The Roof of the World

Tibet is a Plateau region in Central Asia. It is today part of the People's Republic of China. Most of the Himalaya mountain range lies within Tibet. The capital is Lhasa and the capital of Tibet Autonomous Region. This land of Tibet, often referred to as the roof of the world.

Travelling in Tibet is an adventure involving high altitude. It remains still one of the most captivating but least developed parts in the world. With its very short history of tourism, the facilities for tourists although being upgraded are still at basic and limited scale.

The most important crop in Tibet is barley, and dough made from barley flour called tsampa, is the staple food of the Tibet. The pastoral area of Tibet is one of the five biggest in China, in which sheep, goat and yak are grazed. Farming crops are mainly high land barley, wheat, bean and rape seeds as well as some apples and walnuts.

Butter tea is very popular to drink and many Tibetans drink up to 100 cups a day. It is made of boiled brick tea and ghee. Ghee, which looks like butter, is a kind of dairy product of fat abstracted from cow milk or sheep milk.

There are small markets near some monasteries run by the local Tibetans. Here, you can buy souvenirs from Tibet as well as local handicrafts.

During the Tibetan New Year Festival, every family will place an auspicious wood container called Zusuqima on the Tibetan-style cupboard. In the container are qingke, Zanba and zholma, on top of which are ears of qingke wheat, wheat flowers and coloured cards on which the sun, the moon and stars are drawn. When the neighbours or the relatives come to pay a New Year call, the hosts will entertain them with the food in zhusiqima.

Yamdrok Yumtso is the Sacred Lake and is one of the three largest lakes of Tibet. It lies a hundred kilometres south west of Lhasa. The surface of the lake covers some six hundred square kilometres. The interior hills form islands that provide homes to flocks of wild ducks. Fish are plentiful and supply the locals.

The Potala Palace is a striking place The entire thirteen-story structure is constructed entirely of earth, stone, and timber. Many rooms in the Potala have enormous ceilings, often as much as three stories high. Wooden support beams are several feet in diameter and the mere act of raising them to the level they now occupy was clearly a remarkable feat.