/S (; ) is a Danish multinational brewer. Founded in 1847 by J. C. Jacobsen, the company's headquarters is in Copenhagen, Denmark. Since Jacobsen's death in 1887, the majority owner of the company has been the Carlsberg Foundation. Th ...

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).

Architecture and cityscape

Lhasa has many sites of historic interest, including the

and

. The Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple and the Norbulingka are UNESCO world heritage sites. However, many important sites were damaged or destroyed mostly, but not solely, during China's

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

of the 1960s. Many have been restored since the 1980s. The

, named after Mount Potala, the abode of Chenresig or Avalokitesvara, was the chief residence of the

. After the

14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (born 6 July 1935; full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso; ) is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served a ...

fled to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

during the

1959 Tibetan uprising The 1959 Tibetan uprising or Lhasa uprising began on 10 March 1959 as a series of protests in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, fueled by fears that the Chinese government planned to arrest the Dalai Lama. Over the next ten days, the demonstratio ...

, the government converted the palace into a museum. The site was used as a

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...

retreat by King

, who in 637 built the first palace there in order to greet his bride Princess Wen Cheng of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

of China.

Lozang Gyatso The 5th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (; ; 1617–1682) was recognized as the 5th Dalai Lama, and he became the first Dalai Lama to hold both Tibet's political and spiritual leadership roles. He is often referred to simply as the Great Fif ...

, the Great Fifth Dalai Lama, started the construction of the Potala Palace in 1645 after one of his spiritual advisers, Konchog Chophel (d. 1646), pointed out that the site was ideal as a seat of government, situated as it is between

and Sera monasteries and the old city of Lhasa. The palace underwent restoration works between 1989 and 1994, costing RMB55 million (US$6.875 million) and was inscribed to the

World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

in 1994. The

Lhasa Zhol Pillar The Zhol outer pillar, or Doring Chima, is a stone pillar which stands outside the historical residential and administrative Zhol village below the Potala Palace, in Lhasa, Tibet. It was erected to commemorate a 783 border treaty between the Tib ...

, below the Potala, dates as far back as circa 764 CE. and is inscribed with what may be the oldest known example of Tibetan writing. The pillar contains dedications to a famous Tibetan general and gives an account of his services to the king including campaigns against China which culminated in the brief capture of the Chinese capital

Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...

(modern

Xi'an Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

) in 763 CE during which the Tibetans temporarily installed as Emperor a relative of Princess Jincheng Gongzhu (Kim-sheng Kong co), the Chinese wife of

Trisong Detsen Trisong Detsen () was the son of Me Agtsom, the 37th king of Tibet. As the 38th king, he ruled from AD 755 until 797. Trisong Detsen was the second of the Three Dharma Kings of Tibet — Songsten Gampo, Trisong Detsen, Rapalchen — honored f ...

's father,

Me Agtsom Me most often refers to: * Me (pronoun), the first-person singular pronoun, referring to the speaker Me, M.E. or ME may also refer to: Language * Me (cuneiform), a sign in cuneiform writing * Me (kana), a letter in Japanese script * Middle En ...

. Chokpori, meaning 'Iron Mountain', is a

sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as Mountain, mountains. Hills ...

, located south of the Potala. It is considered to be one of the four holy mountains of central Tibet and along with two other hills in Lhasa represent the "Three Protectors of Tibet.", Chokpori (

Vajrapani (Sanskrit; Pali: Vajirapāṇi, 'holder of the thunderbolt', lit. meaning, "Vajra in ishand") is one of the earliest-appearing bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism. The personification of Indra, the King of the Devas in the Hindu order, he is t ...

), Pongwari (

Manjushri Manjushri () is a ''bodhisattva'' who represents '' prajñā'' (transcendent wisdom) of the Buddhas in Mahāyāna Buddhism. The name "Mañjuśrī" is a combination of Sanskrit word " mañju" and an honorific " śrī"; it can be literally transla ...

), and Marpori ( Chenresig or Avalokiteshvara).Stein, R. A. (1972). ''Tibetan Civilization'', p. 228. Translated by J. E. Stapleton Driver. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. (cloth); (paper). It was the site of the most famous

medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...

Tibet, known as the Mentsikhang, which was founded in 1413. It was conceived of by

, the "Great" 5th Dalai Lama, and completed by the Regent

Sangye Gyatso Kalon Sangye Gyatso (1653–1705) was the sixth regent of the 5th Dalai Lama (1617–1682), in the Ganden Phodrang government. He founded the Chagpori College of Medicine in 1694, a Traditional Tibetan medicine school for monks which grew in 1916 ...

(Sangs-rgyas rgya-mtsho)Dowman, Keith. (1988). ''The Power-Places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide'', p. 49. Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., London. . shortly before 1697. Lingkhor is a

path, most commonly used to name the outer

pilgrim The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

road in Lhasa matching its inner twin, Barkhor. The Lingkhor in Lhasa was long enclosing Old Lhasa, the Potala and Chokpori hill. In former times it was crowded with men and women covering its length in

prostration Prostration is the gesture of placing one's body in a reverentially or submissively prone position. Typically prostration is distinguished from the lesser acts of bowing or kneeling by involving a part of the body above the knee, especially t ...

beggar Begging (also known in North America as panhandling) is the practice of imploring others to grant a favor, often a gift of money, with little or no expectation of reciprocation. A person doing such is called a beggar or panhandler. Beggars m ...

s and

s approaching the city for the first time. The road passed through willow-shaded parks where the Tibetans used to

picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors (Al fresco dining, ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event su ...

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. The

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 , it is considered to be the largest man made garden in Tibet. It was built from 1755.Tibet (1986), p.71 and served as the traditional summer residence of the successive

s until the 14th's self-imposed exile. Norbulingka was declared a 'National Important Cultural Relic Unit", in 1988 by the State council. In 2001, the Central Committee of the Chinese Government in its 4th Tibet Session resolved to restore the complex to its original glory. The

Sho Dun Festival The Sho Dun Festival (; ), commonly known as the Shoton or Yogurt Festival or Banquet since "Sho" means Yogurt and "Dun" means Banquet, is an annual festival held at Norbulingka or "Jewel Park" palace in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region. The festi ...

(popularly known as the "yogurt festival") is an annual festival held at Norbulingka during the seventh Tibetan month in the first seven days of the Full Moon period, which corresponds to dates in July/August according to the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...

. The

is an area of narrow streets and a public square in the old part of the city located around

and was the most popular devotional circumambulation for pilgrims and locals. The walk was about one kilometre () long and encircled the entire

, the former seat of the State Oracle in Lhasa called the

Muru Nyingba Monastery Muru Ningba or Meru Nyingba (rMe ru snying pa) (Tibetan: རྨེ་རུ་སྙིང་པ་) is a small Buddhist monastery located between the larger monasteries of Jokhang and Barkhor in the city of Lhasa, Tibet, China. It was the Lhasa ...

, and a number of nobles' houses including

Tromzikhang Tromzikhang ( Tibetan: ཁྲོམ་གཟིགས་ཁང་།; Wylie: ) is a historic building in Barkhor, Lhasa in Tibet, China. It is located northwest of Jokhang temple at the corner of the left side of Barkhor Tromshung Jang (street) ...

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. 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. Ramoche-Tempel Schuh 2007

The

is located on Barkhor Square in the old town section of Lhasa. For most Tibetans it is the most sacred and important temple in Tibet. It is in some regards pan-sectarian, but is presently controlled by the

Gelug file:DalaiLama0054 tiny.jpg, 240px, 14th Dalai Lama, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya, Bodhgaya (India) The Gelug (, also Geluk; 'virtuous' ...

school. Along with the

, it is probably the most popular tourist attraction in Lhasa. It is part of the

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

"Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace," and a spiritual centre of Lhasa. This temple has remained a key center of

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

pilgrimage for centuries. The circumambulation route is known as the "kora" in Tibetan and is marked by four large stone incense burners placed at the corners of the temple complex. The Jokhang temple is a four-story construction, with roofs covered with gilded bronze tiles. The architecture, architectural style is based on the Indian vihara design, and was later extended resulting in a blend of

ese and

styles. It possesses the statues of Chenresig,

and King Songtsen Gampo, Songtsan Gampo and his two foreign brides, Princess Wen Cheng (niece of Emperor Taizong of Tang) and Princess

and other important items.

is considered the most important temple in Lhasa after the Jokhang Temple. Situated in the northwest of the city, it is east of the Potala and north of the Jokhang,Dowman, Keith. 1988. ''The Power-Places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide,'' p. 59. Routledge & Kegan Paul. London. (ppk). 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, and still showed severe damage in 1993. Following the major restoration of 1986, the main building in the temple now has three stories. Tibet Museum1

The Tibet Museum (Lhasa), 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. 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. The Monument to the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet was unveiled in the Potala Square in May 2002 to celebrate the 51st anniversary of 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. 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. The Lhasa Great Mosque is the most prominent and built by the early 1700s. The Dokdé Mosque, north of Lhasa, has an adjacent cemetery and is dated to 1716. The fourth mosque, commonly known as "Small Mosque" (but also Barkor or Rapsel Alley Mosque), was built in the early 1900s.

Culture

There are some night spots that feature cabaret acts in which performers sing in Chinese language, Chinese, Standard Tibetan, Tibetan, and English language, 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. 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 (instrument), 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.Social Sciences Literature Press Social Sciences Academic Press, abbreviated as SSAP (traditional Chinese: 社會科學文獻出版社; simplified Chinese: 社会科学文献出版社), also spelled as Social Sciences Literature Publishing House or China Social Sciences Literatu ...
2012 p. 115"> View on campus bridge

Education

There are 2 universities of

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.

(Standard Tibetan, Tibetan: བོད་ལྗོངས་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཆེན་མོ་) is the main university of

. Its campus is located in Chengguan District, Lhasa, east of the city-centre. A forerunner was created in 1952 and the university was officially established in 1985, funded by the Government of the People's Republic of China, Chinese government. About 8000 students are enrolled at the university. Tibet University is a comprehensive university with the highest academic level in

. It is a member of the prestigious Project 211, and is sponsored under the Double First-Class Construction initiative.

Transport

Rail

Lhasa has been served by rail since 2006, when the Qinghai–Tibet Railway opened for passenger operations. Reaching an elevation of 5,072 metres above sea level, the Qinghai-Tibet railway is the world's highest railway by elevation. It connects Lhasa with

, the capital of Qinghai Province, some away, and ultimately links Lhasa with other major cities with China's extensive railway network. Five trains arrive at and depart from Lhasa railway station each day. Train number Z21 takes 40 hours and 53 minutes from Beijing West railway station, 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.to Get to Lhasa" ChinaTour.net
Accessed 23 March 2015 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 the convenience of passengers, and personal oxygen masks are available on request. Within the soft sleeper cabins there are 64 seats per train, which have an electrical plug for electronics. Lhasa is also Lhasa–Xigazê Railway, connected to Shigatse, Xigazê, the second largest city in Tibet by rail service, since 2014. A third railway, the Sichuan-Tibet Railway, which links Lhasa with Nyingchi County and into the interior ultimately terminating in Chengdu, began construction in June 2015. For onward rail travel in South Asia, the closest major station in India is New Jalpaiguri, Siliguri in West Bengal. However, extension of the Indian railway system to Sikkim will make it easier for onward connections through the South Asian railway network. There are preliminary plans to link Lhasa by rail with Kathmandu. 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.

Air

Lhasa Gonggar International Airport (IATA: LXA), built in 1965, is the aviation hub of Tibet. It is located south of the city proper. It takes around half an hour to get there by car via the Lhasa Airport Expressway; prior to the completion of the expressway in 2011, the trip to the airport took over an hour. , there are daily flights serving major Chinese cities including Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Shanghai, and there are also occasional scheduled services to Kathmandu in Nepal. Lhasa Airport is the hub of Tibet Airlines, which offers regional services to other destinations in Tibet such as Nyingchi, Ngari Prefecture, Shigatse, and Qamdo.

Road

The Qinghai–Tibet Highway (part of G109) runs northeast toward Xining and eventually to

and is the most-used road in Tibet. The Sichuan–Tibet Highway (part of G318) runs east towards Chengdu and eventually to Shanghai. G318 also runs west to Zhangmu on the Nepal border. The China National Highway 219, Xinjiang-Tibet Highway (G219) runs north from Lhasa to Kargilik Town, Yecheng, and then to Xinjiang. This road is rarely used due to the lack of amenities and petrol stations. A new , four-lane highway between Lhasa and the Gonggar Airport was built by the Transportation Department of Tibet at a cost of Renminbi, RMB 1.5 billion. This road is part of China National Highway 318, National Highway 318 and starts from the Lhasa railway station, passes through Caina Township in 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.

Maritime

The closest seaports are Kolkata and Haldia in West Bengal, India. The Nathu La pass offers Chinese companies access to the port of Kolkata (Calcutta), situated about from Lhasa, for trans-shipments to and from Tibet.

Sports

In 2014, the Lhasa Mass Culture and Sports Center (拉萨市群众文化体育中心) was completed in Liwu New District of Lhasa City. The center was built with the assistance of 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.

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * Das, Sarat Chandra. 1902. ''Lhasa and Central Tibet''. Reprint: Mehra Offset Press, Delhi. 1988. * Dorje, Gyurme. 1999. ''Footprint Tibet Handbook''. 2nd Edition. Bath, England. . Also published in Chicago, U.S.A. . * Dowman, Keith. 1988. ''The Power-Places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide'', p. 59. Routledge & Kegan Paul. London. (ppk). * Forbes, Andrew; Henley, David (2011). ''China's Ancient Tea Horse Road''. Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti Books. ASIN: B005DQV7Q2 * Liu Jianqiang, Jianqiang, Liu (2006)
chinadialogue
- Preserving Lhasa's history (part one). * Miles, Paul. (9 April 2005). "Tourism drive 'is destroying Tibet' Unesco fears for Lhasa's World Heritage sites as the Chinese try to pull in 10 million visitors a year by 2020". ''Daily Telegraph'' (London), p. 4. * Pelliot, Paul. (1961) ''Histoire ancienne du Tibet''. Libraire d'Amérique et d'orient. Paris. * Richardson, Hugh E (1984). ''Tibet and its History''. Second Edition, Revised and Updated. Shambhala Publications, Boston. . * Richardson, Hugh E (1997). Lhasa. In ''Encyclopedia Americana international edition'', (Vol. 17, pp. 281–282). Danbury, CT: Grolier Inc. * Stein, R. A. (1972). ''Tibetan Civilization'', p. 38. Reprint 1972. Stanford University Press. (cloth); (paper). * Tuladhar, Kamal Ratna (2011). ''Caravan to Lhasa: A Merchant of Kathmandu in Traditional Tibet.'' Kathmandu: Lijala & Tisa. . * Tung, Rosemary Jones. 1980. ''A Portrait of Lost Tibet''. Thomas and Hudson, London. . * Vitali, Roberto. 1990. ''Early Temples of Central Tibet''. Serindia Publications. London. . * (2006)
Lhasa
– Lhasa Intro * von Schroeder, Ulrich. (1981). ''Indo-Tibetan Bronzes''. (608 pages, 1244 illustrations). Hong Kong: Visual Dharma Publications Ltd. * von Schroeder, Ulrich. (2001). ''Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet''. Vol. One: I''ndia & Nepal''; Vol. Two: ''Tibet & China''. (Volume One: 655 pages with 766 illustrations; Volume Two: 675 pages with 987 illustrations). Hong Kong: Visual Dharma Publications, Ltd.). * von Schroeder, Ulrich. 2008. ''108 Buddhist Statues in Tibet''. (212 p., 112 colour illustrations) (DVD with 527 digital photographs). Chicago: Serindia Publications.

External links

*
People's Government of Chengguan District, Lhasa Official Website

Grand temple of Buddha at Lhasa in 1902
Perry–Castañeda Library Map Collection
Tibet Travel Permit
* *

Maps and aerial photos

Map central Lhasa

Old map of central Lhasa from 1959
{{authority control Chengguan District, Lhasa, Holy cities County-level divisions of Lhasa Capitals of former nations