Lhasa

Lhasa – Brief Introduction

Lhasa is the capital city of Tibet Autonomous Region. It is an ancient city with a history of 1300 years. It is located at the southeastern part of Tibet Autonomous Region and on the northern bank of Lhasa River. It faces Nyingchi Prefecture on the east, Shigatse Prefecture on the west, Nagqu Prefecture on the north and Shannan Prefecture on the south. Lhasa covers an area of 31662 square kilometers with a maximum longitudinal distance is 202 kilometers and a maximum departure is 277 kilometers.

Lhasa means holy land in Tibetan. It has been the political, economic, cultural and religious center of Tibet for a long time. Early in the 7th century, Songtsen Gambo united Tibet and moved its capital to Lhasa. Tibet was peacefully liberated on May 23, 1951 and Lhasa stepped into a new era. Lhasa was approved as a prefecture-level city by State Council in 1960. It was listed as one of the first batch of 24 famous historic and cultural cities of China in 1982.

Lhasa – Climate

Lhasa City is one of the highest cities in the world. It enjoys a plateau temperate semiarid monsoon climate. It is praised as "city of sunshine" since its annual sunshine duration is more than 3000 hours. The annual precipitation here is 200-510 millimeters and mainly concentrated between June and September.

The highest temperature in Lhasa is 28? while the lowest temperature is -14 ?. There are 100-120 frost-free days a year. It is relatively dry in winter and spring. The air here is thin and there is a big temperature difference between day and night. The best season for Lhasa Tours is thought to be the months between March and October since it is relatively warm and humid.

Lhasa - Population

Lhasa has a population of about 0.55 million, among which there are about 0.27 million people love in the urban area. There are 31 nationalities live in Lhasa, and Tibetans take 87 percent of the total population.

Lhasa – Scenic Spots

Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple and Norbu Lingka are listed on the World Cultural Heritage Record.

There are many attractive attentions in Lhasa, including Drepung Monastery, Sera Monastery, Ramoche Monastery, Tombs of Tibetan Kings, Tsurphu Monastery, Tibet Museum, Yaowang Hill.

Generally, Potala Palace, Barkhor Street, Jokhang Temple, Sera Monastery, Drepung Monastery and Lhasa River would be the must-go sites for tourists. But for Tibetan, Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Street are the two must-go sites for tourists since they are the birthplace of Lhasa and tourists could experience the ancient culture of Lhasa here.