2012 Lhasa Shoton Festival was Solemnly Opened on August 17th

The 19th China Lhasa Shoton Festival was solemnly opened at Potala Palace Square on the night of August 17th, 2012. "Happy Lhasa, Cultural Shoton" is the theme of the Shoton Festival 2012.

Lhasa is an ancient city which integrated the tradition and modern harmoniously. Shoton Festival is a traditional festival of Lhasa, which could be dated back to the middle 11th century. It was fistly originated from Drepung Monastery, an important monastery of Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Generally, it would be celebrated in the end of June or July according to the Tibetan calendar.

Shoton Festival is also noted as Yoghourt Festival since Shoton means eating yoghourt in Tibetan. Hilarious Tibetan opera performance, solemn Buddha Exhibition play important role in the celebration of Shoton Festival. Hence, Shoton Festival is also called Tibetan Opera Festival and Buddha Exhibition Festival.

Shoton Festival was firstly held by Lhasa Government in 1994. It has developed into a grand meeting collected the traditional Buddha exhibition ceremony, artistic performance, sports competition, investment inviting, trade negotiation, handicrafts promotion, and leisure tourism from an unalloyed religious festival. Shoton Festival played great role in the promotion and development of the Tibet tourism several since many years ago.

Every year, there is always a large quantity of tourists both at home and abroad would rush to Lhasa to enjoy the special atmosphere of Shoton Festival. Tourists making a Tibet tour in August during the celebration of Shoton Festival could witness the magnificent and solemn Buddha exhibition ceremony in Drepung Monastery and enjoy the hilarious Tibetan opera performance in Norbu Lingka.

It should be noted that the tourism resources in Tibet are quite in short supply during the celebration of Shoton Festival for a large number of tourists in Lhasa. The scenic spots in Lhasa are always crowded by tourists. Tourists are highly advised to book the entrance tickets of the most popular spots, such as Potala Palace in advance.