China’s Tibet as a tourist destination

R. Jinith de Silva

Tibet is one of China’s most picturesque provinces. It is also known as the roof of the world. It is rich in scenic beauty and situated in the Southwest of China. This part of China is also known as “Zang” is short. The area of this part of China is 1.2 M S.K.M. and the population is 2.62 million. The average elevation of this country is 4000 meters. The crystal clear water that cascade down the valleys and the snow capped mountains makes an enchanting and a pleasing view almost everywhere in Tibet.

Several mountain tops belonging to Himalayan Range is situated in Tibet. More than 1500 lakes enhance the beauty of this land. As a result it has become one of the sought after tourist destinations of China. Every Chinese yearn to visit at least once in their lifetime.

Chinese Tibet lay claim to a fairly long historical past and a equally long religio-culture. Even the folk drama has it roots running back is several hundred years. There are more than 1700 temples in Tibet and among them the Potala Palace, Jokhang Monastery and Norbu linka are UNESCO endorsed world cultural heritage sites.

In this article I will try to highlight several places which have become tourist attractions. The place that most tourists love to visit in Tibet is the Potala Palace. This palace is situated in the area called Red mountain. This Palace was built in 7th century by Wenecheng Princess of Hang Dynasty and the Nepalese’s Princess Songtran lambo. This palace is 120 meters tall and 360 meters wide. The interior is about 90000 square feet in area. This palace is divided into two parts called the white palace and the red palace and both built in compatibility to the architecture of Tibet. Many olden culture relics such as Sutras, images of Buddha Thangkas are well preserved in the palace. In 1994 UNESCO inscribed it on the list of world heritage.

Next important historical site is Jokhang monastery which was built in 647 AD. This was originally built in wood and masonry. The architectural style was not limited to Tibetan but a mixture of Han and Nepalese. It is in possession of a wide range of invaluable cultural collection of relics and most famous and valuable of these is the Sculpture of Sakyamuni. It became a world heritage site of UNESCO in the year 2000.

The Norbulinka Monastery is another famous tourist attraction. The meaning of Norbulinka is Treasure park in Tibetan. This was completed in 1740 and covers an area of 40 hectares. Dalai Lama had used this to meet his officials here during summer. From the outward appearance this palace looks more like a south Chinese garden. It was inscribed on the list of world heritage by UNESCO in 2001.

Out of all mountains in Tibet the Himalayan range is the most prominent and most visited by tourists. Both tourists and mountain climbers visit China as most of these mountains are situated in Tibet. Mount Everest is located in the Tangre Country of Tibet, and it is also known as Mount Qumolangma which mean third goddess in Tibetan. It is the main peak of the Himalayan Range and the highest peak of the world, standing 8848 meters above sea level. This peak is snow capped throughout the year and reputed as the third pole of the world. Tibet is actually clustered with 38 peaks at heights of more than 7000 meters.

Tibet has more than thousand lakes of different sizes. The most famous among them is the Namco Lake, which means heavenly Lake in Tibetan. It is located in the Dams Ceung country of Tibet and covers an area of 1961 square km.

This Lake is the highest salt water lake in the world and respected as one of the four holy lakes in Tibet by Buddhists. The water of this lake is crystal clear and surrounded by a snow capped mountain which enhances its beauty.

The central government has spent a colossal amount of money to develop infrastructure facilities in relation to tourism. To build express ways alone the central government has spent 20 Billion Yuan between 1959 and 2008.

The writer is Former Secretary of Sri Lanka - China Society