Lhasa Tibet

This is Day 23 of my China Trip.  Am I tired?  Not at all.  Every day is different - seeing different landscapes, buildings, food, streets, people, etc.

My destination today is Lhasa, Tibet.  It's a place I have been trying to see for many years.  However, if you are not part of a tour it's very difficult to get a permit to enter Tibet, sometimes referred by its official name as the Tibet Autonomous Region.  In Chinese it's referred to as Xizang or Western Tibet.  

Tibet in Chinese and Tibetan languages

My flight from Lijiang took me to Kunming (a much bigger city), than to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.  Before I boarded my flight in Lijiang I was asked 3 times (by different personnels at the airport) to show my permit to enter Tibet.  That's how tightly the Chinese government is controlling entry to the province.  Luckily, Eileen at Asia Odyssey Travel (AOT), seamlessly arranged this for me and delivered the permit to my hotel in Lijiang.

At the Kunming hotel I was hungry.  As I walked to my gate at the beautiful modern airport I did not come across any restaurants.  I had to go through many buildings, including taking an inter-terminal train, to get to the right gate.  This shows how tightly controlled entry to Tibet is.  I found a 7-Eleven near the gate.  Knowing how 7-Elevens in Asia are different from those in the US, I found some hot food at a very reasonable price.  Even though the flight from Kunming to Lhasa was only two and a half hours, the airline provided us with box snacks.  

I was picked up at the Lhasa airport by one of the drivers for the local travel agency.  I am not sure if it's an independent tour company but it's definitely affiliated with AOT.  It seems Tibet is a popular place for many foreign tourists.  It took about an hour to drive to the city, where we were checked into the Lagri Snow Dragon Manor Resort.  I heard later from our guide that this is the only 4-star hotel in Lhasa.

Hot and Cold Water Dispenser at the airport

Big Beautiful Airport

Amenities and advice at the hotel

Beautiful Lagari Hotel

Beautiful scenery around the hotel at dusk

What is unique about the hotel is it has an oxygen machine and humidifier in the room.  I suppose someone coming directly from a lower elevation may have trouble with the lower oxygen level in Lhasa at  3,656m or 11,990ft.  

Oxygen machine in the hotel room

Although we spent 6 full days in Tibet, only 2 days were spent in Lhasa.  Four days were spent driving to and back from Everest Base Camp (EBC).  However, we had two very busy days in Lhasa.  I will save the two most important architectural sites to the next section:  Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple.

One of the things we did was visiting the Tibetan Cultural Center, where we learned about Tibetan culture and some of the handicrafts.  We learned how to make incense and block printing.

Tibetan Incense

Ingredients for making the incense

Doing Block Printing

A traditional Tibetan image from block printing

We also visited the Sera Monastery, where monks debate every afternoon.

Businesses outside the Monastery

Entrance to the Monastery

Monks walking through the courtyard 

Entrance to inner section 

Tibetan writing.  Don't know what it means

Monks Debating

Video of Monks Debating

On one of the evenings we were asked if we wanted to go to a Tibetan outdoor show.  I had no idea what it was but I assumed it is one of those shows that play out on a grand scale outdoors.  If you saw the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics you will have an idea what it is like.  The director behind those shows was Zhang Yimou.  Since then it has spawned many similar shows designed or associated with him.  I saw one of those shows in Xian about 10 years ago.  Zhang Yimou is a legendary figure in China.

A driver picked me up at the hotel plus two other guests from Taiwan.  There were many audiences at the show and the driver reminded us where he was parked because it'd have been chaotic to try to find his car in such a large crowd.  Here is a link to the show:  https://www.tibetdiscovery.com/what-to-see/princess-wencheng-drama/

Here is an excerpt about the show:   it truly presents the Chinese and Tibetan history and culture through the story that Princess Wencheng of Tang Dynasty married Tubo King Songtsen Gambo 1,300 year ago.

Here are some pictures and a video of the show.

It was truly a spectacular show with the Himalayas mountains as a backdrop to the show.  The show is outdoors and it did get quite cold.  Luckily I brought my down jacket with me and it felt okay.

In my next post I will write about the Potala Palace and the Jokhang Temple - two very important buildings and institutions for the Tibetan people.

Lijiang

Lijiang is one of those cities you hear people talk about but don't know why.  I am glad this is part of our Yunnan itinerary because supposedly it's another one of those beautiful places tucked into the foothills of the Himalayas.

Our driver and Sophia came to meet us after breakfast at the Holiday Inn in Shangri-la.  The plan is for the driver take the four of us to Lijiang, without Sophia.  We have another guide Qing, waiting for us at the Tiger Leaping Gorge, halfway to Lijiang.  We drove in a southeasterly direction, over beautiful mountain villages and sweeping views of the river.

Views of mountain villages

Respect for Nature

Eventually we arrived at an area where there are many tourists waiting around.  Our new guide Qing was there to meet us and started to taking us down to the river.  However, we haven't had lunch yet.  So the four of us went to a nearby local restaurant and had a family-style lunch.  It was very good and inexpensive.  It came up to about $8 a person.  No tax.  No tips.  The service was great.  The restaurant was clean.  This is another part of China that I have seen changed (for the better) from the last time I visited.  

There are several viewpoints where you can see the river.  Across the river is another bridge and there is the symbol of this gorge:  The Leaping Tiger.  This side of the river is part of Lijiang.  On the other side is part of Shangri-la.  This area is inhabited mostly by the indigenous Nakhi people.  The river is called the Jinsha river, a primary tributary to the Yangtze River.  The gorge is not navigable but the area attracts adventurous hikers.

Many visitors to the Gorge

A view from high up

A bridge on the other side

Rock in the middle of the gorge

Leaping Tiger

View of lower part of the river

On the way to the town of Lijiang we stopped by the Black Dragon Pond Park.  It is a beautiful park with the lake as the center of attraction.

Dragon Pond Park

We checked into the beautiful Wang Fu Hotel in Old Town Lijiang.  After that we took a walk in the UNESCO World Heritage Old Town.  It is a beautiful town with its Ming and Qing dynasty era architecture.  Personally, I think this is the most beautiful old town of all the ones I have visited.  So beautiful that it is almost too commercial.

Plaque commemorating Lijian as a UNESCO World Heritage site

Entrance to the beautiful Wang Fu Hotel

Building reflecting Old Architecture

One of the shops

Near the Town Square

The canal enhances the beauty of the town

A typical shop

Lanterns add to the beauty

Group Dancing in the Square

Another beautiful old architecture building 

The highlight of the visit to Lijiang is going up to the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.  Locally, it's known as the Yu (Jade) Long (Dragon) Snow Mountain.  To get us ready for the walk up the mountain our guide bought us oxygen canisters.  These are use for temporary relief for high altitude.  They can cost anywhere between 10 to 20 yuan, depending on where you buy it.  Many people were carrying these canisters in case they get altitude sickness.

As always there was a long line to take the shuttle buses to where we start taking the cable car up the mountain.  Then there are more steps to walk up to the top.

View of mountain from below

Long line to take the cable car

Cable Car

Riding up into the clouds

Big crowd part way

More Climbing to do

Even more climbing

A group picture at 4,680m or 15,354ft

Even at this height we are not at the top.  The range of mountains peak at 5,596m or 18,360ft.  Yet it was a remarkable feat for many people to be able to climb this high.  Of course, most people were carrying oxygen canisters in case you start to feel dizzy.

Descending down the mountain

What impresses me most about these public places is the cleanliness.  This wasn't always true during my past visits to China.  Today the locals are more civic-minded.  There were park workers everywhere, keeping things orderly.  There are still some visitors trying to sneak into a queue but mostly people were well-behaved.  Two young ladies tried to sneak in front of us to take pictures at the sign.  They were yelled at by a park worker and told to get in line.  This is a remarkable change in the public attitude towards behaving properly in public.

After an energetic morning we were ready for a special hot-pot lunch arranged by Asia Odyssey Travel. On the way there we met a group of schoolchildren on a field trip.

Happy Schoolchildren

A group picture

Restaurant for hot pot

Hot pot lunch

Our final stop in Lijiang is the Baisha Village.  By then we were quite tired and have seen many old towns.  However, we still appreciate our guide taking us to this part of Lijiang.

Liuli Temple

The Old Street

Vendor selling food on the street

A Food Court

Decorated water melons

After two days in Lijiang we were exhausted.  It is truly a beautiful city.  It is the last stop in our tour of Yunnan.  Back in the hotel I was ready to do my laundry again, to get ready for the next part of my trip in Tibet.  The next day our group will split up and each going his/her own way.  Because the hotel is inside the Ancient Town, no vehicles can drive in.  In the morning I had to wait at the street corner about a quarter mile away for the driver to take me to the airport.

That evening I got a surprise call from the front desk of the hotel.  They said I have a visitor.  I went to the lobby and there, a young lady introduced herself as Eileen.  What a surprise!  I have been communicating with Eileen for the past 8 months.  I never heard her voice nor seen her face.  I always wonder if she was just a chatbot.  She put together this complicated China and Taiwan 40-day itinerary for me.  She had driven 5 hours with a friend from Kunming to meet me and give me a gift.  What a lovely gesture!  Thank you very much Eileen!  You are the best!

Eileen and I in the lobby of the Wang Fu Hotel