Tibet has a unique culture of all his own. Tourist attractions include the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Jokhang Temple, and a number of Buddhist sacred places. Lhasa, the heart and soul of Tibet and an object of devout pilgrimage, is still a city of wonders.

The Potala Palace:
This architectural wonder is Lhasa' cardinal landmark for its imposing scale and unique style. It's located on the Red Hill, covers an area of 41 hectares. It was first set up in the 7th century. The present architectural group is devided into two parts the red Palace and the white Palacethe. The former is composed of the tombs of eight Dalai Lamas, the monks' assembly hall, numerous chapels and shrines, and libraries for Buddhist Scriptures, while the latter was for secular use which conmtains living quarters, offices, the seminary and the printing house. Palace is the largest museum of cultural relics in Tibet.

The Potala, a vast white and ochre fortress, dominates the Lhasa skyline. Once the seat of Tibetan government and the location of the tombs of previous Dalai Lamas, the Potala serves as a symbolic focus for Tibetan aspirations of self-government.

Jokhang Temple:
Jokhang Temple,built in 647A.D and located in the centre of old town Lhasa, it is one of the earliest constructions in Tibet ,its roof is covered gold,making much of a sight. Through several renovations it expanded into quite a large group of buildings and now covers an area of over 25,000 sq meters. A large number of precious.Walls along lobbies and inner temples are covered with legendary frescoes.The are Tang willow and and the llnite Stela of Tand andtibet in the front.

It is the spiritual center of Lhasa and stands in the heart of the old city.The medieval push and shove of crowds, the street performers, the stalls hawking everything from prayer flags to jewel-encrusted yak skulls, and the devout tapping their foreheads to the ground at every step is an exotic brew that few newcomers can resist.

Jokhang has 4 stories and its roofs are covered with gilded bronze tiles. It was built in the style of Tang dynasty structures and adopted the characteristics of Nepalese and Indian architecture.

There are numerous elaborately decorated shrines and rooms at Jokhang. There are also statues of King Songtsan Gambo together with his Chinese bride Princess Wen Cheng and Nepalese bride Princess Chizun in the side halls. In the center of the main hall, a gold statue of the young Buddha Sakyamuni, brought to Tibet by Princess Wen Cheng from Chang'an (present Xian) is enshrined.

Tashilunpo Monastry:
Residence of the Panchen Lamas , it is situated in Xigaze, a major city in the former Zang area. First built in 1447.It covers an area of about 300,000 square meters with a floor space of about 30,000 square meters.Painted in red and white, the buildings in the monastery stand closely together in terraced rows,offering a grand and majestic view.

There are many valuable and rare historical articles in the monastery,among them are found a lot of gold and jade signets, and imperial certificates bestowed by Emperors of the Min and Ding Dynasties as well as a seal of "Daitu" of the Yuan Dynasty scribed in the new Mongolian language reformed by Basba.They are of great value for the study of history.

Tashilhunpo Monastery has long been Panchen Lama's seat. It's Shigatse's foremost attraction. This gorgeous monastery can be detected miles away with its gold tops reflecting the sunshine. Tashilhunpo holds the giant Future Buddha statue- biggest Buddha statue in the world. The statue is 26.2m high, 11.5m shoulder width, with numerous jewelry inlaid in the body, unbelievably imposing.

Lake Yamzho Yumco:
Situated in the Lhoka area, the lake is 638 square kilometers in size ,making it the largest lake on the northern slope of the Himalayas, At 4,441 meters above sea level, it is known as the Holy Lake.

Kumbum is a magnificent artistic buildings built by Rapton Kunzang in 15th century."Kumbum",literally "a hundred thousand gods", means this pagoda has one thousand images of gods,either sculptural or painting form. There are altogether 108 Shrines. It stands nine storeys in height.

Mt. Everest (Though Qomolangma):
The highest peak of Tibet, also the highest in Himalayas and in the whole world, is Everest Peak, which is as high as 8,846.27 meters above sea level.It stood unconquered for centuries, man finally made his conquest in 1953 when a British expedition put two climbers to the summit. In 1975 Japan put its first woman to the summit. China succeeded twice from the north side. Mt. Qomolangma can be viewed from the road-side at Tingri.

Ramqe Temple:
Ramqe Temple,built in the middle of the 7th century,it is located at the northside of thd old town ,burnt and rebuilt in succession.there are frescoes and statues of sakyamuni,Mozulji,Maitreya in the temple.Sakyanumi'seight-year-old life-sized gilded statue is in the main hall,which was brought to Tibet by princess Chizhuen of Nepal.

Gedan Monastery:
Built in the 15 th century by the presinding of Chongkhapa,the metres east of Lhasa.The main construction is Raky hall and Ci\hiduokang ,the former can contain 3,000 sultras-chanting monks and the statues of Maitreya and Chongkhapa are made with elegana and refingd workmanskip.

Drepung Monastery:
Built in 1416 and located at the northwest suburb 5 kilomitres from Lhasa ,ti is the largest of the six big shamanist monasteries in China.It ocwhom,many became Buddhist talents.The 5 th Dalai lama lived here befor hemoved to Potala Palace .There are abundence of historic relieand Buddhist Scriptures in Drepung Monastery .

Sera Monastey:
Built in 1419 and located at the north part of Lhasa,was built by one eight of deciple of chongkhapa-Sakyayishi,who was erudite and knew Buddhist scriptures byheart .Twice,he went to Beijing to have an audience with the ver hardwares with autographic eulogy.He was granted the title of Buddhist King of Great Benevolence by Ming emperor Xuanzhong and was silk-pictured.

Barkhor Street:
It is a flourishing street around jokhang Temple.Along the steet are stores and groceries selling light industry products and handicrafts madt by locals or Nepal makers It is also the main route for prayerwheels rotaing.

Norbulingka:
Located at the west suburb of Lhasa, it was constructed during 1740s,and is 36hectres in area.The standing minister of Tibet by Qing Govermnent ordered the first palace to be built for the recreation of the 7 th Dalai Lama;later,the 8 th ,13 th ,14 th ,Dalai Lamas also built their own palaces here ,After 200 years extension and management,it has become one of typical Tibetan Palaces and gardens.The Dadenmingjiu Palace,which means the new palace,built by the 14 th Dalai Lama ,is the grandes ,with temples,palaces and villas composed together.Dalai Lamas,from the 7 th down ,all spent summers here,while doing business.Now,people get to norbulingka with tents and foods on holidays ,dancing and singing through day and night .

Among Tibet's other attractions are Shigatse, around 250km (155mi) south-west of Lhasa and the seat of the Panchen Lama (the reincarnation of whom the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government are currently disputing), and Mt Kailash, set in a beautiful range of peaks.