Lhasa 城关区 ཁྲིན་ཀོན་ཆུས། Chengguan, Chênggoin, Chengguān | |
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| District of Chengguan of the City of Lhasa | |
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  Lhasa Location in Tibet Show map of Tibet Lhasa Lhasa (China) Show map of China | |
| Coordinates (Tibet government):29°39′14″N91°7′3″E / 29.65389°N 91.11750°E /29.65389; 91.11750 | |
| Country | China |
| Autonomous region | Tibet |
| Prefecture-level city | Lhasa |
| District seat | Gyirai Subdistrict |
| Area | |
• District | 525 km2 (203 sq mi) |
| • Urban | 168 km2 (65 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 3,656 m (11,995 ft) |
| Population (2020) | |
• District | 464,736 |
| • Density | 885/km2 (2,290/sq mi) |
| • Urban (2020)[2] | 464,736 |
| • Major Ethnic groups | Tibetan;Han;Hui;Nepali |
| • Languages | Tibetan;Mandarin |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (China Standard) |
| Postal code | 850000 |
| Area code | 891 |
| Website | www |
| Lhasa | |||||||||||||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 拉萨 | ||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 拉薩 | ||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | (in Tibetan) "Place of the Gods" | ||||||||||||||||
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| Historical Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 逻些 | ||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 邏些 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Tibetan name | |||||||||||||||||
| Tibetan | ལྷ་ས་ | ||||||||||||||||
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| Chengguan District | |||||||||||||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 城关区 | ||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 城關區 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Tibetan name | |||||||||||||||||
| Tibetan | ཁྲིན་ཀོན་ཆུས། | ||||||||||||||||
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Lhasa,[a] officially theChengguan District of Lhasa City,[b] is the inner urban district ofLhasa City,Tibet Autonomous Region,Southwestern China.[4]
Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on theTibetan Plateau afterXining and, at an altitude of 3,656 metres (11,990 ft), Lhasa is one of thehighest cities in the world. The city has been the religious and administrative capital ofTibet since the mid-17th century. It contains many culturally significantTibetan Buddhist sites such as thePotala Palace,Jokhang Temple andNorbulingka Palaces.
Lhasa literally translates to "place of gods" (ལྷlha, god;སsa, place) in theTibetan 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 ofTibet, and construction of theJokhang 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 namedBarantola can be found; this has been suggested to be Lhasa, though also thought to possibly refer to modern Bulantai/Boluntay in the western part of theQinghai province.[11]
By the mid-7th century,Songtsen Gampo became the leader of theTibetan Empire that had risen to power in theYarlung Tsangpo River (whose lower reaches in India is known as theBrahmaputra River) Valley.[12] After conquering the kingdom ofZhangzhung in the west, he moved the capital from the ChingwaTaktsé Castle inChongye County (pinyin: Qióngjié Xiàn), southwest ofYarlung, to Rasa (Lhasa) where in 637 he raised the first structures on the site of what is now thePotala 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 PrincessBhrikuti of Nepal,[14] and then, two years later, toPrincess Wencheng of the ImperialTang court. Bhrikuti is said to have converted him toBuddhism, which was also the faith attributed to his second wife Wencheng. In 641 he constructed theJokhang (or Rasa Trülnang Tsulagkhang) andRamoche Temples in Lhasa in order to house twoBuddha statues, theAkshobhya Vajra (depicting the Buddha at the age of eight) and theJowo 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 ofLangdarma 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 invaded and 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 ofDunhuang. Lǐ suggested that this tradition may derive from aninterpolation.[20]Tsepon W. D. Shakabpa believes that "those histories reporting the arrival of Chinese troops are not correct."[19] The brutality of the Chinese forces during this time is also acknowledged in later Tibetan accounts, which describe harsh actions taken against the local population and the destruction of sacred sites.[21][22]
From the fall of the monarchy in the 9th century to the accession of the5th Dalai Lama, 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.[23] It was known as the centre of Tibet wherePadmasambhava magically pinned down the earth demoness and built the foundation of theJokhang Temple over her heart.[24] Islam has been present since the 11th century in what is considered to have always been a monolithically Buddhist culture.[25] TwoTibetan 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 largeGelugpa monasteries byJe Tsongkhapa and his disciples.[26] The three monasteries areGanden,Sera andDrepung which were built as part of the puritanical Buddhist revival in Tibet.[27] The scholarly achievements and political know-how of this Gelugpa Lineage eventually pushed Lhasa once more to centre stage.[28]
The 5thDalai Lama,Lobsang Gyatso (1617–1682), unified Tibet and moved the centre of his administration to Lhasa in 1642 with the help ofGüshi Khan of theKhoshut. 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 theLhasa state. The core leadership of this government is also referred to as theGanden Phodrang, and Lhasa thereafter became both the religious and political capital.[29] In 1645, the reconstruction of thePotala Palace began on Red Hill.[30] In 1648, thePotrang Karpo (White Palace) of the Potala was completed, and the Potala was used as awinter palace by the Dalai Lama from that time onwards.[31] ThePotrang Marpo (Red Palace) was added between 1690 and 1694. The name Potala is derived fromMount Potalaka, the mythical abode of the Dalai Lama's divine prototype, theBodhisattvaAvalokiteśvara.[32] The Jokhang Temple was also greatly expanded around this time. Although some wooden carvings andlintels 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.
By the end of the 17th century, Lhasa'sBarkhor 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.[33] TheQing dynasty army entered Lhasa in 1720, and the Qing government sent resident commissioners, called theAmbans, to Lhasa. On 11 November 1750, the murder of the regent by the Ambans triggered ariot in the city that left more than a hundred people killed, including the Ambans. After suppressing the rebels, QingQianlong Emperor reorganized the Tibetan government and set up the governing council calledKashag in Lhasa in 1751.
In January 1904, aBritishexpeditionary force invaded and captured Lhasa during theBritish expedition to Tibet. The expedition's leader,Sir Francis Younghusband, negotiated theConvention Between Great Britain and Tibet with the remaining Tibetan officials after theDalai Lama had fled to the countryside. The treaty was subsequently repudiated and was succeeded bya 1906 Anglo-Chinese treaty. All Qing troops left Lhasa after theXinhai Lhasa turmoil in 1912.[34]
On 2 November 1949, the local Tibetan government sent a letter toMao Zedong (thenChairman of the Chinese Communist Party) expressing its desire for talks.Tsepon Shargyalpa andTsejang Khenpo Tubten Gyalpo were sent as representatives, but no consensus was reached.[35] On 7 October 1950, the Chinese People's Liberation Army launched theBattle 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 toBeijing for peace talks, and in April 1951, a five-member delegation headed byNgapo-Ngawang Jigme traveled to Beijing and reached aconsensus on peace talks.[36][37][38]
In 1959, following a faileduprising, 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.[39] 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.[40] In September 1965, the Tibet Autonomous Region was established, and Lhasa became the capital of the region.[41]
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: theNorbulingka, Dalai Lama's Summer Palace, constructed by the7th Dalai Lama;[27] a small part of the Shugtri Lingka, and theLukhang. Dormitory blocks, offices and army barracks are built over the rest.[42]
TheGuāndì miào (關帝廟) orGesar Lhakhang temple was erected by the Amban in 1792 atop Mount Bamare 3 kilometres (2 miles) south of the Potala to celebrate the defeat of an invadingGurkha army.[43] The main gate to the city of Lhasa used to run through the large Pargo Kalingchorten and contained holy relics of the Buddha Mindukpa.[44]
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.[45]
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Lhasa has an elevation of about 3,600 m (11,800 ft)[46] and lies in the centre of theTibetan Plateau with the surrounding mountains rising to 5,500 m (18,000 ft). The air only contains 68 percent of the oxygen compared to sea level.[47] TheLhasa River, also Kyi River or Kyi Chu, a tributary of theYarlung Zangbo River (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 theNyainqêntanglha mountains, extending 315 km (196 mi), and emptying into the Yarlung Zangbo River atQüxü, forms an area of great scenic beauty. The marshlands, mostly uninhabited, are to the north.[48] Ingress and egress roads run east and west, while to the north, the road infrastructure is less developed.[48]
Chengguan District is located on the middle reaches of theLhasa River, a tributary of theBrahmaputra River, with land that rises to the north and south of the river. It is 28 kilometres (17 mi) from east to west and 31 kilometres (19 mi) from north to south. Chengguan District is bordered byDoilungdêqên District to the west,Dagzê County to the east andLhünzhub County to the north.Gonggar County of Lhoka (Shannan) Prefecture lies to the south.[49][50]
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.[51]
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.[52] Chengguan District of Lhasa was established on 23 April 1961. It currently has 12 fully urban subdistricts.[53]
| Name | Tibetan | Tibetan Pinyin | Chinese | Pinyin | Population (2010)[54] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Owing to its very high elevation, Lhasa has acool semi-arid climate (Köppen:BSk), bordering on both a monsoon-influencedsubtropical highland climate (Köppen:Cwb) and ahumid continental climate (Köppen: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 0.6 °C (33.1 °F) and the warmest month is June and July with a daily average of 17.5 °C (63.5 °F), though nights have generally been warmer in July.[55] 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) on 17 January 1968 and 24 June 2019 respectively.[56] 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, elevation 3,649 m (11,972 ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1951–present) | |||||||||||||
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| 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) | 0.6 (33.1) | 3.1 (37.6) | 6.5 (43.7) | 9.8 (49.6) | 13.8 (56.8) | 17.5 (63.5) | 17.5 (63.5) | 16.7 (62.1) | 15.2 (59.4) | 10.8 (51.4) | 5.4 (41.7) | 1.7 (35.1) | 9.9 (49.8) |
| 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) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 0.9 (0.04) | 1.9 (0.07) | 3.5 (0.14) | 8.3 (0.33) | 31.1 (1.22) | 84.0 (3.31) | 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 (18.63) |
| 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 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 25 | 24 | 27 | 36 | 41 | 48 | 59 | 61 | 57 | 43 | 32 | 27 | 40 |
| Mean monthlysunshine 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 |
| Percentagepossible sunshine | 77 | 74 | 68 | 65 | 66 | 62 | 54 | 55 | 65 | 80 | 84 | 81 | 69 |
| Source: China Meteorological Administration[57][58][59] all-time extreme temperature[56][60] | |||||||||||||
The 11th edition ofEncyclopædia Britannica published between 1910 and 1911 noted the total population of Lhasa, including the lamas in the city and vicinity was about 30,000,[61] 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.[61] The permanent population also included Chinese families (about 2,000).[61] The city's residents included traders fromNepal andLadakh (about 800), and a few fromBhutan,Mongolia and other places.[61] TheBritannica 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.[61]
In the first half of the 20th century, severalWestern explorers made celebrated journeys to the city, includingWilliam Montgomery McGovern,Francis Younghusband,Alexandra David-Néel, andHeinrich Harrer. Lhasa was the centre of Tibetan Buddhism as nearly half of its population weremonks,[62] 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 ofAmban.[63]
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.[64] 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."[65]
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.[66] 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.[67] 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.[67] 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.[68] As of 2014[update], half of Tibet's Han population resided in the district, werebilingual or wholly Chinese teaching was common in the schools.[69]
_Dieter_Schuh.JPG)
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 andanimal 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 andzinc 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 planthighland barley and winterwheat. The resources of water conservancy,geothermal heating,solar energy and various mines are abundant. There is widespread electricity together with the use of bothmachinery and traditional methods in the production of such things astextiles,leathers, plastics, matches andembroidery. The production of national handicrafts has made great progress.
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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 assoil erosion,acidification, and loss ofvegetation are being addressed. The tourism industry now brings significant business to the region, building on the attractiveness of the Potala Palace, theJokang, theNorbulingka Summer Palace and surrounding large monasteries as well the spectacularHimalayan landscape together with the many wild plants and animals native to the high altitudes ofCentral Asia. Tourism to Tibet dropped sharply following the crackdown on protests in 2008, but as early as 2009, the industry was recovering.[70] 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."[71]
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 withair conditioning,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[72] and is the subject of a book,The Hotel on the Roof of the World. Another hotel of note is the historicalBanak Shöl Hotel, located at 8 Beijing Road in the city.[73] It is known for its distinctive woodenverandas. 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, afactory south of Yanhe Dong Lu near theTibet University, produces traditionalTibetan 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.
TheLhasa Brewery Company was established in 1988 on the northern outskirts of Lhasa, south ofSera 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.[74] 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.[75] Since 2000, theCarlsberg 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).[76][77]
Lhasa has many sites of historic interest, including thePotala Palace,Jokhang Temple,Sera Monastery andNorbulingka. The Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple and the Norbulingka are UNESCO world heritage sites.[78] However, many important sites were damaged or destroyed mostly, but not solely, during China'sCultural Revolution of the 1960s.[79][80][81] Many have been restored since the 1980s.
ThePotala Palace, named after Mount Potala, the abode ofChenresig orAvalokitesvara,[82] was the chief residence of theDalai Lama. After the14th Dalai Lama fled toIndia during the1959 Tibetan uprising, the government converted the palace into a museum. The site was used as ameditation retreat by KingSongtsen Gampo, who in 637 built the first palace there in order to greet his bridePrincess Wen Cheng of theTang dynasty of China.Lozang Gyatso, the Great Fifth Dalai Lama, started the construction of the Potala Palace in 1645[30] 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 betweenDrepung andSera monasteries and the old city of Lhasa.[31] The palace underwent restoration works between 1989 and 1994, costing RMB55 million (US$6.875 million) and was inscribed to theUNESCOWorld Heritage List in 1994.
TheLhasa Zhol Pillar, below the Potala, dates as far back as circa 764 CE.[83] and is inscribed with what may be the oldest known example of Tibetan writing.[84] 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 capitalChang'an (modernXi'an) in 763 CE[85] during which the Tibetans temporarily installed as Emperor a relative of Princess Jincheng Gongzhu (Kim-sheng Kong co), the Chinese wife ofTrisong Detsen's father,Me Agtsom.[86][87]
Chokpori, meaning 'Iron Mountain', is asacredhill, 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), Pongwari (Manjushri), and Marpori (Chenresig orAvalokiteshvara).[88] It was the site of the most famousmedical school Tibet, known as theMentsikhang, which was founded in 1413. It was conceived of byLobsang Gyatso, the "Great" 5th Dalai Lama, and completed by the RegentSangye Gyatso (Sangs-rgyas rgya-mtsho)[89] shortly before 1697.
Lingkhor is asacred path, most commonly used to name the outerpilgrim road in Lhasa matching its inner twin, Barkhor. The Lingkhor in Lhasa was 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) long enclosing Old Lhasa, the Potala andChokpori hill. In former times it was crowded with men and women covering its length inprostrations,beggars andpilgrims approaching the city for the first time. The road passed through willow-shaded parks where the Tibetans used topicnic 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.
TheNorbulingka 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.[90][91]It was built from 1755.[92] and served as the traditional summer residence of the successiveDalai Lamas 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. TheSho Dun Festival (popularly known as the "yogurt festival") is an annual festival held at Norbulingka during the seventh Tibetan month in the first seven days of theFull Moon period, which corresponds to dates in July/August according to theGregorian calendar.
TheBarkhor is an area of narrow streets and a public square in the old part of the city located aroundJokhang 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 entireJokhang, the former seat of theState Oracle in Lhasa called theMuru Nyingba Monastery, and a number of nobles' houses includingTromzikhang andJamkhang. There were four large incense burners (sangkangs) in the four cardinal directions, with incense burning constantly, to please the gods protecting the Jokhang.[93] 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.[94]
TheJokhang 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 theGelug school. Along with thePotala Palace, it is probably the most popular tourist attraction in Lhasa. It is part of theUNESCOWorld Heritage Site "Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace," and a spiritual centre of Lhasa. This temple has remained a key center ofBuddhistpilgrimage 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 withgildedbronze tiles. Thearchitectural style is based on the Indianvihara design, and was later extended resulting in a blend ofNepalese andTang dynasty styles. It possesses the statues ofChenresig,Padmasambhava and KingSongtsan Gampo and his two foreign brides, PrincessWen Cheng (niece ofEmperor Taizong of Tang) and PrincessBhrikuti ofNepal and other important items.[95]
Ramoche Temple is considered the most important temple in Lhasa after the Jokhang Temple.[96] Situated in the northwest of the city, it is east of the Potala and north of the Jokhang,[97] 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,[97] and still showed severe damage in 1993. Following the major restoration of 1986, the main building in the temple now has three stories.
TheTibet 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.[98][99] It is located in an L-shaped building west of the Potala Palace on the corner ofNorbulingkha Road. The museum is organized into three main sections: a main exhibition hall, a folk cultural garden and administrative offices.[98]
TheMonument to the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet was unveiled in the Potala Square in May 2002 to celebrate the 51st anniversary of theSeventeen 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 presidentJiang Zemin, while an inscription describes the socioeconomic development experienced in Tibet in the past fifty years.[100]
There are four mosques in and around Lhasa. The earliest mosque, calledKhache Lingka, dates to 1650 and is located west of the city, and consists of two compounds.[101] TheLhasa Great Mosque is the most prominent and built by the early 1700s.[101] The Dokdé Mosque, north of Lhasa, has an adjacent cemetery and is dated to 1716.[101] The fourth mosque, commonly known as "Small Mosque" (but also Barkor or Rapsel Alley Mosque), was built in the early 1900s.[101]
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There are some night spots that featurecabaret acts in which performers sing inChinese,Tibetan, andEnglish. 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.[102] While the traditional Dui Huan in Tibet has only one instrument, the Dui Huan in Lhasa has four instruments: in addition to theZainianqin and theYangqin, there are theJinghu, 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.[103][104]
There are two universities ofTibet University andTibet Tibetan Medical University and 3 special colleges ofLhasa Teachers College,Tibet Police College andTibet Vocational and Technical College in the Lhasa city.[105]
Tibet University (Tibetan: བོད་ལྗོངས་སློབ་གྲྭ་ཆེན་མོ་) is the mainuniversity ofTibet Autonomous Region. 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 theChinese government. About 8000 students are enrolled at the university. Tibet University is a comprehensive university with the highest academic level inTibet Autonomous Region. It is a member of the prestigiousProject 211, and is sponsored under theDouble First-Class Construction initiative.[106]
Lhasa has been served by rail since 2006, when theQinghai–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 withXining, the capital ofQinghai Province, some 2,000 km (1,200 mi) away, and ultimately links Lhasa with other major cities with China's extensive railway network.[107] Five trains arrive at and depart fromLhasa railway station each day. Train number Z21 takes 40 hours and 53 minutes fromBeijing 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 fromChengdu,Chongqing,Lanzhou, Xining,Guangzhou,Shanghai and other cities.[108] To counter the problem of altitude differences giving passengersaltitude 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.[109] Within the soft sleeper cabins there are 64 seats per train, which have an electrical plug for electronics.[110]
Lhasa is alsoconnected toXigazê, the second largest city in Tibet by rail service, since 2014.[111][112] A third railway, theSichuan–Tibet railway, which links Lhasa withNyingchi County and into the interior ultimately terminating inChengdu, began construction in June 2015.[113]
For onward rail travel inSouth Asia, the closest major station in India isNew Jalpaiguri,Siliguri inWest Bengal. However, extension of the Indian railway system toSikkim will make it easier for onward connections through theSouth Asian railway network. There are preliminary plans to link Lhasa by rail with Kathmandu.[114]
As per a Chinese Tibetan spokesperson, extension of this rail line to Kathmandu with tunnelling underMount Everest was, as of 2015, expected to be completed by 2020.[115]
Lhasa Gonggar International Airport (IATA:LXA), built in 1965, is the aviation hub of Tibet.[116] It is located south of the city proper. It takes around half an hour to get there by car via theLhasa Airport Expressway; prior to the completion of the expressway in 2011, the trip to the airport took over an hour. As of 2014[update], there are daily flights serving major Chinese cities including Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Shanghai, and there are also occasional scheduled services toKathmandu in Nepal. Lhasa Airport is the hub ofTibet Airlines, which offers regional services to other destinations in Tibet such asNyingchi,Ngari Prefecture,Shigatse, andQamdo.[117]
TheQinghai–Tibet Highway (part of G109) runs northeast toward Xining and eventually toBeijing and is the most-used road in Tibet. TheSichuan–Tibet Highway (part of G318) runs east towardsChengdu and eventually toShanghai. G318 also runs west toZhangmu on the Nepal border. TheXinjiang-Tibet Highway (G219) runs north from Lhasa toYecheng, and then toXinjiang. This road is rarely used due to the lack of amenities and petrol stations. A new 37.68 kilometres (23.41 mi), four-lane highway between Lhasa and the Gonggar Airport was built by the Transportation Department of Tibet at a cost ofRMB 1.5 billion. This road is part ofNational Highway 318 and starts from theLhasa railway station, passes throughCaina Township inQushui County, terminating between the north entrance of theGala Mountain Tunnel and the south bridgehead of the Lhasa River Bridge, and en route goes over the first overpass of Lhasa at Liuwu Overpass.[118]
The closest seaports areKolkata andHaldia inWest Bengal, India. TheNathu 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.
In 2014, theLhasa 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 ofBeijing 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 theLuban Prize, the highest honor in China's construction industry, and has been called the "Little Bird's Nest" by local people.[119][120][121]
With Tibet conceived as a demoness lying on her back and locations for the temples carefully selected according to the rules of Chinese acupuncture applied to the body of the demoness, Songtsen-gampo hoped to neutralize any opposition to his rule from local malevolent spirits. Of the thirteen Buddhist temples, the major one was constructed eighty miles from the imperial capital, at the site that later became known as "Lhasa" (Lha-sa, The Place of the Gods). At the time, it was called "Rasa" (Ra-sa, The Place of the Goats). Western scholars speculate that the Emperor was persuaded to avoid building the temple at the capital so as not to offend the traditional gods.
population of Lhasa in 1904 was estimated by the British at 30,000 people, of whom 20,000 were said to be monks [...] in 1936 Spencer Chapman estimated the population at 50,000 to 60,000, consisting of 20,000 residents and 30,000 to 40,000 monks
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