Lhasa

Lhasa, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region. is famous for being one of the highest cities in the world, towering 3,760 meters above the banks of tile Lhasa River. What really knocks you out here is the full scale impact on your senses of the breathtaking beauty, unique landscape and the holy atmosphere. In Tibetan, Lhasa means "The land of the Gods", or "'Holy Place".

Major landmarks are Potala Palace. Jokhong Monastery, Sera Monastery, Drepung Temple, and Norbulinka Palace. Lhasa's original look and old lifestyle are largely intact at Barhkor Street in the old part of Lhasa, where all sorts of arts and crafts are on sale.

The Potala Palace

The Potala Palace is located on "Red Hill" to the west of old Lhasa. The palace was originally built in the 640s. during the reign of King Songtsan (;ampo. The

13-story palace stands 117 metres high and has over 1,000 rooms. It covers an area of 130,000 square meters. The entire building is made of stone and wood with walls averaging 3 meters thick.

The palace is divided into white and red palaces for the color of their walls. The white palace used to be a place where the living Buddha. Dalai.handled affairs and lived. The red palace is further divided into the hall of the Buddha, Scripture Hall and Memorial Hall, each with a dozen or scores of rooms. The hall of the Buddha houses gold-traced portraits of Sakyamuni and deceased Dalai Lamas: the Scripture Hall houses a large number of early copies of Buddhist sutras, and the Memorial Hall contains statues of the 13 late Dalai Lamas.

The original Potala was destroyed in tile 9th century during the break down of the Tubo Kingship era. It was rebuilt during the reign of the 5th Dalai Lama and completed in the late 17th century. It became known as the "Winter Palace" by the 1750s, when the 7th Dalai Lama built the Norbulingka Park, as his summer residence.

The Potala is full of elaborate art work and frescos that tell many stories.They portray religious subjects as well as the customs and traditions of Tibet.The frescos in the west hall depict the life story of the 5th Dalai Lama. One picture describes an important meeting between the 5th Dalai Lama and the Qing Emperor Shunzhi in t6.52. It was after this meeting that the title" Dalai Lama" was bestowed on him and successive leaders of Tibet. The Potala contains many precious works of art, including ornately decorated statues, sculptures and Tibetan paintings.

The Potala has been a sacred place for hundreds of years. Thousands of pilgrims from Tibet, other parts of China and a broad come every year to pay homage. Their devotion is shown by the difficult journeys they have to make to reach their "Holy City". After the peaceful liberation of Tibet, the Potala was listed as a cultural relic under the special protection of the state.

Architecturally, it is considered to be one of the wonders of the world, admired by Chinese nationalities and foreigners alike.

Welcome to China2Go, the talking Chinese phrase book for Windows Mobile Pocket PC and Palm OS. Featuring crystal clear voice recorded by a real person, this product is a great travel companion and an ideal tool to learn Chinese! With our cutting edge voice compression technology, this product includes more than 1000 phrases, their Chinese translation, and the voice in only a few megabytes. Supports all Windows Mobile Pocket PCs. H&H China2Go Talking Phrase Book for Windows Mobile