"Lhasa, the pilgrim capital of Tibet" a Lhasa Travel Page by grets

Lhasa is situated at an altitude of 3,595 metres on the north bank of the Kyi-chu River. The name Lhasa is thought to come from the Tibetan words Lha (sacred) and Sa (earth). In Chinese the town is known as Lasa Shiqu. Lhasa has always been a sacred city to Tibetans, ever since it rose to importance in the 7th century, although some of the mystery of yesteryears has disappeared over the last few years, to reveal a dull Chinese city, full of high-rise Chinese buildings and faceless apartment blocks.

Population = 200,000

The approach to Lhasa from Gonggar airport takes you through what at first appears as an ugly, modern sprawling Chinese City. You pass the huge monstrosity of a golden yak sculpture, and then, suddenly, you are in Potala Square. Like magic, like something out of a film. It seemed so unreal to finally be here in person, but I didn’t feel the depth of emotion as I expected when seeing the Potala Palace for the first time.

The old city is lovely, with traditional architecture and locals milling around going on with their everyday business. There are many Chinese tourists, but hardly any other Westerners. On the one afternoon we had free to wander about the city, we saw three other Westerners, and one of those was from our party! Immerse yourself in the atmosphere and soak up the character of this wonderful Tibetan city before it becomes too Chinese!