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Best Places to Take Picture of Potala Palace Lhasa

Sunday, August 9th, 2020
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Plan your Lhasa tour? Visiting Potala Palace is one of your highlights in your Lhasa trip. Many visitors would like to take some photos of Potala Palace bringing their memory back home. There are many places to view and photograph Potala Palace sitting on a hill in the heart of Lhasa city.

You may walk around Potala Palace in a clockwise direction, a religion kora and take some pictures of Potala Palace from different angles and spots. Wandering on the path circling Potala Palace takes you approxi. 40 minutes.

There two best places to have an overview of Potala Palace for pictures taking – the Medicine King Hill and Palubuk Rock Temple both to the southwest of the palace. It takes you 2 yuan to take photos on the viewing platform on the hill. The entrance to Palubuk Temple costs you 20 yuan.

Shooting Potala Palace on the Medicine King Hill
This is the entrance gate leading up to the sightseeing platform on the Medicine King Hill to the southwest of Potala Palace, just a few minutes’s walk from the west gate of the palace. 

I zoom in and have a clear and bigger picture of Potala Palace standing on a hill slope, which is mainly composed of two parts – the White Palace and the Red Palace. The White Palace is the former residence of the Dalai Lama. The Red Palace accommodates the Spirit Pagodas.

I zoom in and have a clear and bigger picture of Potala Palace.

I zoom in and have a clear and bigger picture of Potala Palace from the Medicine King Hill

 
I zoom out and have a distant view of Potala Palace with its square to its south.

I zoom out and have a distant view of Potala Palace with its square to the south.

 
Shooting Potala Palace from Palubuk Temple
To the southwest of the palace, walking a road rimming the west foot of the Medicine King Hill, soon you will see a temple standing the hilllside. This is the Palubuk temple, a kind of temple built on the rock in the hill.

Palubuk Temple was built during the King Songtsan Gampo’s Time, and has a long history over 1200 years. It is said that the statues of Shakyamuni and his disciples were carved naturally from the rcok in the hill.  The King Songtsan Gampo and his two sons all had lived in this temple.

Now we are inside the courtard of the temple and follow the arrow, walk on the steps leading to the different storeys of the temple.
  

follow the arrow, walk the steps leading to the different storeys of the temple.

 
Have a clear and overall picture of Potala Palace from the top floor of the temple.

Have a clear and overall picture of Potala Palace from the top floor of the temple

 
Shooting Potala Palace from its different sides
  
Shooting Potala Palace from its southeast side. 

Shooting Potala Palace from its southeast side.

Shooting Potala Palace from its southwest side.

Shooting Potala Palace from its southwest side.

 
Shooting from the middle at its south 

Shooting from the middle at its south

 
Doves and the palace

oves and the palace

Tip : Hassle-free Lhasa  Guided Tours

06611

If you don’t want to go the do-it-yourself route and prefer the hassle-free escorted tours,  here are some options for Lhasa guided tours:

4 Days Lhasa City Tour  Starting RMB 2500
5 Days Lhasa Namtso Lake Tour  Starting RMB 3390 p/p
6 Days Lhasa Gyantse Shigatse Tour  Starting RMB 3950 p/p
8 Days Lhasa Mt.Everest Kathmandu Tour  Starting RMB 5540 p/p
9 Days Lhasa Gyantse Shigatse Everest Namtso Group Tour  Starting RMB 6110 p/p
8 Days Lhasa Gyantse Shigatse Mt.Everest Tour  Starting RMB 5230 p/p

Further Readings

Top 10 Attractions in Lhasa
Best time to Visit Lhasa
Where to Stay in Lhasa
Lhasa Trip
Lhasa Gonggar Airport
Lhasa Railway Station
Potala Palace Lhasa
Xian Lhasa Flight
Sera Monastery
Lhasa Beijing Road
Drak Yerpa Monastery
Lhasa Pilgrim Circuits

Any questions, just drop  a line.

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Top 10 Attractions in Lhasa, Top 10 Things to Do in Lhasa

Saturday, May 5th, 2018

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There are so many great places to see in and around Lhasa that it’s important to check out the most popular attractions for your short Lhasa Tour.

It’s always good to have some advice and recommendations from friends who have visited Lhasa.

The top 10 Lhasa attractions listed below in order of popularity are based on the visitors in latest available numbers. If you have more time after visiting these big attractions,  you can still have many more things to do during your stay in Lhasa.

Top #01:  Potala Palace
The Potala Palace is located in the middle of Lhasa city. The name of the palace was taken from Mount Potala, the living place of the Goddess of Mercy. The palace was first built by King Songtsen Gampo in 637 for the purpose of greeting his bride Princess Wen Cheng of the Tang Dynasty in China.

During the reign of The Fifth Dalai Lama, the rebuilding of Potala Palace was started in 1645. Later the Dalai Lama and his government moved into Potala Palace in 1649. Today the Potala Palace has been turned into a museum. The Potala Palace was listed to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994.

The palace is 400 metres wide from east to west and 350 metres from north to south. It has the sloping stone walls with average 3 meters thick, and 5 meters thick at the base. There are 13 stories in the palace buildings, which accommodate more than 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines and about 200,000 statues.

Check out the link: Best Places to Take Picture of Potala Palace Lhasa

Lhasa Potala Palace

Top #02: Jokhang Temple
The Jokhang Temple is located within the Barkhor Street in the downtown of Lhasa city. The temple was first constructed during the reign of king Songsten Gampo. It was founded to please Bhrikuti – the Nepalese princess.

It was recorded that many Nepalese artists came to build the temple.For most Tibetans Jokhang Monastery is the most holy and important temple in Tibet.


Jokhang Temple

Now Jokhang Temple was under the control of the Gelug school.In 2000, Jokhang Temple was added to the list as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site with the Potala Palace, a spiritual centre of Lhasa.

Top #3: Norbulingka
Norbulingka is a park-style park the west of Lhasa city. Its construction was started in 1755. It was used as a summer resort as well as administrative centre and religious centre for the successive Dalai Lamas from the 1780s till the 14th Dalai Lama’s self-exile in 1959.


Norbulingka

In 2001, Norbulingka is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.It is a unique showcase of Tibetan palace architecture. Norbulingka park is regarded the first and best park in Tibet. Summer and autumn are at its best, becoming hubs of entertainment with dancing, singing, music and festivities.

Top #4: Barkhor Street 
Barkhor Street is a historical and religious street surrounding Jokhang Temple and located in the downtown area of Lhasa. Barkhor Street is the most important and popular devotional kora(circuit), actually a pilgrim circumambulation.

 

Barkhor Street

 Everyday local Tibetans coming all part of Tibet to pray and walk around the Jokhang Temple.Most of them come from the remote villages or mountainous areas. They come here once a year.

Top #5: Sera Monastery
Sera Monastery is one of the three most important Gelukpa temple. It is located 2km north of Lhasa. The other two Gelupa temples are Ganden Monastery and Drepung Monastery.”Sera” literally means wild rose in bloom, telling the fact that the temple was built on the hill covered with wild roses.Now there are over 3,000 monks living in Sera.

Sera Monastery

Sera is most well known for the lamas in the temple engaged in debating activity each afternoon starting from 3:000pm. The Sera Monastery is subject to the Gelugpa or Yellow Hat Sect, a branch of Tibetan Buddhism, established by Tsong Khapa.

Top #6: Drepung Monastery
Drepung Monastery is located at the foot of Mount Gephel, 5km northwest of Lhasa. It is one of the three Gelukpa temples in Lhasa with the other two being Ganden Monastery and the Sera Monastery. Drepung Temple is the largest of all Tibetan monasteries.

Drepung Monastery

At its peak, Drepung Temple was the largest temple in the world with over 10,000 monks. The tombs of the Dalai Lamas from second to fifth are buried in Drepung Monastery.

From 1645, when the Fifth Dalai Lama founded the Potala Palace as Tibet’s political and spiritual center, the bodies of later Dalai Lamas were entombed here instead.

Top #7: Tibet Museum 
Tibet Museum is the provincial museum of the Tibet Autonomous Region. It is located in the west of the city of Lhasa, not far from Norbulingka and Lhasa Hotel.Its construction was completed on October 5, 1999. Tibet Museum is the first modern museum in the Tibet Autonomous Region. It has a huge collection relative to the cultural history of Tibet.


Tibet Museum

With an area of more than 53,959 square meters, Tibet Museum is mainly in Tibet style such as Tibetan doors, beam-decoration, patterns and so on, aimed at creating the atmosphere of authentic Tibetan art.

Top #8: Namtso Lake
Namtso Lake is located at the sea level of over 4000 meters with a surface area of 1,920 square kilometres.

Namtso Lake


The salt lake is the kargest lake in Tibet.Namtso Lake boasts of fice islands of different sizes. The weather at Namtso Lake is prone to abrupt sudden change. Snowstorms are very common in this region.

Top #09: Yangbajing
Yangbajing is a town about 90km north-west of Lhasa city. The town is located in a green valley just south of the Nyainqêntanglha Mountains.This area is famous for the Yangbajing hot springs, which have been used to generate much of the electricity for the city of Lhasa. There is a thermoelectric power plant on the edge of the Yangbajing hot springs area.

The thermoelectric power plant was founded in 1977. It is the first plant for development of geothermal power not only in Tibet but in the whole China.The Yangbajing hot springs field is at the sea level of 4290–4500 meters. It is the highest altitude plant of hot springs in China.  The water feels at 30 degrees, which is above the boiling point at that sea-level.

Yangbajing

Yangbajing

Top #10: Ramoche Temple
Ramoche Temple is a buddhist monastery, regarded as an important temple just after Jokhang Temple in Lhasa. It is located to east of the Potala Palace and north of the Jokhang Temple.

It is often called “Minor Jokhang Temple”.As the sister temple to the Jokhang Temple,  Ramoche temple was completed about the same time as Jokhang Temple.

Ramoche Temple


Tip : Hassle-free Lhasa  Guided Tours

06611If you don’t want to go the do-it-yourself route and prefer the hassle-free escorted tours,  here are some options for Lhasa guided tours:

4 Days Lhasa City Tour  Starting RMB 2500
5 Days Lhasa Namtso Lake Tour  Starting RMB 3390 p/p
6 Days Lhasa Gyantse Shigatse Tour  Starting RMB 3950 p/p
8 Days Lhasa Mt.Everest Kathmandu Tour  Starting RMB 5540 p/p
9 Days Lhasa Gyantse Shigatse Everest Namtso Group Tour  Starting RMB 6110 p/p
8 Days Lhasa Gyantse Shigatse Mt.Everest Tour  Starting RMB 5230 p/p

Further Readings

Any questions, just drop  a line.

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Posted in China Travel, Lhasa Travel, Lhasa Travel tips | 2 Comments »

Lhasa Railway Station Transportation, Taxi, Public Bus

Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

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Plan your Lhasa tour? Lhasa Railway Station is located in the southwest of Lhasa city, about 20km from Potala Palace, 1km south of Lhasa River across Liuwu Bridge.
 
Basic information on Lhasa Railway Station
Enquiry Phone Number: 0891 6756907
Add: Liuqu District of Lhasa City
The official opening; July, 2006
Sea level: 3641m
The architectural style: a combination of Tibetan traditional and modern elements
The main colors of the station: the traditional Tibetan white and red
The passengers volumn: 2700 per day
The heating facilities: Environmentally-friendly solar power
 

Exterior of Lhasa Railway Station

 

Both the entrance and exit at Lhasa Railway Station

Lhasa Train Routes
Beijing – Lhasa 4064 km 44.34 hours
Chengdu – Lhasa 3360 km 43.11 hours
Chongqing – Lhasa 3654 km 44.35 hours
Lanzhou – Lhasa 2189 km 27.37 hours
Xining – Lhasa 1880 km 25.36 hours
Shanghai – Lhasa 4374 km 48.43 hours
Guangzhou – Lhasa 4980 km 55.38 hours
 
 
Taxis at Lhasa Railway Station
If you arrive at Lhasa by train, and would like to take a cab to your downtown hotel in Lhasa, basically it is very convenient for you to hail a taxi in front of the Lhasa train terminal station. Most of the taxis are parking by the main road in front of the Lhasa Railway Station.
 
Lhasa Taxi Fares
CNY 10 just for getting in for 5km
CNY 2 for each additional 1km
Minnight 0:00 – 07:00am 
CNY 10 for getting in for 5km
CNY 2.2 for each additional 1km
No tipping.
Normally the train station to Lhasa downtiwn drive costs you between CNY20 – CNY30 prt your specific hotel location in Lhasa.
 

Taxis at Lhasa Railway Station

 
  

Lhasa taxi at Lhasa Train Station

 
Public Buses at Lhasa Train Station
If you want to experience a public bus ride from Lhasa Railway Station to your downtown hotel, you walk out of the train station and turn right, then walk about 100 meter, you will see a large public bus terminal with plentiful buses running between Lhasa Railway Station and numerous stops in the downtown of Lhasa.
 
Major public buses direcly from Lhasa Train Station to the downtown of Lhasa:
Public Bus 1
Public Bus 6
Public Bus 13
Public Bus 14
 

Public Bus Terminal at Lhasa Railway Station

 
 

Public Bus 1 at Lhasa Railway Station

 
Liuwu Long-distance Bus Station at Lhasa Railway Station
Liuwu Long-distance Bus Station is comparatively new. It is just next to Lhasa Train Station on your left hand if you come out of Lhasa Railway Station.
 
Enquiry Phone Number:
0891)6947217 0891-6947216  0891-6947204
 
Major Bus routes with bus fares
Lhaa – Changdu CNY282
Lhasa – Kathmandu CNY522
Lhasa – Shangri-la CNY552
Lhasa – Yadong CNY152
Lhasa – Zhangmu CNY 262
Lhasa – Ali CMY 750

Liuwu Long-distance Bus Station

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