Top 10 Things to do in Lhasa, Tibet

The residence of the Dalai Lama is an immense religious structure and a masterpiece of Tibetan architecture.

Located in the heart of old Lhasa, this circular route is the oldest street in the city dating back to the foundation of the Jokhang

Built in 1416, this is considered one of the largest monasteries in the world with more than 10,000 monks living inside its walls during the height of its activities.

Included on UNESCO's World Heritage list in 2000 as part of the Potala Palace, the Jokhang Temple is in the heart of Lhasa downtown. With an area of 25,100 square meters (about six acres), it is the ultimate pilgrimage destination for Tibetan Pilgrims. As the most sacred temple in Tibet, Jokhang Temple is situated in Lhasa city and attracts many pilgrims to worship and circumambulating around. The temple was founded during King Songtsen Gampo’ reign (617-650 AD). At that time, the King built the temple to welcome his two brides, Princess Bhrikuti from Nepal and Princess Wencheng from China in Tang Dynasty. Both princesses brought statues of Jowo Sakyamuni as their dowries, therefore, Songtsen decided to build a temple to house these important statues. Together with Jokhang Temple, Ramoche Temple was built as well to place the statue brought by Princess Wencheng. Later, the statue was moved to Jokhang Temple as well for better protection.

The Sera Monastery (founded in 1419 by Jamchen Chojey of Sakya Yeshe, disciple of Tsongkhapa) is just located at the foot of Tatipu Hill,located 1.25 miles (2.01 km) north of Lhasa and about 5 km (3.1 mi) north of the Jokhang and it is about 6 km to the northeast direction of Potala Palace. It is famous for the Buddhism activities of” Monks Debate” which happens in afternoon from Monday to Saturday. This is one highlight attraction for travel in Lhasa Tibet.

Ganden Monastery, also known as Ganden Namgyeling, is one of the three great Gelug university monasteries (the other two are Sera Monastery and Drepung Monastery) of Tibet, China. It was constructed in 1409 near Lhasa by the founder of the Gelug order, Je Tsongkhapa Lozang-dragpa. Back in 1958, the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, took his last degree examination here. However, Ganden was destroyed after 1959, right now it has been partially rebuilt. Right now, there are several major constructions in the monastery, namely, the Lagyi Hall, Chitokang, Yangbagyain Hall, Xaze, Jamze Zhacang Buddhist Colleges and kamcuns and Myicuns. The Lagyi Hall is a 3-storey building. And it takes up 2,000 square meters and can contain 3,000 people at the same time.

In the middle of the 7th century, Songtsan Gampo and his team built Drak-Yerpa for his wife. Songstan Gampo (604-650) was the 33rd king of the Yarlung Dynasty. And he was the first emperor of a united Tibet. It was said that there were 108 caves at Drak Yerpa in the past but now only a dozen of them remain well. And the earliest among these caves is the cave of Songtsan Gampo. Many individual temples were built around the cave, then after several expansions, they were consolidated forming the well-known temple. This site is very peaceful and has stunning views. To walk and hike where Songtsan Gampo and the later Guru Renpoche and the later Padmasambhava or Guru Rinpoche (late 8th to early 9th century) have walked is really aspiring.

Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the world's highest railway goes 710 miles from Qinghai to Lhasa, on which the train starts from mainland China: Beijing, Xining, Chengdu, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing, making your trip to Tibet extremely unparalleled and attractive. It has become the most popular way to Tibet since the initial launch of China Tibet railway across the vantage point for viewing the plateau scenery.

Complex consisting of the Dalai Lamas' summer residence. The park consist of palace, nice pond areas and a small onsite zoo. Norbulingka which means ‘treasure garden’ in Tibetan language, is located in the west side of Lhasa, a short distance from the southwest of Potala Palace. It is marked as the world’s highest, largest and best-preserved ancient artificial historical and cultural garden.