CA0012: Pilgrims around the Jokhang Temple. Lhasa. Every day thousands of Tibetans make the kora in Jokhabg temple. For Tibetans, to walk the kora is turning in the direction of clockwise sacred places or buildings by either a monastery or a lake or a mountain.
CA026: Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims walk around a sacred pole decorated with prayer flags in the square of the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, Tibet's capital and holy city of Lamaism. Since mid-November, believers Tibetans in Tibet Autonomous Region and in adjoining provinicias Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan make the pilgrimage from winter to Lhasa, Shigatse and Tsedang.
CA0045: Pilgrims around the Jokhang Temple. Lhasa. Every day thousands of Tibetans pray and sing prayers doing what they call the kora around the temple Jokhabg. Jokhang Temple is the largest temple of Tibetan Buddhism in Lhasa. It is located about a mile of the Potala Palace immersed in the busiest district of the city. No doubt impressed by the path leading to the Temple. In the main entrance there is a place where you usually set a market where you can buy all kinds of souvenirs, clothing and art from the region, in fact is full of shops that refer to Tibetan art.

CA0062: Inside the Jokhang Temple. Jokhang Temple is the most important Tibetan Buddhist and therefore welcomes thousands of pilgrims daily arrivals from all corners of Tibet. Its main facade overlooking a large square which huddle a great number of people falling down and performing prayers with great devotion. Precisely because of this human tide goes daily to the temple, the interest is divided not only to contemplate the architecture and decor of the place, but also because it provides a faithful Tibetans themselves have come from the borders of Tibet or Himalaya: different ethnic groups, with different features in their faces, their clothes, etc..

 

 

CA0101: Virudhaka sculpture inside the Jokhang Temple. Virudhaka, guardian of the South is the Lord of the Kumbhandas, faced dwarf buffalo. He is the protector of the Buddha Ratnasambhava, born of a jewel.

CA0151: Views from the Jokhang temple Barkhor Square and the Potala Palace in the background. In this square, at each step are touting tourist trinkets and religious objects, prayer flags, engraved with scriptures, turquoise jewelry, boots, Tibetan, Nepalese biscuits, yak BUTTER juniper and incense, and lots of shirts and yaks Tibet. You have to haggle. Tibetan Travelers lleguan far, many of them pilgrims, a Foreign captivate. The Khamba arrived from the east are distinguished by their hair braided wire and ornamented swords or daggers, Golok nomads of northeastern tattered sheepskin dress and women exhibit braided headdresses decorated and coral.
CA0155: Views from the Jokhang temple Barkhor Square and the Potala Palace in the background. Near the sanctuary of Jokhang, the bustling Barkhor and the surrounding streets will permeate the atmosphere of the ancient Tibetan city of Lhasa. It is an area full of contrasts: on one hand, is one of the holiest areas of Tibet and is flooded with pilgrims, monks, nuns and temples. On the other, is the hub of trade in Lhasa. The street traders, hawkers and businessmen move around the Barkhor area. Today, this area is not simply part of a pilgrimage circuit, but also the liveliest part of town. Here you can buy the most curious things: Tibetan knives, Tibetan robes and hats, tapestries, religious musical instruments, gold and silver ... The offer is unlimited magical memories.
CA0200: Monks from the temple of Sera. Lhasa. The Sera Monastery is situated at the foot of the hill Tatipi in the northern suburb of Lhasa. It is one of the three most famous monasteries of the city, along with Deprung and Ganden, and the monks who live here belong to a sect of Tibetan Buddhism known as "Yellow Hat", founded by Tsong Khapa. Jamchen Chojey, a disciple of Tsong Khapa, undertook to build the monastery in 1419 during the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). The monastery was named Sera, in Tibetan language means "Wild Rose", because the hills are covered with blooming roses when the monastery was built. The Sera Monastery is magnificent and covers an area of ??114,946 meters square. Its main buildings are the hall Coqen (school) and Kamcum (bedrooms). Writes performed using gold powder, fine statues, scented cloth and unparalleled murals can be found in their classrooms. Lively debates on Buddhist doctrines are held here, using the distinctive style of other famous monasteries existing in the city.
CA0220: Monks from the temple of Sera. Lhasa. The monks of Sera Mey Monastery, who came expressly from India, offering the public the songs and music that accompany the traditional rituals in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries. The intensity and depth of these songs, which to our Western ears come to us as an extraordinary manifestation, is instead a daily habit in the day every day inside these monasteries. Prayers first thing in the morning, prayers of the sunsets, but also songs directed at various aspects of the manifestation of the Buddha, compassion and universal love, wisdom, purification, energy, healing and petitions Long life, clarity of thought, among many other prayers made with recitations of sacred words and mantras. Also the special way it is used the voice, instrument of pure manifestation, makes this concert a unique concert.
CA0294: Monks from the temple of Sera. Lhasa. In a suburb located about three miles north of the capital of Tibet (Lhasa), on the slopes of the hill that bears the name of Tatipu, we find the magnificent monastery of Sera and Drepung near the Ganden are three of most famous religious sites in the city. The monastery is dedicated to the cult Gelupta (the order in the yellow hat), a branch of Tibetan Buddhism founded by Tsong Khapa. SagyaYexei would be one of the disciples of Tsong Khapa, who ordered the building of the monastery back in 1419, with the passage of time will become one of the six major monasteries of Tibetan Buddhism l sect devoted to Gelupta. But undoubtedly the main attraction are the famous Sera exoteric discussions (discussions that deal with different aspects of Buddhist doctrine) that take place between the monks inhabiting the monastery. Such debates take place outdoors under the watchful gaze of an audience-tourists-layman carefully observing the gestures, pushing and vehemence with which the monks defend and argue their views. These discussions take place from Monday to Friday and begin at 3 pm with an approximate duration of an hour and a half. It is important to assist them with the utmost respect in order not to interfere in the discussions of the monks ....
CA0326: A monk on the outside of the temple of Sera. Lhasa. The Sera Monastery is one of the three major monasteries of Gelug sect in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, suoreste China. Here the young monks need to study all kinds of Buddhist books every day.
CA0345: out of the temple monks of Sera after fitting in the form of debate and go to their rooms. The Sera Monastery in Lhasa, is known for the debates between monks. The debate takes place in a courtyard where there should be between 100 and 200 monks.
CA0414: Potala Palace. Lhasa. The Potala Palace is composed of the White Palace, where he lived the Dalai Lama, located on the east, the Red House, in the central part, for the recitation of the sutras, the room where the remains of successive Dalai Lama, and the bonzes white bedroom, located on the west. Before the Red Palace, there is a white wall on which the major Buddhist festival extends a huge tapestry portrait of Buddha. This monumental architectural complex was built in stages taking advantage of the terrain with consummate skill. The result was an imposing and grandiose whose harmonious integration with the environment gives a very high artistic value. In the Red Palace, which is the main part of the Potala Palace, there are several stupas where the remains of the Dalai Lamas and various Buddhist types of rooms. The best known and best-built pagoda is the Fifth Dalai Lama. From 15 meters, is divided into three parts: a square base of the tower and cupola. The remains of the Fifth Dalai Lama are preserved with oil and safflower oil in a jar. The body of the pagoda is covered with 3724 kilos of gold leaf and decorated with over 15,000 diamonds, rubies, emeralds, jade, agate and other gemstones. At the base of the pagoda are exhibited various objects used in religious ceremonies, including musical instruments and chalices. The Hall of the West, the largest in the Red Palace is dedicated to the memory of the Fifth Dalai Lama. Its 48 large wooden columns are over 6 feet tall. The structure of the White Palace stands on arches, very common system between the Han Chinese ethnic majority. In it there are many Buddha sculptures, as well as lions, elephants and other animals, all carved in wood.
CA0426: Potala Palace. Lhasa. Unesco included the Potala Palace World Heritage status in 1994 and later as a supplement, the Jokhang Temple and Norbu Lingka Palace. In the reconstruction and expansion of the palace in the 17th century made famous painters participated from different regions of Tibet. These brilliant artists decorated with thousands of elegant and beautiful paintings the walls of rooms, hallways, corridors and galleries. The themes of these murals is very rich, encompassing stories about figures of antiquity, stories from the sutras, and specimens of architecture, folk customs, sports and other recreational activities. These works are an artistic treasure. The Potala Palace is also preserved about 10,000 objects of great value. In addition to countless rolls of paintings, sculptures in stone and wood, clay figurines and other art objects, abundant cultural relics, including sutras written on sheets of Pattra, Tibetan rugs, banners with sutras, porcelain and jade, samples as well as various traditional crafts. All this not only has great artistic value, but a translation of the bonds that united the Tibetan and other ethnic groups have the country for more than a thousand years, as well as exchanges they had with them.
CA0443: Exterior of the Norbulingka or the Summer Palace. In the vicinity of Lhasa Hotel, a little away from the crowded vitality of Old Town is Lhasa Norbulingka, the Old Summer Palace of the Dalai Lama, now a park for the enjoyment of the people. This original series of pavilions and gardens, was initiated by the Seventh Dalai Lama, in 1754, but was not used as the residence of the Grand Lamas until the early twentieth century. Although the halls are filled with art objects and thangka paintings. The palace was used as a traditional summer residence of successive Dalai Lamas since 1780 until the occupation by the People's Republic of China.
CA0472: Inside the Norbulingka or the Summer Palace. Norbulingka, which means "treasure park" in Tibetan, is located in the western suburb of Lhasa City, the Kyichu river bank, about a kilometer (about 0.6 miles) southwest of Potala Palace. The garden has an area of ??360,000 square meters (about 430 000 square meters), with 374 rooms inside. It is the largest garden made by the man in the Tibet Autonomous Region. The chronicles relate that construction began in the 1740s on a wilderness with wild animals, weeds and bushes, but when the Seventh Dalai Lama visited the site liked it, and consequently built a palace. After a series of expansions and renovations, with the improvement in the appearance more pavilions were built, gardens and forests. Now it has become a park open to the public. It consists of several complex of palaces as Potrang Kelsang, Potrang Tsokyil, Golden Linka and Takten Potrang Migyur. Each palace complex is divided into three sections: the palace, the section in the front of the palaces and forests. In mid-March each year, the Dalai Lama moved here from the Potala Palace, and stays until the end of October. Therefore, to be called the Norbulingka Summer Palace and the Potala Palace, the Winter Palace.
CA0491: Norbulingka Palace Gardens and Summer Palace. The garden has an area of ??360,000 square meters (about 430 000 square meters), with 374 rooms inside. It is the largest garden made by the man in the Tibet Autonomous Region. I gardens are popular places to snack and provide a beautiful setting for theater, dance and festivals, particularly the Sho Dun, or Yogurt Festival, held in early August, with families camping on the land for several days, surrounded temporary stalls with colorful tapestries and paintings made for enjoying the summer heat.
CA0571: A young monk walks through the streets of Lhasa. Tibetan monks live exclusively in monasteries, where they have everything they need to survive, from crops to livestock, kitchens, workshops, etc.. Some cities seem authentic monasteries, as can live in them up to 10,000 monks. Formerly they lived under an iron discipline, at the age of eight years was sent children to become monks to learn not only the writings of Buddha and knowledge but also on agriculture, geography, history and medicinal plants. At a certain level of knowledge became Lamas or teachers left the monastery to found a family. Most of the monks currently devoted to the care and maintenance of the palaces and monasteries, as well as attending religious services. There is a hierarchy in which there are different degrees of monks and lamas, the Dalai Lama is to them the reincarnation of the first Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama). The Dalai Lama's succession is a process which involved a group of wise men and astrologers to decide who is the person in which Buddha is reincarnated once it leaves the physical body, ie the death of the Dalai Lama.
CA0576: A young man in the streets of Lhasa. Tibetan monks, is practically the only thing they eat, along with tea, and attribute a supposed properties of inhibition of sexual impulses, so it is said that the monks never have such temptations, but overlook the fact that the rest of the nation does not these supposed to take effect zanba properties.
CA0603: One of the pilgrims near the Jokhang Temple. Lhasa. Every day thousands of Tibetans pray and sing prayers doing what they call the kora around the temple Jokhabg. Something that is learned upon arrival that everything is moving near a temple, monastery or dwelling Tibetan, it is in the clockwise direction.
CA0612: Pilgrims near the Jokhang temple. Lhasa. Every day thousands of Tibetans pray and sing prayers doing what they call the kora around the temple Jokhabg. People who go to the temple and does not enter, walk around it in the sense of clockwise. The pilgrims pray while riding high, even some singing.
CA0637: Chinese Tourists in Lhasa near the Jokhang Temple. The Chinese photograph anything you throw at them.
CA0647: Monks and pilgrims near the Jokhang temple. Lhasa. It is impossible not to get carried away by the extraordinary human tide of the Barkhor, which is not a monument but a kora advancing in the direction of the clockwise around Jokhang temple. He seems to possess a kind of mystical and spiritual gravity inevitably attracts every visitor who comes to within 50m, and even invited him to repeat the whole circuit again.
CA0679: Every day, thousands of Tibetans pray and sing prayers Jokhabg kneeling next to the temple. Jokhang Temple Jokhang Monastery or the most famous Buddhist temples in Lhasa in Tibet. It is the spiritual center of the city and perhaps his most famous tourist attraction. He is considered by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site with the Potala Palace and Norbulingka.
CA0695: Pilgrims near the Jokhang temple. Lhasa. The temple was built by King Songtsen Gampo, probably in 642. Originally his name was Tsuklakang Tulnang Rasa. Both Bhirututi as Wencheng, Nepalese and Chinese wives of the king, brought as a dowry numerous Buddhist images were installed in this temple. Jochen, along with the Ramoche temple is one of the first built in the city and one of the most revered as it houses an image of Jowo, the young Buddha said to have been sculpted in life of Siddhartha Gautama.
CA0721: A Jokhang monks at the temple. Lhasa. The temple complex has several decorated shrines and rooms. The main room of the temple buildings houses the statue of Jowo. There are also statues of King Songtsen Gambo and his two wives. During the Cultural Revolution destroyed many of these sculptures that have been reconstructed using in some cases broken pieces of the original statues.
CA0723: Pilgrims near the Jokhang temple. Lhasa. The Jokhang Temple, 1300 years old, is the spiritual center of Tibet. The waves of pilgrims prostrate themselves on the outside and its golden dome are fascinating feature. Was built over a pond to mark the link Whencheng princess of the Tang dynasty with King Songtsen Gampo. This pond was indeed, as the princess, the heart of a witch. Today it houses a solid gold statue of Buddha Sakyamuni that offered pincesa Tibet, along with extraordinary treasures of Tibetan religious art. It is best visited early in the morning, afternoon is entered through the side door is on the right of the main and the interior chapels can this closed. Often, around 18.30, held prayers led by the monks on the terrace. This and outdoor rooms are open from dawn to dusk.
CA0734: Pilgrims near the Jokhang temple. Lhasa. Only you can live the authentic and fantastic weather in the neighborhood Tibetan Barkhor, Jokhang temple there is great keep most sacred pilgrimage circuit of Tibet from the seventh century, where stalls selling fruit, vegetables, textiles, souvenirs and so on. cater to the pilgrims who go around the temple in the direction clockwise.
CA0748: Pilgrims near the Jokhang temple. Lhasa. The kora is a great and wonderful show and the worth found in this magnificent place. It's great and amazing at the same time as pilgrims in the temple gate to extend lean his whole body on the floor again and again. That happens every evening at the gates of the temple. At dawn the ritual moves to the Potala there a great number of pilgrims circling around and runs a large majority in prayers in front of it, but all day the pilgrims come and go with their prayer wheels is constant . Jokhang Temple is the 'Vatican' to Tibetan Buddhism, where Westerners also find their meditation retreat.
CA0750: Elderly Pilgrim carrying his grandson near the Jokhang Temple while performing the kora. Lhasa. Travel to Tibet is like entering a magical world: one is confused with a flood of pilgrims constantly spinning prayer wheels while repeating mantras ancestral temples and monasteries sharing impregnated with the smell so characteristic of yak butter day pilgrimage . The majestic Potala Palace, the bustle of the square next to Barkor Jokhang Temple, the way to Gyantse and Shigatse, crossing the Himalayas are scenes of unparalleled beauty.
CA0759: Elderly Pilgrim near the Jokhang temple. Lhasa. Located in the heart of the city and surrounded by Barkhor Street, the temple is a glorious shows the architecture of Lhasa with his culture.
CA0790: near the Jokhang Temple Pilgrims making the kora. Lhasa. In traditional Tibetan Buddhism can be defined as a pilgrimage kora (always clockwise clock) that is meditating at a temple or stupa. For the Barkhor district, the kora is a circular route around Buddhist pilgrims perform the Jokhang Temple. During the journey, the pilgrims are chanting mantras, turning the prayer wheel, and again fell down on the floor. Can often be realized up to 108 times!.
CA0796: near the Jokhang Temple Pilgrims making the kora. Lhasa. At the ends of the streets through which the kora lies a myriad of stalls that offer all sorts of religious items, prayer flags, incense and yak butter offered as an offering to keep always on the offerings within the temples.
CA0867: Prayer flags near base of Mount Nyenchen Tanglha of 7111 meters high. One of the holy mountain for Tibetans. The Nyenchen Tanglha is the highest peak of the mountain Nyainqentanglha. It is located near Lhasa, the road paved Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It is surrounded by grassy plains from south Damshung sacred lake and the picturesque Nam Tso (4700 m, one of the largest lakes in the world) in the north.
CA0875: A family living on the base of Mount Nyenchen Tanglha of 7111 meters high. The Nyenchen Tanglha is the highest peak of the mountain Nyainqentanglha. It is located near Lhasa, the road paved Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It is surrounded by grassy plains from south Damshung sacred lake and the picturesque Nam Tso (4700 m, one of the largest lakes in the world) in the north.
CA0889: Prayer flags at the base of Mount Nyenchen Tanglha of 7111 meters high. In 800 A.D. (Current era) Buddhism was first introduced into Tibet by Padmasambhava. Until that time most of the Tibetan Bon religion was a shamanistic practice. The Bon religion had established the tradition of hanging flags of five colors representing the five elements, with the belief that they offered protection. When Buddhism was mixed with the Bon religion, the sacred mantras and iconographies were painted on the flags Bon, creating the beginnings of what is known today as Tibetan prayer flags. Later, Atisha came to teach Buddhism to the Tibetan people in 1040 AD bringing with him the Banner of Victory Indian and prayer flags it gained more popularity. Tibetan prayer flags are then, a synthesis of the flags of the elements of the Bon religion and Indian Buddhist dharma.
CA0897: Prayer flags at the base of Mount Nyenchen Tanglha of 7111 meters high. Tibetan prayer flags flutter over the whole world of Tibetan culture. On the highest mountain passes on the rapids of the Andes trios, rooftop, bridges, streets, taxis, everywhere. The prayer flags are printed on wooden blocks so as colored fabrics, traditionally blue, white, red, green and yellow. The traditional five colors represent the five Buddha families and five 5 elements.
CA0897: Prayer flags and yak skull at the entrance to the sacred lake of Nam Tso (4700 m, one of the largest lakes in the world) at the northern edge of Tibet.
CA0960: Before reaching the lake Nam Tso is reached Nagenla Pass located 5190 meters from where it descends to the lake located at 4700m.
CA0971: Nam Tso Lake, the second largest lake in Tibet, and one of the most famous of the "Roof of the World ', The turquoise blue water reflects the surrounding landscape. On the banks of the lake reveal groups grazing yaks and nomadic tents Drogpas camp. Also, the lake attracts many migratory birds, including ducks and wild geese. Despite its isolation many pilgrims come to this "Heavenly Lake".
CA0979: Nomads Drogpas the lake Nam Tso to 4700m. The stunning landscape of Namtso lake is one of those divine works. It struck me as a painting or a tapestry made by the Creator, and also a mirror of gods and celestial land, which reflects all blue and green sky, the Tibetan plains and the mountains. And an essential element of that heavenly painting are Tibetan nomads. Masters of this earthly paradise, are the true owners of the majestic snow-capped mountains, the endless plain, herds of yaks and the great Namtso, all your source material and spiritual life.
CA0995: Prayer flags on Lake Nam Tso, the central Tibet area. Nearly 200 km of Lhasa is the second China salt lake surrounded by mountains 7,000 meters, which are the Heinrich Harrer crossed on his way to Lhasa. It is a beautiful lake with turquoise waters.
CA1009: Prayer flags on Lake Nam Tso, the central Tibet area. Namtso Lake Nam or (officially, Nam Co; in Mongolian: Tengri Nor, literally "heavenly lake") is a great mountain salt lake in China, one of the most famous lakes of the Tibetan sacred lakes, located on the border between Damxung County, the (Lhasa Prefecture) and the District of Baingoin Nagqu Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region, about 112 km NNW of the city of Lhasa. It is a sacred place of Tibetan Buddhism and many worshipers gather around the lake for a great ceremony that takes place the year of the sheep, every 12 years. In the extreme southeast is the Tashi Dor monastery.
CA1040: Nam Tso Lake is the second largest lake in Tibet, and one of the most famous of the "Roof of the World." The lake itself lies at an altitude of 4,718 m and covers an area of ??1,920 km ². This lake is the largest lake in the Tibet Autonomous Region, although not the largest of the Qinghai-Tibet, a title that belongs to the Qinghai Lake (more than twice Namtso surface), which is AAS 1,000 km in the northeast, in the province of Qinghai. Namtso has five uninhabited islands of a certain size, plus one or two rocky outcrops. The islands have been used for the retreat of the pilgrims who walk on the frozen surface of the lake in late winter, bringing food with them. They spend the summer, capture something of sin and return to shore when the lake new refreeze next winter. This practice is not authorized by the Chinese Government.
CA1095: Namtso is renowned as one of the most beautiful in the mountains Nyainqentanglha. Hermit caves have for centuries been the destination of Tibetan pilgrims. In 2005 he completed a paved road to the lake through the passage of Laeken, at 5186 m, which allows easy access from Lhasa and the development of tourism in the lake region. The main settlements in the area are Dobjoi, Cha'gyungoinba Donggar and Tashi Dor monastery and is in the southeast corner of the lake.
CA1109: A Chinese tourist is photographed standing on a yak in the lake Nam Tso. Namtso is renowned as one of the most beautiful in the mountains Nyainqentanglha. Often incorrectly said to Namtso is the highest lake in Tibet (or even the world), or saline lake is the highest in the world, but there are many small lakes at altitudes over 5,500 m in the Himalayas and the Andes. Among the lakes with an area of ??over 50 km ², the highest lake of fresh water is Lake Sengli, at an altitude of 5386 m and an area of ??78 km ², while the salt lake higher the lake Meiriqie, at an altitude of 5354 m and an area of ??64 km ² (both found in Tibet). However, if that is the Namtso highest lake in the world with an area of ??over 500 km ².

CA1121: A Yak at the foot of Lake Nam Tso. Namtso is renowned as one of the most beautiful in the mountains Nyainqentanglha. The yak (Bos mutus or Bos grunniens) is a large bovid and woolly coat, native to the mountains of Central Asia and the Himalayas, lives on the steppe and cold desert plateau of Tibet, Pamir and Karakoram, between 4000 and 6000 meters, which is found in both wild and domestic.
CA1128: A Yak at the foot of Lake Nam Tso. Or Namtso Lake Nam is one of the most beautiful lakes in Tibet. Located in Damxung County in Lhasa, is located over 4,700 meters, is considered one of the highest lakes in the mundo.Ocupa an area of ??about 2,000 square kilometers, surrounded by spectacular mountain scenery of Tibet Autonomous Region in China. In the lake are several islands and caves turned into shrines that have for centuries been the destination of Tibetan pilgrims.
CA1172: Yaks grazing at the foot of Lake Nam Tso. Southeast of Lake Namtso, is the main peak of the snow-capped mountains Danggula sentences. Surrounded by pastures, the lake looks like a large mirror, with the clear blue sky over the dark blue lake, white snow, green grass, wild flowers of various colors, all this makes a beautiful natural picture. Namtso Lake is abundant in plants for Chinese medicine as the Chinese caterpillar fungus, Fritillaria, and the snow lotus, and several species of fish such as fish and fish fine saw thorn. The lake is a habitat of various wild animals like black bears, wild bull, wild ass, blue sheep and marmots, etc.
CA1188: Yaks grazing at the foot of Lake Nam Tso. Many stone mounds can be found everywhere along the Namtso Lake. All Tibetan Buddhists throw a stone in each mound are found, the stone throwing is to recite the scriptures. Tibetan prayers can be seen here waving to the sky. With the passage of time, independent stone mounds have come together to form a wall of more than one hundred meters long and one meter high. Considered a sacred lake of pious Buddhists, the lake attracts pilgrims from as far away as India and Nepal.
CA1203: A pilgrim and several yaks grazing at the foot of Lake Nam Tso. The turquoise waters of the sacred lake Nam tso, 195 km north of Lhasa, in the rarefied air at 4500 m, have a transcendent brightness can test the best artist's palette. Part of Changtang plateau and is flanked to the north by the mountains of Shan Tangula and southeast by Mount Nyenchen Tanghe. All the surrounding countryside is just spectacular. However, the views do not remove both breathing height. Nam tso is 1000 m higher than Lhasa, so it is advisable to have spent an acclimatization before making the trip to the lake.

 

 

CA1207: A pilgrim at the lake Nam Tso. Continental is the largest lake in the region and also the salt water located higher up in the world (4718 m / asl over 1,000 m above Lhasa. It is located in the district Dangxiong and is a saint Tibetan Buddhism. Each year, attracts a great number of believers, who come from afar to perform the pilgrimage.
CA1212: A prayer flags surround a cairn in Lake Nam Tso. Namtso was born in the Paleogene age, was a result of tectonic plate movements in the Himalayas. The lake lies at an altitude of 4,718 m and covers an area of ??1,920 square kilometers. This salt lake is the largest lake in Tibet Autonomous Region. However, it is the largest lake in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. That title belongs to the Qinghai Lake (more than twice the size of Namtso), which is over 1,000 kilometers [650 miles] north-east, in China's Qinghai province.
CA1213: Tasha Dor Monastery at the southeast end of Lake Nam Tso. Around the area's natural elements, historical and anthropological history, a 2010 romantic drama ???? Shangri-La, starring popular actors of China Hu Ge was broadcast CCTV1 and received positive reviews. Some scenes from the 2002 Hong Kong film The Touch were filmed at the lake. Namtso Lake also appeared on BBC TV Series: Himalaya with Michael Palin.
CA1217: monks inside the monastery Tasha Dor at the southeast end of Lake Nam Tso. Often incorrectly written Namtso is the highest lake in China (or even the world), or the highest salt lake in the world, but there are many small lakes at altitudes over 5,500 m in the Himalayas and the Andes . For lakes with a surface area of ??50 km2, the highest lake of fresh water is Sengli lake at an altitude of 5386 meters and covering an area of ??78 km2, while the more saline water lake is a lake Meiriqie altitude of 5354 m km2 with a 64 (both are at the Tibet region of China). However, Namtso is the highest lake in the world, covering over 500 km2.
CA1222: One of the monks Tasha Dor at the southeast end of Lake Nam Tso uploaded to your motorcycle. In Tibetan sheep, numerous Buddhist monks and lay believers arriving from other parts of Lake Namtso, they will feel satisfied, comfortable and happy after performing a ritual walk around the lake. This activity, which lasts several months, usually reaches its climax on April 15 in the year of the sheep when Tibetan Buddhist followers come and go in large numbers.
CA1229: Nam Tso lake next to two huge stones with inscriptions and drawings, and hundreds of prayer flags colors, fluttering in rows. Yaks white saddles resting on the shore and offered to take a walk for 10 yuan. Also offer horseback riding.
CA1242: The twin stones Nam-tso Lake, with hundreds of prayer flags. Nam-tso Lake to 4718 m, is another holy lakes in Tibet, and the lake in the world's highest. In this picture it is raining and not appreciated its spectacular beauty.
CA1244: A pilgrim with twin stones Nam-tso Lake, surrounded by hundreds of prayer flags. Nam Tso Lake was generated due to the movements of the Himalayas. The meadows surrounding it are rich in herbs, which makes them perfect natural grass. At the beginning of every summer, wild ducks move there group after group. Around the lake live bears, wild oxen and donkeys, sheep, blue foxes, marmots and other wildlife.
CA1257: A pilgrimage along the twin stones Nam-tso Lake. According to legend, when was the year of goat, buddhas, bodhisattvas and the gods met in Nam Tso Lake to hold a competition. The people, upon hearing the news, flocked from various places to make obeisance to the Buddhas. They gave a ride along the lake in order to bring good luck and happiness. This activity peaked on day 15 of the fourth month of the Tibetan calendar and lasted several months, with the participation of both monks and laity.
CA1280: Prayer flags at the base of Mount Nyenchen Tanglha of 7111 meters high. Tibetan prayer flags flutter over the whole world of Tibetan culture. A typical prayer flag in its central image is a horse who carries on his back the Three Jewels in flames. This horse is known as the Horse Wind and flags gives its name in Tibetan "Lung-Ta." The three jewels symbolize the Buddha (the state of enlightenment), dharma (Buddhist teachings) and Sangha (the Buddhist community).
CA1288: The train reaches Lhasa opened in 2006, passes by the Monte Nyenchen Tanglha of 7111 meters high. Taking a trip by train from Beijing or Shanghai to Lhasa, Tibet, is one of those dreams that may have any traveler. Some horses are twenty mantras, powerful emission of sounds, each dedicated to a particular deity. The idea is that the wind passing over the surface of the flags, the air is purified, sanctified and sweetened by the mantras. This blessing is on all people of the neighborhood.
CA1325: Groups of houses located near a tributary of the river Brahmaputra. The river is known as Tsangpo in Tibet and in the central area of ??Bangladesh is divided into two branches, the main Jamuna River, the name is known in that region, and the other, less flow, the river Shitalakshya .
CA1333: Scenery along the river Brahmaputra. The river Brahmaputra is one of the largest rivers in Asia. Born in the Himalayas, in western Tibet, in China and flows for 1900 miles to die in the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh. The river flows into the Ganges and the Meghna to form the largest river delta in the world, most of which is in Bangladesh.Es navigable most of its length and shallow areas are sacred to Hindus.
CA1344: Scenery along the river Brahmaputra. The Brahmaputra River has a length of 2,900 km and an average flow of 12,000 m3 per second. Through part of Tibet (Autonomous Region of China), the Indian territory of Assam and Bangladesh, and empties into the Bay of Bengal (Indian Ocean), after joining the Ganges. His regime is pluvionival river (caused by rain and snow) in Tibet and rain (monsoon rains, mainly) in the rest of the course.
CA1353: Plantations next to the river Brahmaputra. The yellow highlights plants greatly with the blue sky.
CA1357: Portrait of a monk in the monastery of Tashilumpo, located in the heart of Shigatse. This place was the residence of the Panchen Lama until he was exiled. The Panchen Lama is a great spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists at the same level as the Dalai Lama, only the latter is also the political leader as well as spiritual.
CA1357: Portrait of a woman breastfeeding her child in the Tashilunpo Monastery, Monastery Tashilumpo, located in Shigatse, Tibet, is a reflection of Chinese culture and religion that has influenced people around the world. Visitors to the monastery are mostly Buddhist followers who want to honor and tribute to the sacred place. Others are simply curious about the lifestyle and the teachings of Buddhism. These beings visit the place to catch a glimpse of the rich and influential Buddhist tradition.
CA1380: Monks inside the Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. Tashilumpo monastery is the seat of the Panchen Lamas - the lineage of religious leaders next to the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama is a tulku lineage of the highest rank in the Gelugpa hierarchy of Tibetan Buddhism. Tulku, however, is the term for those who chose to be renewed or reborn to educate others. This makes the Panchen Lamas the following line of high-ranking Buddhist religious after the Dalai Lama.
CA1414: cobbled streets inside the Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. Tashilumpo monastery has been home to the Panchen Lamas, who religiously practiced Buddhism since its construction in 1447 with help from the first Dalai Lama Zhuba Genden Yellow Hat sect's. Expansions followed through during the time the fourth Panchen Lama Lobsang Gyalsten. The monastery suffered several extensions in different Panchen Lamas, who supervised the work.

CA1415: Stupas in Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. Today, Tashilumpo Monastery is located at 3,800 meters above sea level and offers tourists different rooms, temples, galleries, patio, and chapels. A distinctive feature of the monastery is the temple of Maitreya. It is the western ubicadoen tallest building in the monastery. The Ninth Panchen Lama ordered its construction to accommodate the 86 foot statue of Maitreya Buddha containing 614 pounds of gold, 330,000 pounds of copper. Its wooden frame is made of brass courtesy of Tibetans and artisans of Nepal.
CA1424: Stupas in Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. Other places to visit in Tashilumpo Monastery are: Panchen Lama, the Palace · Sing Gyeni Hall Main · Sutra · Lounge · Lounge singing The Roof Chapels Ngang College · The Gallery · The Patio Great Great Good time to visit The monastery is at the Festival when the place is transformed into a colorful and energetic landscape that promotes China's rich history, culture and religion.
CA1433: Monks inside the Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. Tashilumpu monastery is one of the six major monasteries in Tibet. Tashilumpu stood at the foot of the hill of Tara. He was found by the first lama Dailai in 1447 and expanded by the fourth and successive Panchen Lamas. The monastery covers an area of ??nearly 300,000 square meters including the main structures of the Chapel of Maitreya, the box of the Panchen Lama and Kelsang Temple. Tashilumpu is the seat of the Panchen Lama since the Fourth Panchen Lama took charge in the monastery, and there are now nearly 800 lamas. Standing at the entrance to the monastery, you can see the grand buildings with golden roofs and white walls.
CA1468: Monks inside the Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. Shigatse is at 3.900 m. Although we already acclimated to this altitude and is supported normally. In this town once had its basis the Panchen Lama as previously was the capital for a short period of time in Tibet. Tashilumpo monastery near the roof ridge of golden Drolma and cobblestone streets was founded in 1447 by Gender Drupa who was later the first Dalai Lama. This population is now Chinese people, these are often in populations with more presence of tourists. Here now are shops, supermarkets, restaurants and hotels not only Tibetans. It is always best Tibetan restaurant or hotel. These are cleaner and better serve the visitor. The Chinese tend to be more dirty, the prices of both products in supermarkets and hotel and restaurant are much more expensive and sometimes treatment of arrogance.
CA1473: Monks inside the Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. Tashilumpo Monastery, the jewel of the monumental city of Shigatse, the official residence of the Panchen Lama, the second figure hierarchy of Buddhism after the Dalai Lama.
CA1515: Monks inside the Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. Tashilumpo monastery was home to the second authority in Tibet, the Panchen Lama. When the Dalai Lama fled the Chinese invasion, Beijing sought and found their support. But the idyll was short and ended up imprisoned Panchen Lama. I'm in Shigatse at the foot of the largest Buddha statue in the world. A monk asked me 30 yuan per photograph. Is it true that some of them are Chinese agents?
CA1530: Monks inside the Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. The Panchen Lama was swallowed by the earth for fourteen long years. Desperate, he attempted suicide several times in prison. It reappeared in 1978, but years of imprisonment and the threat of returning to prison silenced his public criticism. He worked in the shadow of the settlement between the Chinese and Tibetans and returned to Tibet in the spring of 1982 to die surrounded by mountains. Seven years later, died of a heart attack in his beloved monastery Tashilumpo at age 53. Many still think that he was poisoned by the Chinese Government.
CA1578: Monks inside the Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. Founded in 1447, Tashilumpo is reason enough to Shigatse shown on the maps. Upon entering the main avenue, the golden roofs of the tombs of Panchen Lamas immediately call the attention of visitors. To the left is the Chapel of Jampa (Maitreya), the Buddha of Kindness, immortalized with a statue towering 26 meters high. Erected in 1914 under the auspices of the ninth Panchen Lama, nearly a thousand of artisans and workers involved in construction for four long years. It is really overwhelming presence of this Buddha bathed in 300 kilos of gold and precious stones. In one corner, a monk sitting cross-legged on a mat keeps a watchful eye. For every photo you have to pay 30 yuan and this "debt collection" Buddhist does not lower our guard. Faced with such magnificence, surprised to see rats walking at will by the sacred images. In the ancient hall meetings, where the monks gather to pray after meals, two huge rodents climb, the indifference of the religious, the image of Sakyamuni, "Sage of Sakya", the original Buddha, known by Tibetans as Thukpa Sakya. Beware: dozens of stories circulating related to Beijing monks willing to report to the pilgrim or tourist caught with a photo of the Dalai Lama or censoring China's policy in Tibet. The Assembly Hall is a good place to sit and watch the monks and listen to their spiritual litanies. On a small stand placed the scrolls with prayers. Stay lit only by a few yak butter lamps, the atmosphere surrounding the visitor has an aura of unreality, of pleasant pinch of another era. That mysticism envelope is not eternal, grotesquely dissipates when the monk who leads the prayers gets to count the Yuan bundles left by tourists. Is the toll of globalization.
CA1596: Monks inside the Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. Tashilumpu is one of the six major monasteries in the Tíbet.Tashilumpu located at the foot of the mountain of Tara.Fue found by the first Dalai Dailai in 1447 and was expanded by the fourth and sucesivos.El Panchan Lama monastery has an area of ??nearly 300,000 square meters which includes the main body of the shrine of Maitreya, the Dalai Panchan Palca and Kelsang.Tashilumpu temple is home to the Dalai Panchan from the Fourth Dalai Panchan took over the monastery, and now there are about lamas.De 800 standing in the doorway of the monastery, one can see large buildings with golden roofs and white walls.
CA1596: China One of the guides inside the Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. Sometimes these guides have a skewed version of reality Buddhism and close to the Chinese government interests.
CA1616: A Buddhist monk inside the Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. Tashilumpo Monastery is the main attraction of Shigatse. You can see a great distance the golden reflections of their roofs. Here is the impressive giant statue of Buddha, the world's largest with 26.2 m. high, 11.5 wide and numerous inlaid jewelry. The Sakya Monastery is known as the "Tibetan Dunhuang" by Mongolian style statues, porcelain, fresh, thangka (representations of the Buddha) and writes. The monastery became famous in the thirteenth century, when Kublai Khan gave him gifts, privileges and control over all Tibet. Here was conceived a Buddhist sect called Sakyapa.
CA1621: Portrait of a Buddhist monk inside the Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. In this temple can be seen in Lhasa as the huge statues of Buddha and its manifestations as well as statues of Tsongtem Gampo and his two wives. Tashilumpo murals and frescoes showing iconography fourteenth to the sixteenth century, some quite damaged by smoke from butter lamps. A small number of faithful to the temple to offer butter lamps lit to keep the smell inside the temple pervades the whole place.
CA1625: Portrait of a Buddhist monk dressed to go to prayer inside the Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. Tashilumpo monastery itself is a great city. Built in 1447 has traditionally been the home of the Panchen Lama. It contains many works of art and paintings, thankas, fresh and beautiful carvings.
CA1648: Monks inside the Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. In addition to wander through the streets and countless chapels Tashilumpo, good traveler should not forget to visit your lingkor (pilgrimage route). In this two-mile path that encircles the monastery many devotees circulate the ubiquitous spinning prayer wheels while chanting the sacred "om." This mantra, one of the most sacred Buddhist Sanskrit is composed of three letters: A, U and M. Each represents a state of consciousness: A symbolizes the waking state, U the dream state, and M, the state of deep sleep.

CA1662: prayer wheels inside the Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. Tashilumpo Monastery, official residence of the Panchen Lama, second figure hierarchy of Buddhism after the Dalai Lama. At its busiest, the monastery housed 4700 monks. One of its chapels, houses a statue of Maitreya 26.20 meters high, which seems to rise into the sky through the roof. Around a thousand small pictures of Maitreya adorn its walls. For Buddhists, the Buddha Maitreya is coming to Earth to illuminate definitely the man.
CA1670: Monks inside the Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. The monastery was founded in 1447 Tashilumpo by a disciple of Tsongkhapa, and is now part of the city. Later this disciple became the first Dalai Lama. Tashilumpo is one of the largest and most impressive monasteries in Tibet, with old paintings, statues and ritual objects.
CA1670: A monk behind a window inside the Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. Tashilumpo Monastery: With the peak Drolmari (Tara's Mountain) in the background, the monastery of Tashilunpo shines every day at dawn. It is located west of Shigatse. The Monastery, also known as 'Mind of Gloria', was founded in 1447 by the sovereign and a disciple of Tsongkhapa (founder of the sect Gelukpa) Gendun Drup. Gendun Drup was appointed the first Dalai Lama after his death. Because of its association with the founder of Geluk, the monastery is considered one of the most important monastery of the Geluk order.
CA1701: A monk spinning the prayer wheels inside the Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. Tashilumpo monastery is huge, as befits a building that holds 700 people.
CA1736: Some monks carrying musical instruments inside the Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. The monastery is located in Tashilumpo 280 km from the city of Shigatse, west of the city of Lhasa. Originally built in 1447, has an occupation of 300,000 square meters, built for the first Dalha Lhamo. Tashilumpo monastery is also one of the six largest monasteries in Tibet.

CA1754: A Tibetan monk plays trumpet inside the Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. Trumpet cylindrical giant whose length can exceed 5 meters. Copper is usually decorated with various pieces gold or silver (once used silver and gold). It consists of several parts as a telescope, fit together. The mouth is wide and flat. They are played in pairs, producing a continuous sound, serious and deep, capable of reaching distances. To touch is to relax and make the lips vibrate like a whinny. You can change the pitch by increasing or decreasing the air pressure. It is shocking to hear a mysterious sound when a teacher arrives at a major monastery. The pair is placed on your roof and solemn tolling as welcome as the sound fills valleys and mountains.
CA1787: Monks inside the Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. The monastery also Tashilumpo one of several monasteries remain intact in the 1970's cultural revolution.
CA1797: Monks dressed to go to pray inside the Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. The monastery is a building Tashilumpo in red, white, black and gold ceiling, long ago was the capital of Tibet back, consists of several parts: the palace of Panchan Lhamo, the place of highest authority in Tibet. The most famous building and the statue in the heart of pigrims "Mitriya chamber is a statue of Buddha and Mitriya, which has a height of 30 meters, sold 115,000 kilogram of copper, was chosen by the Lhamo Panchan in 1914., Which is the largest Buddhist statue in the world copper.
CA1801: A monk teaches a small statues of deities decorating finished inside the Tashilumpo Monastery, located in Shigatse, Tibet. In any of the views of the valley terraces are spectacular. Moreover from the kora (spiritual circuit around the sacred sites of Tibetan Buddhism) that surrounds the monastery, dotted with human excrement and the occasional dead rat, dry as esparto.
CA1816: Farmers along the road from Shigatse to Gyantse.
CA1826: Large plantations and peasants from the area between Gyantse Shigatse.
CA1840: Peasants with separate plantations of Gyantse Shigatse.
CA1845: A family celebrates the graduation of a relative in the village of Bainans, located next to the road from Shigatse to Gyantse.
CA1859: A family celebrates the graduation of a family of naturally fermented beer in the village of Bainans, located next to the road from Shigatse to Gyantse.
CA1867: Two women from the village of Bainans, located next to the road from Shigatse to Gyantse.
CA1903: A Tibetan family celebrated the graduation of a family of naturally fermented beer in the village of Bainans, located next to the road from Shigatse to Gyantse.
CA1915: Two Tibetan women Bainans village, located along the road from Shigatse to Gyantse.
CA1922, Pelkhor Chode Monastery. Gyantse. Kumbum Monastery and Pelkhor Chode is the pride of Gyantse region. Kumbum is a temple - spectacular stupa whose name MEANS "Place of 100,000 images" and is the center of Palkhor Chode monastery. The great pagoda has nine stories, with a height of 32 m. With more than 77 chapels, shrines and chortens, is one of the architectural marvels of Tibet. Palkhor Chode Monastery occupies an important place in the history of Buddhism as sects lived here.
CA1928: Pilgrim inside the Pelkhor Chode monastery. Gyantse. The monastery includes the Temple of Pelkhor Chode and the great multi-chapel Kumbum Chorten. These religious monuments, part of Gyantse old monastic town, contain some of the most extraordinary works of art in Tibet.
CA1929: Inside Pelkhor Chode monastery. Gyantse. We are in the early fifteenth century, the strategic and economic importance of Gyantse is at its peak and to endorse it is undertaken by first building a large fortress (Dzong) that soon followed by a magnificent monastery (1418 - 1428) and an impressive Kumbum (1427-1437) by completing one of the most attractive ensembles Tibet. The dimensions and numbers of the monastery are impressive, just remember that the three levels that make up the building, the lower reaches an area of ??2200 square meters with about 108 doors, 77 chapels and intricate endless corridors that connect where rooms are crowded numerous sculptures and reliefs of Buddha and whose walls are richly decorated with mural paintings mostly represent the Buddha. In this authentic town made up of hundreds of empty houses, now connected by narrow cobbled streets and constricted between the red and undulating walls surrounding the complex came to live over 1000 lamas of the sects, Gelugpa, which Sakyapa and bhutonpa marked a milestone in Tibetan Buddhism because it was unusual cohabitation of different branches in the same spiritual monastic enclosure.
CA1944: a statue of a deity inside the Pelkhor Chode monastery. Gyantse. It is near Kumbum, was founded in the 15th century, was remarkably well preserved and many of the statues inside date from the date of its foundation.
CA1949: Monks praying inside the Pelkhor Chode monastery. Gyantse. The Cultural Revolution ended this idyllic landscape and swept away walls, slats and ended the prevailing harmony. Currently living in Pelkor about 70 monks who are struggling to rebuild that which brought down the hatred and misunderstanding, it seems that little by little by little we are getting. In any case one must wonder that you will not lose and that keeps within its walls, besides a great library, one of the masterpieces of Tibetan architecture, the famous Kumbum Chorten or Gold.

 

CA1962: Statues of some of the deities inside the monastery Pelkhor Chode. Gyantse. Besides the "normal" that may pose a Tibetan city for the traveler, are two complexes as key tourist attractions of the place. Pelkhor Chode Monastery and the strength or the Dzong. The first is a new set of buildings inside a wall with an environment similar to Drepung monastery, that is, their animals field, or superstitious devotion of pilgrims and local Buddhist monks, yak butter and chapels filled with Buddhas. Emphasizes a building stupa in the middle of the complex from which takes a broad view of the oldest (and most authentic style) of Gyantse and whose chapel houses reliefs of the guardians of Buddha
CA2009: Sculptures of some deities inside the monastery Pelkhor Chode. Gyantse. The monastery is beautiful with its stupa of 9 floors and 108 chapels, but what we liked, is the village life, with its traditional houses and cattle tied in front of each door, as if the watchdog.
CA2028: Properties of the Tibetan monks of the monastery of Pelkhor Chode. Gyantse. The CHOD PELKHOR MONASTERY, founded in 1418, stands out for its superb Kumbum chorten (stupa of the ten thousand images), nine levels, according to Buddhist tradition, 108 chapels.
CA2037: Properties of the Tibetan monks of the monastery of Pelkhor Chode. Gyantse. This monastery is located near Kumbum, was founded in the 15th century, was remarkably well preserved and many of the statues inside date from the date of its foundation.
CA2058: Properties of the Tibetan monks of the monastery of Pelkhor Chode. Gyantse. the CHOD PELKHOR MONASTERY, founded in 1418, stands out for its superb Kumbum chorten (stupa of the ten thousand images), nine levels, according to Buddhist tradition, 108 chapels.
CA2092: Pelkhor Foreign Chode monastery. Gyantse. It is near Kumbum, was founded in the 15th century, was remarkably well preserved and many of the statues inside date from the date of its foundation.
CA2100: Views of Fortress Dzong from Pelkhor Chode Monastery. Gyantse. The majestic Dzong fortress presides over the village from the top of the mountain but are even more impressive the 9 floors of the Tibetan Stupa Kumbum. Unlike Shigatse, the town retains the essence of Tibetan and has not yet been fully colonized by the Chinese.
CA2120: A boy riding his bicycle through the streets of the old town of Gyantse. In the background you can see the majestic Dzong Fortress. Gyantse. Gyantse, located at 200 kilometers southwest of Lhasa, was once the third largest city in Tibet, but today is one of the least populated Chinese influence in Tibet. Located in the valley Nyangchu along the main routes from India and Nepal, to Lhasa, Gyantse was a commercial real city of Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan, and the closing of the border in Dromo.
CA2135: The cattle graze peacefully in the streets of the old town of Gyantse. Gyantse has many attractions, Gyantse Kumbum like, and the Monastery Gyantse Dzong Pelkor. Palkhor monastery was built in 1427 and noted for its superb Kumbum (10,000 images) stupa.
CA2149: Two children playing in the streets of the old town of Gyantse. Gyantse is a small village nestled in the pastoral road connecting Lhasa to Shigatse (known as the Friendship Highway), about 264 kilometers just south-west of Lhasa. Gyantse is located in the main trade route to India from there in the past and because of this privileged status should be afforded an intense commercial activity which greatly emphasized the manufacture and sale of wool products including would mention the valuable carpets.
CA2164: A child plays with hula hoop on the streets of the old town of Gyantse. Today this Gyantse lives with some prosperity by increasing influx of tourists and surprise the visitor with its impressive Pelkhor Chode Monastery and magnificent fortress (or Dzong) which located on a hill overlooking the entire city proud. Although we mentioned that it is a small town not forget that Gyantse is the third largest city in Tibet.
CA2171: Closeup of a girl in the streets of the old town of Gyantse. When you walk through the streets of Old Gyantse seen when compared with other major towns like Lhasa and Shigatse, that the course has not changed too much because of rampant modernization undertaken by the Beijing government, and thankfully, although more more isolated from the pressure of a progress that stigmatizes and demonifica any hint of indigenous culture, we can still see their traditional charms tail in the slums of the city.
CA2202: A family at the window of his home in the streets of the old town of Gyantse. Gyantse, a town "departure" in two by an invisible line that separates clearly visible although the two peoples who inhabit the Tibetan and Chinese so different and yet all are called to understand and live together even if it means the loss of identity weaker population obviously the Tibetans. We move into the area occupied by the traditional market presence and no sign of China. Tibetan women contemplate and delight with their hair done based on small braids tied behind their backs. Highlights the colorful ornaments that decorate their simple dresses, pins and belts.
CA2240: Kumbum Stupa located inside the Pelkhor Chode monastery. Gyantse. Kumbum means one hundred thousand images sacred. The stupa contains a large mandala that portrays the Buddhist cosmos, with a vast repertoire of deity, Dhara Vhajra crowned at the top. Palkhor was built in the fifteenth century and its construction was completed in just 10 years. The monastery has three levels: the bottom has 2,200 m2, which includes 108 doors, 77 chapels and a maze of corridors. Highlights the great octagonal tower of 40 m. in height. Besides the numerous sculptures and reliefs of Buddha, the monastery is considered a jewel of Tibetan wall painting: Buddha reproductions are countless in the finishes of the walls, which gave the monastery the nickname of thousands of enlightened Buddha.
CA2255: Inside Pelkhor Chode monastery. In the background you can see the majestic Dzong Fortress. Gyantse. Wandered through the crowded stalls and we stand before the huge pieces of meat of yak, or goat hanging from beams and beautifully polychromed wooden poles. The animals' heads are arranged neatly at the foot of what once were the bodies that were joined. Curiously, the smell is not unpleasant, it is seen that the altitude and the temperature kept the merchandise in a more than acceptable. While women are notable for wearing traditional headdresses, men, adults and children dress in Western fashion, most of them in clothes that seem from another era, faded and dirty as if they had taken from a trunk forgotten in a dusty attic. The market breathes life, the hustle is constant and the old and thumbed yuan constantly changing hands. Gyantse, barely keeps the flavor of a small medieval town, dusty, unpaved streets dotted on both sides by small whitewashed buildings. Circular are still donkey carts and donkeys wandering along the lonely parsimoniously cattle.
CA2290: Overview of swamp apes near the town of Gyantse. In the Kamba La (4796 m) have a fantastic view of the sacred lake of Yamdrok Yumtso (4441 m), one of the three holy lakes in Tibet and the largest waterfowl habitat in southern Tibet. Spend the Karo, the mouth of the mountain 5.010 m high and the mountain's mouth Simi to Gyantse (approx. 3,900 m).
CA2295: Overview of swamp apes near the town of Gyantse. Leaving behind the majestic glacier Kharola and continued our route to Gyantse, again, through the windows of 4x4 images look gawking gives us the vision of paradise: Rivers run wild, endless valleys, peaks gigantic, turquoise lakes and skies so blue it almost hurts to look at them ... Along the way we passed small settlements Dopkas (pastoralists) circulating in these parts like ghosts of a past that mountain ranges surrounding us seem reluctant to let go.
CA2312: Overview of swamp apes near the town of Gyantse. Many Tibetans believe that the life of Tibet will no longer continue when the lake dries. Spend the Karo, the mouth of the mountain 5.010 m high and the mountain's mouth Simi to Gyantse (approx. 3,900 m).
CA2343: A woman milking a cow in a small settlement of Dopkas (pastoralists). Gyantse. These nomads traveling in these parts like ghosts of a past that mountain ranges surrounding us seem reluctant to let go. The hospitality and joy with which we receive is amazing and as we saw later completely devoid of commercialism that might involve comprehensive food and sharing experiences about Western tourists in exchange for a few yuan (one yuan equals about 0.10 euros ). Not even to say goodbye and despite our insistence, our friendly hosts agreed to receive any money in return for their time, and especially food. Outside the store entertain us first, and as is required with a tea made with yak fat somewhat bitter taste and characteristic odor (even today when I recall the smell of these places you think invading Tibetan environment). The burned skin of our hosts is mute witness to the harsh weather conditions in the herdsmen living in these harsh, nevertheless, cheeks flushed, the colorful headdresses adorning the hair and clothing, the slender but small figure showing the most of them and the serenity with which seem to face his destiny makes them appear very attractive to our eyes.
CA2372: Panoramic on the Simi La pass near Gyantse. In the Kamba La (4796 m) have a fantastic view of the sacred lake of Yamdrok Yumtso (4441 m), one of the three holy lakes in Tibet and the largest waterfowl habitat in southern Tibet. Spend the Karo, the mountain pass and the 5.010 m high mountain pass Simi to Gyantse (approx. 3,900 m). In the afternoon visit the Monastery chode Pelkor equally to the splendid Kumbum Stupa (100-Thousand-Buddha Pagoda) nearby, both built in the15th century and situated on the northwestern edge of Gyantse.
CA2399: Animals grazing near the pass of Simi's not far from Gyantse. In these parts there are fields full of green yellow and grazing animals, farms and rivers icy blue waters.
CA2404: Before reaching Lake Yamdork you can make a stopover in Nangartse to eat and taste the local beer. The local beer called chang with which we water our main course (pasta accompanied by rich bits of yak meat and tasted awkwardly with chopsticks) we head rises rapidly because of the high altitude at which we find ourselves. The language breaks out and hammer clan chief with questions of all kinds to which our partner responds nicely one after another, calmly and without the smile disappears from his face at any time. Unfortunately, as I read in forums of travelers, the traditional Tibetan hospitality has given way to an interested and false kindness, frank and spontaneous smile of old has become a wicked grin that outlines the new "pastoralist false" when their pictures folk costumes in exchange for a few coins, is the price of progress.
CA2461: Wheat fields in Lake Yamdrok. This lake is the largest in China, and one of the three largest sacred lakes in Tibet. It has an area of ??638 km ² and over 72 km long. The lake is surrounded by many snow-capped mountains and is fed by many streams, but only has an outfall at the western end. According to local mythology, Lake Yamdok Yumtso is the transformation of a goddess.
CA2467: Yamdrok Lake, also known as Yamdok Yumtso. The lake is located about 90 km west of the Tibetan city of Gyantse (about 60,000 inhabitants in 2003) and about 100 km northeast of the capital, Lhasa. The lake of unknown depth, is fan-shaped, opening just to the south and north. The lake shore is mountainous, very embattled, with numerous bays and inlets. Yamdrok The lake freezes in winter. Yamdrok Lake has a power plant was completed and put into operation in 1996 near the small town of Pai-Ti at the western end of the lake. This plant is the largest in Tibet
CA2487: Animals grazing on Yamdrok Lake, also known as Yamdok Yumtso. Tibetans consider sacred lakes, like the mountains, as they are abodes of the gods, protectors and are therefore endowed with special spiritual powers. Yamdrok Lake is one of the four holy lakes, in particular, is believed to have powers of divination, everyone from the Dalai Lama to the local people make pilgrimages to its shore. The other sacred lakes are Lhamo La-tso, Namtso and Manasarovar.
CA2503: Some settlements before Yamdrok Lake, also known as Yamdok Yumtso. The lake is revered as a talisman and is said to be part of the vital spirit of the Tibetan nation. It is the largest lake in southern Tibet and said that if the water is secasen, Tibet would not be habitable. The lake is the famous monastery Samding, located on a peninsula that juts into the lake. This monastery is the only Tibetan monastery by a female reincarnation. Since it is a female convent, the Abbess leading a community of about thirty monks and nuns. The monastery of Samding was where Pakman Dorje, the only woman lama of Tibet, stayed and presided, and is located south of Lake Yamdrok Yumtso.
CA2533: Yamdrok Lake, also known as Yamdok Yumtso. There are schools of fish that live in the lake Yamdok Yumtso, which are commercially exploited by the local population. From April to October, catches from this lake are sold in the markets of Lhasa, the provincial capital. In addition, the lake's islands serve as a land of rich pastures to local pastors.
CA2545: A Yak grazing at the foot of Lake Yamdrok, also known as Yamdok Yumtso. Yamdrok Lake in Tibetan, is called Yumtso Yamdrok is one of the three largest sacred lakes in Tibet, has more than 72 km (45 miles) long, surrounded by many mountains and snow elimentado by numerous streams. South of the lake, there is an output current at its western end.
CA2570: Lake Yamdrok seen passing Kamba La. The lake is located about 90 km west of the Tibetan town (about 60,000 inhabitants in 2003) and about 100 km northeast of the capital. The lake of unknown depth, is fan-shaped, opening just to the south and north. The lake shore is mountainous, very embattled, with numerous bays and inlets. Yamdrok The lake freezes in winter. Yamdrok Lake has a power plant was completed and put into operation in 1996 near the small town of Pai-Ti at the western end of the lake. This plant is the largest in Tibet.
CA2580: Lake Yamdrok seen passing Kamba La. A stone tells us that we are at 4441 meters over sea level. Tibetans consider sacred lakes, like the mountains, as they are abodes of the gods, protectors and are therefore endowed with spiritual powers especiales.Todos make pilgrimages to its shore.
CA2599: A Yak eating Yamdrok Lake up to the Kamba La pass. This lake, in addition to its official name, nicknames also has some beautiful and alive as the Coral or Jade Green Lake. The Coral is derived from its irregular shape.
CA2602: Lake Yamdrok seen passing Kamba La. This lake is a natural wonder surrounded by green mountains and with some snowy peak as Ninjingkangsan.
CA2620: Barkhor Square to commemorate the 60th anniversary of China's occupation of Tibet. The Plaza is located in the old area of ??Lhasa City, Tibet, which is located in the fabulous The Jokhang Temple, Lhasa, Tibet. The Tibetan people have always been very proud of it. It is a symbol of Lhasa and is a perfect destination for all tourists. Today, there are still many pilgrims even celebrating ruedas.Caminan prayer clockwise from dawn to dusk. It also has many pilgrims can see with their own bodies moving along the calle.Incluso some of them are teenagers and have traveled many miles on foot to reach this sacred place.
CA2634: A mother with her daughter eating a pole in the Barkhor Square. In Lhasa, which is the capital of Tibet, is one of the shopping that attracts visitors like bees to honey. This is the Barkhor Street which is located in the heart of the city and surrounding the Jokhang temple. In the past, was the "holy path" in the eyes of the Tibetans. Now is also the commercial center, an old district with colorful Tibetan features. The Barkhor Street have recently been extended and wide area networks, called Barkhor Square, set in front of the Jokhang Temple. There, the floor is paved with stone slabs, retaining the antique look.
CA2636: near the Jokhang Temple Pilgrims making the kora. The Jokhang temple has more than 1,300 years old and his visit was perhaps the most authentic we do in China, being inside a living temple, full of faithful praying for you see, lighting candles and pouring butter yak to them to not turn off. Despite containing a large image of Buddha, made of solid gold, the feeling that we caused this temple was not precisely that of ostentatious, but rather the opposite: it's all very simple.
CA2657: Potala Palace. Lhasa. Located in Hongshan Mountain in Lhasa, capital of the Autonomous Region of Tibet, the Potala Palace is 3,700 m above sea level. Is said to mark the arrival of Princess Wen Cheng of the Tang imperial family, the Tibetan King Sontsa Gampo had built the magnificent palace of a thousand rooms and halls in the year 631. It occupies an area of ??410,000 square meters and has a floor space of 130,000 square meters. This is the quintessence of ancient Tibetan architecture.
CA2677: Potala Palace. Lhasa. The main part has 13 floors, and extends from the foot of the hill to the top of it. It comprises the White Palace in the eastern part, which served as a study room and bedroom of the Dalai Lama, the Red Palace in the central part, for the reading of Buddhist sutras, and a hall for the stupa in which are preserved remains of the Dalai Lamas from different periods.
CA2701: Potala Palace. Lhasa. To the west, the bedrooms are white for the bonzes of confidence that served the Dalai Lama. Before the Red Palace, there is a white wall where holidays are displayed the large portrait of Buddha.
CA2710: Potala Palace. Lhasa. Sacred place of Tibetan Buddhists, many pilgrims and tourists flock there every year. The tour starts at the foot of the hill, where there is an unmarked trail. It climbs stairs and roofs of stone zigzagging up to the East Gate, which shows the images of the four guardian gods.
CA2735: Inside the Potala Palace. Lhasa. The murals in the Potala Palace, totaling 2,500 square meters. Five of the palaces have copper roofs and are painted gold. Its design and construction taking into account the sunlight of the plateau, and its broad and solid foundations there are tunnels and windy. Each room or bedroom has a skylight for lighting and ventilation. Columns and beams are carved palace and the walls have murals colorful. Since ancient times Tibetans usually painted wood and ceramic pieces.
CA2787: Inside the Potala Palace. Lhasa. The Potala Palace retains many pieces of iron, copper, gold and silver, including weapons and armor of the Tubo Kingdom. But there are also liturgical vessels, skins and leather, textiles and paper, gold and books, stamps, porcelain, jade, emeralds and carved vessels that the emperors of the national government gave the Dalai Lama.
CA2805: Views of Lhasa from the Potala Palace. Lhasa is the capital of Tibet, located on the Tibetan plateau surrounded by mountains of the Himalayas. It has a population of about 250,000. It lies at an altitude of 3,650 meters above sea level in the Brahmaputra River valley being the highest city in Asia and one of the highest in the world, while the amount of oxygen available is only 68% of available at sea level. The city is the traditional seat of the strips and place where the Potala Palace, Norbulingka and Jokhang Temple, including the World Heritage Humanidad2 and is considered by Tibetan Buddhism's most sacred center of Tibet.
CA2832: Potala Palace. Lhasa. In 1961, the Potala Palace was included among the relics under state protection. The palace was restored in 1989 with funds allocated by the Central Government. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1994.
CA2839: Cylinders or prayer mills located in the bottom of the Potala Palace. Lhasa. In its early shamanism was one of the most important sources of thought, and led over time to a way of thinking characteristic of Tibet, known as the Bon tradition. For shamans, ailments may have a physical origin, in which case it uses a healer, or due to a disturbance of the spirit, basically energy, in this case uses a shaman, through appropriate practices rebalance vital energy. The shaman (Sanskrit 'Sramana') is a person of power, whose primary mission of healing. As are the distinctive elements that can voluntarily enter altered states of consciousness, may undertake "travel" inland in search of knowledge to help others. In the case of Tibetan shaman helped cylinders flags and prayer, repeating mantras to benefit from its vibrations, guardian spirits and invoke various forms of meditation, among others.
CA2849: Pilgrims near the Potala Palace by the kora. The Potala Palace is located in the Red Hill in downtown Lhasa. "Potala" is the phonetic adaptation of "Putuo" which in Sanskrit means "island living Buddha of Mercy." This imposing building was begun in the 7th century, ie at the time of the Tubo Kingdom. By then it was called Red Hill Palace. When the kingdom fell into decline, the palace suffered great damage and gradually fell into oblivion. In the 17th century, the Fifth Dalai Lama rebuilt it and the majestic palace became the political and religious center of Tíbet.Con its 13 stories and 110 meters high, is the highest ancient building now existing in Tibet. Its structure is up with stone and wood walls, which reach a maximum thickness of 5 meters, are granite, the foundations of the palace lie deep in the rocky ground. On the outer wall, ceiling and adorned with a gold-colored columns, cast iron was introduced to increase the resistance to earthquakes. At the same time, thereby cleverly resolved the problem of how to protect old buildings from lightning. The palace was thus able to survive centuries of natural disasters.
CA2887: An old man with his son in Tsepak Lhakhang Monastery. Lhasa. Women make a procession around the temple to ask the god of longevity (Cherisi chepal) have a good birth, or elderly people to pray.
CA2897: A woman with a picture of a deity out of Tsepak Lhakhang Monastery. Lhasa. Women make a procession around the temple to ask the god of longevity (Cherisi chepal) have a good birth, or elderly people to pray.
CA2912: Several women spin the prayer wheels in Tsepak Lhakhang Monastery. Lhasa. Women make a procession around the temple to ask the god of longevity (Cherisi chepal) have a good birth, or elderly people to pray.
CA2923: Exterior Tsepak Lhakhang Monastery. Lhasa. Women make a procession around the temple to ask the god of longevity (Cherisi chepal) have a good birth, or elderly people to pray.
CA2956: Monk praying inside the Tsepak Lhakhang Monastery. Lhasa. Women make a procession around the temple to ask the god of longevity (Cherisi chepal) have a good birth, or elderly people to pray.
CA2999: A woman carrying her child on the streets of Lhasa. Lhasa's history is the history of Tibet. Since it became capital of the country when it was first unified under Sontsa Gampo, losing its importance with the collapse of Tibet in the ninth century. Never be the capital until 1642 when the Fifth Dalai Lama to ascend to power. Under the leadership of this ruler is when building the Lhasa currently being visited, as it was during his years in office when they got the most representative buildings of the city, including the Potala Palace and other monasteries. Since then its importance will grow. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was not only the political and religious center of Tibet, but also the economic center they were headed the caravan of merchants and the place where the nobles sent their children to live with the hope of favors Government or any of the great monasteries. The only major population center halfway across the country, has suffered in recent years of Chinese emigration, with important positions in the administration and the military, creating in fact two cities. The traditional city, Tibetan, and modern, and China.
CA3009: A baker in the streets of Lhasa. The Tibetan cuisine is characterized by harsh environmental conditions that mark the high altitudes (over 4,500 m) in Tibet, making the ingredients of their dishes are high in energy, and plenty of protein intake.
CA3092: Drepung Monastery during the Yogurt Festival, also known as Shoton Festival. The Shoton Festival (Festival of yogurt), usually held in the sixth month of Tibetan calendar, is one of the most important festivals in Tibetan Buddhism. It is a traditional holiday with a long history in the history of Tibet, this holiday means that people drink yogurt according to the explanation of the Tibetans. Subsequently, as the activities of the festival gradually became a Tibetan opera activity as an important part, people are also known as the Tibetan Opera Festival.
CA3132: Drepung Monastery during the Yogurt Festival, also known as Shoton Festival. This festival is not only popular in the city of Lhasa, but also in the city of Gyangtse. The Shoton Festival in Gyangtsese later established in the city of Lhasa, and is called by locals Semuqinbo. Before the 17th century, Shoton was exclusively religious celebration. According to the commandments and rules of Tibetan Buddhism, monks are not allowed to leave the monasteries of several tens of days in the summer to the lifting of the ban. And when they were able to leave the monasteries, the premises were offered alms of yogurt (Sho in Tibetan) to them. In addition to the banquet of yogurt, the monks also had fun with leisure activities and entertainment. This is the origin of the Shoton. Q7 century, the government of Qjng Dynasty (1644-1911) formally conferred nobility tiles in the fifth Dalai Lama and the Panchen room, and religion, Tibetan politics integrated system has been strengthened so much. Shoton activities were more colorful then, and people began to perform Tibetan opera. Consequently, the fixed Shoton Festival was established. Later, religious activities and entertainment are combined together during the festival, the range of the party spread from the Potala Palace in Norbulingka, and people were allowed to enter the monasteries of Tibetan opera. After that, the Shoton Festival activities were so complete that a fixed set of celebrations for the festival came into being.
CA3186: Drepung Monastery during the Yogurt Festival, also known as Shoton Festival. A huge portrait of a Buddhist religious figure made in embroidered silk is displayed every year in the mountains of Tibet. On the thirtieth day of the sixth month of Tibetan calendar, the monks end 100 days of recollection within the monasteries that celebrate the Shoton Festival. Religious practice, carried out from the SXI, has now become a cultural festival that attracts locals and visitors. Tradition dictates that when they leave their confinement lamas people should give them yogurt and opera performances make for them. Hence its name, as Shoton literally means "sour milk banquet." The five days of the festival begins with an exhibition of portraits of Buddha or holy figures of religious belief, the most famous displays in the mountains of Tibet. About 100 lamas out of his cell carrying the giant portrait made for decades in embroidered silk, and deploy in the open field under the watchful eye of hundreds of believers who come to make offerings and requests. The magnificent art BOUT can only be seen for about two hours near the monastery of Drepung monks since then roll it back carefully to confine it for another whole year. CA3197: Drepung Monastery during the Yogurt Festival, also known as Shoton Festival. Shoton Festival takes place Yogurt or the 30th day of sixth month (August) since the seventeenth century, when monks practiced their summer retreat and pilgrims ate them with yogurt and staged operas to entertain. Currently operas continue to show huge Norbulinga and representations of Buddha in the Drepung Monastery. Shoton The Tibetan word literally means "yogurt banquet." From its origins back in the eleventh century, during the celebration of Shoton Festival, pilgrims offered yoghurt to monks and nuns when they finished their retreats to meditate at the end of summer. If the Chinese and let you have the opportunity to be in Tibet later this month, you can enjoy Tibetan culture. We going to the races, traditional Tibetan music and dance, etc.. Although undoubtedly the most impressive moment is when deploying a huge thangka of 35 meters long on the slopes of Drepung Monastery, about 8 kilometers from Lhasa.
CA3275: Drepung Monastery during the Yogurt Festival, also known as Shoton Festival. A huge portrait of a Buddhist religious figure made in embroidered silk is displayed every year in the mountains of Tibet. On the thirtieth day of the sixth month of Tibetan calendar, the monks end 100 days of recollection within the monasteries that celebrate the Shoton Festival. Religious practice, carried out from the SXI, has now become a cultural festival that attracts locals and visitors. Tradition dictates that when they leave their confinement lamas people should give them yogurt and opera performances make for them. Hence its name, as Shoton literally means "sour milk banquet."
CA3341: Drepung monastery surroundings during the Yogurt Festival, also known as Shoton Festival. The Day festival in Tibet Shoton empienza of August 29 and ends September 4th, at this time the Chinese government does not manage the Tibet visa for foreigners. If you wish to travel to Tibet need to enter Tibet before August 29 or after September 4. Part of the repression suffered by this self-China by the communist regime.
CA3353: Drepung monastery surroundings during the Yogurt Festival, also known as Shoton Festival. Each year in the month of August, between 35,000 and 40,000 tourists flock to Lhasa, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region, on the occasion of the celebration of Shoton Festival, together with the Tibetan New Year, is considered the most popular festival of Tibetan culture and tradition. The Festival, which dates from the eleventh century, is also known as the Yogurt Festival because the inhabitants of the region offered yogurt to those monks who had completed their retreat. Since the seventeenth century, the festival formerly held exclusively for religious, has become the perfect occasion for Buddhist rituals, folk performances of Tibetan opera and yaks and horses racing. The Festival begins early in the morning at the Drepung Monastery a few miles from the city, when 100 lamas carry a Thangka (typical painted or embroidered tapestry) with the image of Sakyamuni Buddha, 35 meters long, up a hill close to the monastery and operate for visitors to admire and seek health and happiness. The celebrations continue for a week at the Norbulingka, former summer residence of the Dalai Lama, which organizes performances of Tibetan operas provinces. In the beautiful park of the palace, Tibetans and their families gather for picnics. Included in most of the tourist routes that take place in August, in recent editions, the festival has been "contaminated" by the effect of commercial development of the area, with non-traditional events such as fairs and car showrooms and real estate. In 2010, during fairs and exhibitions were signed commercial contracts with a value investment than 4,000 billion yuan.
CA3358: Drepung Monastery during the Yogurt Festival, also known as Shoton Festival. Pilgrims burning incense around Drepung. Generally, the festival takes place Shoton the last two weeks of August, the exact dates change from year to year depending on the lunar calendar. This event is also known as the festival of opera, and you will see performances by singers and acrobats throughout the city and especially in the summer palace of the Dalai Lama, known as Norbalinka.
CA3364: Drepung Monastery during the Yogurt Festival, also known as Shoton Festival. Drepung Monastery was founded in 1416 by Tsongkhapa's disciple Jamyang Choeje. It was the home of the Dalai Lamas before the Potala Palace was built in the 17th century. It resembles a pile of white rice at a distance, what was called "Monastery of the rice harvest" (Drepung Gompa) in Tibetan. The monastery he was relatively well in the Cultural Revolution (1966 to 1977), but their participation in demonstrations for independence in 1987 has allowed a close surveillance by the Chinese government. On September 27, 1987, about 20 monks from Drepung unfurled banners and a Tibetan flag and marched around the Barkhor in Lhasa before being arrested in front of the headquarters of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Today, a compound of the Public Security Bureau is below the monastery and "monks painting" keep a close watch on the activities of everyday life. The most venerated image of Drepung is the statue of Maitreya Buddha (future Buddha), 15 meters high and designed by Tsongkhapa located on the third floor of the main building. Visitors are offered holy water to receive it. In the Buddhist scriptures second floor and first floor contains many Buddha statues and other decorations. A chapel north of the second floor houses a sacred mirror said to cure diseases of the face of those who look at it. Similarly, several yards into the woods around the monastery used by monks to discuss the sutras (Buddhist scriptures). The winners of the debates can take an examination for the higher degree of Geshi. One of the traditional events taking place in elMonasterio Shoton Festival is held every August, where the monks go to the mountains for meditation. Now back to the monastery, they participate in the festivities, including performances of Tibetan opera.
CA3408: Sale of coins, belts and antiques in a street stall near the market of Lhasa. A perfect place to buy souvenirs.
CA3419: Sale of yak butter in a shop in Lhasa market. The Yak butter milk are very important in Tibet (used in a salty butter tea very popular in the regions of the Himalayas, Bhutan, Nepal and India), the tsampa that uses barley flour mixed with butter Yak milk is considered a staple.
CA3431: Sale of nuts at a store near Lhasa market. Around the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa is the market. A large flea market where you can buy local crafts, prayer wheels, Buddha called shells, sticks, coins, Tibetan masks, thermos for tea and yak endless things. The market is alive and full of people ... I really do not know if Lhasa has the capacity to consume everything that is sold there.
CA3437: Barkhor Square. Lhasa. Barkhor circuit is in the Tibetan part of Lhasa and begins in the Barkhor Square. Here is the world's most sacred temple of Tibetan Buddhism, the Jokhang, around which there is a set of streets and alleys full of people that bypass the route in the direction of clockwise in groups or alone. Walking through these streets and alleys is exciting. The mixture of people, ethnicities, costumes, hairstyles, hats and colorful fabrics that stand on the white walls with windows decorated with bright colors and plants. You can not help but notice the thousand details that move around you. But not only images Barkhor circuit surprise visitors. Also the sounds are new ... there is constant music of worship and prayer. Bodies can be heard on the floor crawling for prayers. You can hear the murmur of mantras. You can hear the spinning prayer wheels sending their prayers to the wind. You hear meditation necklaces with 108 balls and experienced old hands are linked following.
CA3448: A Tibetan boy dressed in traditional costume in Lhasa.
CA3452: A Tibetan boy mill spins his prayer in the streets of Lhasa. Thousands of Tibetans debotos spin their prayer wheels, while doing the Kora around Kokhang and recite their prayers. Inside the mill there is a paper written with the prayer recited, so that when you spin once, as if reciting the prayer.
CA3453: A pilgrim spinning their prayer wheels while doing the kora around the Jokhang Temple. "Om mani padme hum" repeated ad nauseam thousands of Tibetans in their tireless round the Jokhang Temple, the most famous Buddhist temples in Lhasa in Tibet, the spiritual center of the city. It is the area known as Barkor, the true heart of the city. While not leave say their mantras spinning their prayer wheels, always in the direction of clockwise.
CA3473: A Tibetan dressed in typical fashion, including its ardornos in turquoise. The turquoise is mined in eastern Tibet, western, and around Lhasa. The richness of color is the determining factor in the value of a turquoise: In general, most desirable color is dark blue, however, in Tibet are most valued more greenish blue. It is believed that the word turquoise comes from the relationship with Turkey as a country where traded since antiquity, although in Turkey are not Turks. It was probably the first to be introduced in Europe through Turkey, along with other products from the Silk Road. The turquoise did not become important until an ornamental stone the fourteenth century. The stones were exported to Germany, where they were known as Turkish Steins, which translates as "Turkish stone". When the stones arrived in France, the German name means turquoise Pierre - stone from Turkey.
CA3483: The faithful revolve around the Potala Palace Jokhang or reciting their prayers and spinning mills, some are doing a real exercise and standing praying and suddenly put his hands on his head and thrown to the ground full length are. Others work to beg and lie on the floor to pray continually for anyone who wants to give them a tip.
CA3509: A father walks with his children on the streets of Lhasa, near the Jokhang Temple.
CA3538: A pilgrim spins his prayer mill while doing the kora around the Jokhang Temple. Lhasa. In all Buddhist temples there are plenty of these mills and pilgrims passing through them by making them rotate counterclockwise clock. Thus, their prayers are attacks by the deities to whom they pray. Founded in North India in the fifteenth century BC, Buddhism is one of the great religions of the world. The doctrine of Buddha is built around the theme of suffering and the means to cross. After being released in India for several centuries, this religion awakened in the Far East to a religious philosophy and original ethics. Buddha left no writings. His words were transmitted orally by his faithful were gathered in the sacred texts.
CA3569: The pilgrims spinning their prayer wheels as they make the kora around the Jokhang Temple. Lhasa. They come in all shapes and sizes, from some that fit in the palm of the hand to some huge found in monasteries and even the electrical system is driven by water or by the rivers. Has within a few scrolls are handwritten mantras, usually in their ancient language, Sanskrit, scrolls that can be ten to twelve feet long inside perfectly wrapped and that motion on the sky for your prayers and prayers.
CA3609: Lhasa Railway Station. Since opening the railway between Beijing and Lhasa in 2006, many tourists choose this way to get to Tibet. This is a journey of 4062 miles between Beijing and Lhasa, nearly 48 hours through some of the deepest parts of China. Although the project was conceived in 1956 through 2006, the line has not been open to traffic. More than 3,300 million Euros and 30,000 employees helped build the highest railway line and one of the most complex as well, as 960 kilometers performed more than 4,000 meters high and 550 kilometers pass on thick layers of ice, so it was necessary to build pillars high above the ground and provide the track with a heating system against freezing. In the Kunlun Mountains cross the world's longest tunnel built on frozen ground and reach the highest point on the planet railway station in Tanggula. However, the train is disputed between the Chinese government and the Tibetan Dalai Lama supporters, for while the former is defended as a symbol of development for the local economy, the latter argue that the rail line will encourage the influx of Han, which could cause the extinction of Tibetan culture.
CA3622: Lhasa Railway Station. China launched the first Express to Tibet, the highest in the world - They call it Way to Heaven. The first train to Tibet, opened in 2006 by China, through a paradise of icy mountains, and its highest point, reaches 5072 meters in the mountains, Tibetan Tanggula-which makes it the highest railway the world. Not for nothing under the seats there oxygen masks for each passenger, while the windows have a filter that prevents the passage of ultraviolet rays (which are more potent and harmful to the increase in height). Qinghai-Tibet line, the first phase was begun in secret in the 50's, covers the route from Beijing to Lhasa, capital of Tibet, in an amazing journey that crosses China from northeast to southwest, which curiously is shorter in uphill leg (47 hours and 28 minutes) than in the downhill turn (48 hours). While the Chinese government, which invested 4.2 billion dollars in construction, says the new line will bring to Tibet from their isolation and help invigorate the economy (and is expected to increase the number of tourists in 4000 people a day) in Tibet is interpreted as a step in the colonization of this small country occupied by China since 1951. On the other hand, environmentalists fear the impact of the train in permafrost or endangered animals. Beijing, meanwhile, announced that to mitigate the ecological damage will invest 187.5 million dollars. Also, the train windows tightly closed to prevent objects being thrown outside, especially as it passes through the Hoh Xil Nature Reserve, home of the Tibetan antelope.
CA3656: Attractive landscape of Lhasa train journey to Shanghai. Yuzhu Peak: with 6178 meters is the highest point of the Kunlun Mountains. The views of the mountains from here are spectacular. Hopefully, it will be also possible to see yaks too common species or Tibetan antelope. Chuma River: This river is considered as the point of convergence of different antelope migration routes. Tuotuo River: This river feeds the Yangtze River, the third longest in the world and the largest in China. Buqiangge: The station is located at 4823 meters above sea level, surrounded by vast prairies. Tanggula: highest railway station in the world at 5068 meters, where you have extraordinary views of the mountains Tanggula. Lake Cuon: with an area of ??400 km2 and 4594 meters, is one of the largest fresh water lakes that are high. In winter, the frozen waters reflect sunlight much like a kaleidoscope, while herds of Tibetan yaks grazing on its banks, in addition to cranes, snow leopards, donkeys, swans ... Nakqu: extensive pastures where horses are done racing. Damxung, located 60 km. Lhasa, the region rich in wildlife, is the northern gateway to the Tibetan capital. Yangbajain: zone of sulfate-rich hot springs and beautiful scenery hydrogen.

TIBET AND CHINA, IMPOSIBLE DIALOG

The commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the flight of the Dalai Lama to India has reiterated the public debate on the present and future of the Chinese presence in Tibet. The Dalai Lama's flight meant then (1959) the failure of the Chinese government's commitment, proclaimed in 1949, with the Tibetan elites (called "seventeen points", 1951), both religious and aristocratic, always reluctant to accept any minimal reform. In the following years, Mao displayed a strong ideological campaign supported by an active policy of redistribution of land among the peasants. Despite the time elapsed, the Chinese government is far from having found an acceptable modus vivendi in the region.

It seems that China has tried almost everything to achieve mastery in Tibet secessionist claims. Unlike the early decades of the Republic of China, where the strong Maoist ideology was synonymous with severe repression, the reform and opening to the death of Mao opened other expectations, especially in the eighties, when Deng Xiaoping dialogue resumes the emissaries of the Dalai Lama and authorizes up to three missions from exile moving to Tibet, causing episodes of popular enthusiasm. During the tenure of Hu Yaobang, general secretary of the CPC between 1981 and 1987, produced some progress as some recovery in the Tibetan language (returning to school), the temporary cessation of immigration of the majority Han nationality (representing the 93% of China's population), the release of prisoners and the opening to tourism. In parallel, Hu, who came to be called "colonial" Maoist policy, also promoted a progressive participation of Tibetans in the administration of the autonomous region, although most of the senior positions were held by the Han. At the end of the decade, the ouster of Hu Yaobang means to return to Tibet open repression, led by Hu Jintao, the current president of China and CPC General Secretary, who in March 1989 declared martial law.

When not a few Chinese leaders believed the Tibetan problem reduced to action "diplomatic" the Dalai Lama in exile (very intense even though no state government officially recognized), the revolt of March 2008 they came to remember their roots deep internal spoiling before the world's major economic and technological advances that China hoped to present as a sign of identity in Olympic effervescence.

The latest Chinese strategy regarding Tibet emphasizes the modernization of its infrastructure and the strengthening of its economic integration with the rest of the country. The Qinghai-Tibet railway, which opened in the summer of 2006, symbolizes the new era, marked by promoting the association of identity culture and tourism, in order to dilute Tibetan religiosity progressively stronger. The creation of a middle class Tibetan furthest from the religious fervor and able to accept the status quo, is their last hope.

Anyone who has visited Tibet will be able to see clearly the marked differences between the Han and Tibetans. Beyond the mere physical appearance and way of being, ways of life product and relationship with physical space completely different compared to the endless Tibetan mystic, pragmatism and pursuit of harmony and order in the Land of the have, confront, at first glance, like night and day. Today in Lhasa, while Hui Muslims build public works, the Tibetans have negotiated and continue with your prayers, pending the state of his mind and with an eye to the sky.

A region of great strategic importance

Chinese interest in Tibet, claiming it as their own since the thirteenth century when overseeing the territory (which then included portions of the now vast regions of Sichuan and Qinghai) through imperial envoys, for several reasons. First, strategic and military, as their domain lets you protect and short overwhelmingly against any threat that may come from India, a historic rival. The Tibetan plateau provides privileged access to the entire Indian subcontinent. Moreover, Tibetan natural resources are of special value to China. Do not forget that retains 30% of China's water reserves. Its main rivers are born here, valuable for its ability to irrigate agricultural areas, but also because it is economic and commercial hubs throughout central China. Dominating the upper reaches of these rivers (not only in relation to the Chinese space but also of Indochina, India, Burma and Pakistan), ensures a very important influence. Similarly, stocks of natural resources (gold, silver, copper, chromium, uranium, lithium ....) are of vital value for a growing China. Forest biomass, once the second largest in China, has been decimated in recent decades, which has made necessary a new replanting of trees, now in its infancy, to halt desertification.

To justify its modernization efforts, the Chinese authorities remind the feudal character of traditional Tibet. This year, for the first time on March 28 will be held on Day Serfs Emancipation, holiday in Tibet. The Tibetan nobility possessed both land villages or nomadic people who lived in them, putting harsh repression against those who ventured to organize democratic and republican movements (as in the 30s of last century with Lungshar, former minister and favorite of the 13th Dalai Lama). Beside the lay nobility, monasteries were not only places of worship but stately entities possessing thousands of servants whose main role was to feed the monks.

The failure of the strategy of repression leads to alternating mode, the search for new forms of conquest and seduction of the Tibetan population. In recent decades, it is, above all, to improve their standard of living with the hope that it would reduce the influence of the pro-independence and break the religious control which functions as a shield against the influence have. Politically, however, few things move. The autonomy offered by Beijing is nominal, with little actual content, and always mediated by the local head of the CCP, in whom lies the true power.

In recent years, in the order have been promoted academic studies and debates to address the reform of Chinese autonomy, five in total (Tibet, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and Guangxi), but with little translation, for the moment, in the political dimension of fear of its consequences. However, it is a basic requirement of the modernization of the state and democratization in the catalog for the coming years, a roadmap that the CCP has begun to draw in the XVII Congress in the fall of 2007.

A regional impetus from China could be settled renounces Tibetan independence movement. But Beijing denounced as fallacious this position, ensuring the existence of a hidden agenda (claim of historic Tibet, Chinese troops expelled, immigration control) that prevents any agreement. Furthermore, the democratization process initiated in 1960 in the Tibetan exile movement, with a separation of powers formally established, however, continues to enthrone the Dalai Lama as a leading figure in this peculiar theocracy, raises difficult issues resolution in the current political system in China. Despite the modernization that marked the entry into force of the Interim Constitution of 1963, adopted in exile, now nothing to prevent the death of the current Dalai Lama, another prominent monk to be elected as head of the Tibetan state. The only difference from the current system for more than three centuries is that the assumption of liability will not be automatic, but democratically legitimized.

That delicate separation between religion and politics not only affects the Tibetan Buddhism, but also, paradoxically, the official Chinese communism. Obsessed with the need to control the reincarnation process to influence the power scale Tibetan inspired reforms introduced by Emperor Qianlong in the eighteenth Século, the CCP has ventured to designate a Panchen Lama (the second hierarchy in Buddhism Tibetan) affection for their thesis, while appointed by the Dalai Lama is in the hands of the Chinese government and missing. That partisan meddling in religious affairs in China occurs in all other faiths, including Catholic, and in this case, is the main obstacle to normalizing relations with the Vatican, one of the few states that still recognizes diplomatically to Republic of China (Taiwan). The confusion caused by the existence of two Panchen Lama could be extended to the Dalai Lama, the death of the current.

Two diplomacy in conflict

In the white paper on 50 years of democratic reform in Tibet, recently published by the Chinese government accuses the West of using this issue to damage China's image in the world. Indeed, it is astonishing that arouses sympathy Dalai Lama in many Western capitals, usually very poorly committed to claims of other nationalist movements. The memory of the CIA destabilization programs of the sixties, which had the help of two brothers of the current Dalai Lama, is often remembered.

The Tibetan issue is poised to become the number one requirement of Chinese diplomacy to enter cooperative linkages with other countries. The normalization of relations with the Taiwan authorities, with whom we negotiate a diplomatic truce, makes the Tibetan issue in the most delicate for diplomacy. The international siege to the Tibetan government in exile and the requirement of a neutral and detached in this matter have been erected in attitudes prioriarias representatives of overseas Chinese.

During the recent session of the National People's Congress, the Chinese macrolegislativo, Yang Jiechi, foreign minister, urged foreign governments "not to allow the Dalai Lama to visit their countries or territories used for separatist activities." That's what I expect from any country interested in preserving its ties with China. For this reason, Beijing has virtually frozen relations with France (Sarkozy met with the Dalai Lama last December), which has been marginalized from major trade missions driven by China in recent months in Europe (no uniform position also in this matter) to help overcome the current international economic crisis (also avoided Italy where the city of Rome was named honorary citizen).

The future

How the Tibetan issue can evolve in the coming years? The Chinese government is confident that the combination of selective repression, multiplication of propaganda, promotion of population growth and economic modernization have contribute to crumble Tibetan cohesion or reduce its political significance. The advanced age of the Dalai Lama suggests an imminent scenario of confusion that could exacerbate uncertainty scenarios favoring the emergence of radical groups today basically silenced and subjected to moral and political authority of the Dalai Lama. The increasing use of violence against the Chinese presence would constitute a clear expression of Tibetan impotence and could damage the international image of their cause.

The dialogue is the main obstacle the Chinese political stagnation and continue, it appears that there will be long Tibetan problem. Led by figures of little political significance and controlled by the hardliners and the military regime, failure is part of their planning. The arrangement appears to Beijing to negotiate in good faith a sham designed to soothe Western criticism, but lacks sufficient political will. For China, the most important in the current historical time is not giving any sign of weakness. The "national unity" is a sacred goal for those who believe they have at hand to overcome the historical legacy of decadence that made segregation and loss of significant parts of its territory. The reunification of the whole Chinese nation is the other side of reform. It is therefore possible to move towards Taiwan Confederation to significant autonomy in Tibet. The first allows binding formulas arbitrate, the second to Chinese eyes, awakens doubts about the maintenance of the unit. Chinese President Hu Jintao has called for building a Great Wall against separatism and in defense of the unity of the motherland. In democratic Taiwan, the KMT, unlike the opposition and pro-independence DPP supports continental policy regarding Tibet.

Curbing Tibetan claims is also a resounding warning to other minorities, especially the Uighurs in Xinjiang, some 8.3 million Muslims living in the vast region bordering Central Asia, engaged in a violent strategy that has alerted Chinese military officials. The Defense Ministry spokesman Hu Changming, warned in presenting the latest report on national defense would be "no compromise or tolerance" with the rebels in eastern Turkestan. This document recognizes that separatism is the most serious threat to the unity of the nation and a challenge for security forces. Xingjiang in 2008 became the second largest oil production base in China, behind only Heilongjiang. Its oil and gas reserves are estimated at 20,900 million tons and 10.8 billion cubic meters, respectively.

The rise of Chinese nationalism or have proper stimulates social misunderstanding and rejection of the Tibetan demands. In society grow up racist and discriminatory feelings against those nationalities that are not "satisfied" with everything "do for them".

The only way to overcome the siege that China is currently experiencing the Tibetan issue is to create the conditions for creating a new loyalty based on respect for Tibetan identity and self-government. Beijing has shown an unusual and amazing creativity to innovate formulas and mechanisms to promote a spectacular economic development. Even in the political-territorial, the absence of dogmas to solve problems such as the handover of Hong Kong or the return of Macao, or the flexibility suggested when addressing the problem Taiwanese, yet always based on the existence of one China, deliberate contrast with the inability shown in relation to the issue of minority nationalities in general and Tibet in particular. Attempts to solve the problems associated with trying to reduce political unity and diversity requirements development and structuring to mere ethnological or anthropological problems hardly bring calm.

 

China detains hundreds in a new wave of repression in Tibet (BBC 31/05/12 )

The wave of immolations to bonzo holding Tibetans in China for over a year does not stop, and the Government has responded with arrests and increased deployment of security forces in the affected areas , which have little to do to put end the string of suicides.

The authorities have carried out a campaign of arrests in Lhasa this week following the immolation of two Tibetans on Sunday in the capital of the autonomous region . About 600 people have been arrested , according to Radio Free Asia ( RFA ) , linked through the Government of the United States, which has a Tibetan -language service . The same source said that among those arrested several suspects have recorded the immolations with their mobile phones and foreign tourists who might be witnesses to the incident were taken to their hotels and their cameras were inspected to see if there were pictures of what happened.
The two people who did it caught fire near the Jokhang Temple , protesting what many Tibetans consider the repression against their religion and culture by Beijing . It was the first time in Lhasa Tibetans immolate themselves from the riots that took place in the capital of Tibet in 2008 . The Chinese news agency Xinhua said on Monday that one of those involved had died and another was hospitalized with serious injuries.
According to RFA , police have arrested in Lhasa local residents and pilgrims from other parts of Tibet and Chinese provinces and led them to detention centers around the capital , many of whom are from outside the region have been expelled from the city . Beijing prohibits the presence of foreign journalists in Tibet and other areas where immolations have occurred , making it nearly impossible to independently verify what happens .

At least 35 people have been burned since March 2011 in various locations in China, of which at least 27 have died , according to advocacy groups for the rights of Tibetans. The Chinese authorities have confirmed some of the incidents , but not all.

The last suicide occurred last Wednesday , according to the Free Tibet ( Free Tibet ), headquartered in London , and RFA. A 33 year-old mother of three children , blew himself up near a Buddhist monastery in Aba prefecture ( Sichuan Province ) . According to some sources , died on the spot and his body was taken to the temple to be cremated .

Almost all immolations to bonzo reported so far have occurred in Sichuan , Qinghai and Gansu , three Chinese provinces outside Tibet Autonomous Region , which have a large Tibetan population . The areas where incidents have occurred outside the scope of the foreign press. The authorities have deployed roadblocks and impede access .

The Dalai Lama has blamed politics " totalitarian " and "unrealistic " in Beijing of the wave of suicides. The government , meanwhile , has described those who have been burned by terrorists , criminals and mentally ill, and has accused the Buddhist leader to entice them to take that step.

Beijing considers the Dalai Lama , who fled to India in 1959 after an uprising that was aborted , a separatist , and says that it treats Tibetans fairly and has invested billions of euros in the Himalayan region to improve living conditions of the people.

The Dalai Lama says that only seeks greater autonomy for Tibet and respect for the rights of Tibetans. Although the Buddhist leader has praised the courage of those who decide to immolate , has insisted that this practice is not encouraged and may have even greater repression response from Beijing .

The trickle of suicides has become a problem of social unrest in China, but also in international image problem for a government that has been trying for years to move an image of harmony and peaceful development. Since 2008 , authorities have reinforced the presence of security forces in Lhasa and prevented for long periods the visit of foreign tourists to Tibet.

The immolations are perceived by many Tibetans and supporters as an act of sacrifice to draw attention to their cause. In an attempt to boost his version of events and shape international opinion , China has issued in May in its TV channels worldwide a documentary accusing the Dalai Lama of orchestrating the wave of immolations . In it , you see Tibetans , mostly alone, engulfed in flames in small towns roads and members of the security forces that are thrown at them with fire extinguishers and blankets to extinguish the fire.

Tibetans contacted interviewed tell how monks living outside China and sent them pictures of potential protesters , which , according to the documentary , is proof of complicity . A narrator also quotes comments supposedly made ??by the Dalai Lama , in support of the immolations while images of Tibetans are being treated in hospital for serious burns.

Hao Peng , Deputy Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in Tibet and director of the Committee of Political and Legal Affairs , has been urging the authorities to tighten controls over the Internet and mobile phone messages , in a sample of the great concern that there in the Government of protests occurring during the Buddhist festival which began last week in Tibet, which will last a month. The sensitivity of the Government before any outbreak of protests and instability is especially high this year , as fall is scheduled to hold from 18th Chinese Communist Party Congress , which will be renewed the party leadership.

The history of the conflict

1912. Tibet takes the fall of the dynasty to proclaim their independence.
1950. After the Civil War, the People's Liberation Army entering Tibet. The Dalai Lama has accepted an agreement with the new Republic .
1959. The Dalai Lama , officials and tens of thousands of Tibetans into exile by failing independence revolt .
1966 . Outbreak of the Cultural Revolution and the Red Guards enter Tibet to raze and destroy thousands of temples and Tibetan monasteries . Some monks are killed.
1979. The Government recognizes religious freedom . Many monasteries reopened its doors .
1988. Start a wave of violent protests and is done harshly repressed by the then head of the CCP in Tibet , Hu Jintao.
2008. It unleashed heavy riots in Lhasa just before the Olympics between Tibetans and members of the ethnic majority Han , considering the occupant.

 

Tibetan funeral

In the high region of Tibet, where people live closer to the sky to the ground, also die clouds near the ground. So the Tibetans awaits them when they die unique funeral ritual : the funeral in heaven.

Near the Sera Monastery , on the outskirts of Lhasa , are held these offices funeral , one of which was witnessing from a distance because it is forbidden to foreigners and uninvited onlookers attend . Before dawn past seven in the morning, still wrapped in the shadows of the night , a truck barely lots bumps dirt road that leads to the small temple where the funeral will take place.

In the discovery of the van rear sways the dead body , wrapped in white clothes . It has been three days since died and, according to mark religious principles of Tibetan Buddhism, the songs of the lamas - who recite passages from the " Book of the Dead " - have helped the soul of the deceased to advance through the 49 levels of " bard " , the intermediate state following the death and precedes a new reincarnation in the wheel of life.

But what awaits the corpse at the end of the rocky path is far from resembling , at least for the Western mind to a better existence. Warming the shelter of a bonfire , sullen and silent man finishes sharpening a huge butcher knife. Using such a tool , and helping with an ax and even a deck , you have to cut up the body into pieces to offer to the flock of vultures , with the first light of day , and fly overhead drawing concentric circles while waiting for their macabre breakfast.

In this area of ??the world which is more than 3,000 meters , so heinous type of burial has become the most widespread way of dismissing the dead by a simple matter of necessity. With too rocky soil to be dug and so little vegetation that prevents wood waste incinerating corpses trees , the alternative has been to use funeral another of the basic elements of life with earth and fire : the air.

He could have been , as in the neighboring Nepal and India , the water, but the Tibetans - unlike Hindus - have never wanted to dirty their rivers with their dead bodies.
For this reason , and except for the lamas , children under 18, pregnant women and deaths from infectious diseases or accidents , the majority of the population is buried in the sky.

To do this , the family deposited the deceased in a fetal position - as came into the world - on a rock or " DURTRO " the ossuary where the Ripper dismember the corpse. As Tibetans believe that the body is only an empty vessel for the soul , have no objection to totally destroy it once it has begun its migration to another reincarnation , it will be better or worse depending on the "karma " you have had in life.

Furthermore, this system will serve to feed the vultures , which will take the soul to heaven to be considered " daikinis " or angels dancing among the clouds.

Under the watchful eye of the relatives of the deceased , which include the awesome scene with astonishing serenity, short descuartizador deftly members of the body and used a sledgehammer to break down bone splinters which are then mixed with barley flour called "tsampa".

As the body is reduced to a shapeless mass of viscera , muscle and bloody flesh , relatives stop waving sticks with which chased away the vultures flock and instantly rushes over the rock , located on the bank of a stream running almost dry and located between a small Buddhist temple and a stupa.

Undaunted , the family does not cease to watch the ritual even when the carrion birds are devouring the remains , despite the vultures spread their wings up to two meters and introduce their bare heads to the bottom of human organs in search of the bite more appetizing.

In less than half an hour , the animals conclude the feast. The vultures are so satisfied , as evidenced by his swollen stomachs that can not soar , making their way among family walk to ascend to a nearby hill to rest and digestion.

On the rock and only a trace of blood and clothes enshrouding the deceased has been buried in the sky for your soul to migrate to a new life.

 

The impact of the Nepal earthquake in Tibet

As the world's focus is turned to Nepal after the devastating earthquake, little is known about the situation in Tibetan areas close to the border, other than reports from the Chinese state media, due to tight information controls, restrictions on foreign visitors and lack of access to media.

Official Chinese reports refer to the deaths of 25 people in the Tibet Autonomous Region, with four missing; 2,511 buildings destroyed, 82 monasteries damaged (13 seriously), and 20,000 relief workers and 4,100 military personnel deployed (April 30).
The death toll may be lower than would be expected given the number of buildings destroyed because during this time of year many people in the area would be out in the fields carrying out agricultural work. But the figures still appear to be low, given the damage admitted in the state media. There are tight restrictions on information flow in the Tibet Autonomous Region due to the ongoing political crackdown, with severe penalties for passing on news that differs from official representations, and no independent non-governmental organizations allowed to operate there.
The 7.8-magnitude quake struck Nepal at 06:11 GMT on April 25, flattening large parts of the capital Kathmandu and causing devastation across the impoverished Himalayan country and region.
The earthquake was felt quite strongly in the southern Tibet city of Shigatse (Chinese: Rigaze), the Tibet Autonomous Region, especially in the Mount Everest (Chomolangma) region and towns of Kyirong (Chinese: Jilong), Tingri (Dingri), Nyalam (Chinese: Nielamu) and Dram (Zhangmu) at the Nepal border, on the other side of the Friendship Bridge. Following the main earthquake, a 5.7 magnitude aftershock occurred later on the same day near the town of Shelkar (Chinese: Xiege'er, also called New Tingri) causing further damage. Further large aftershocks were recorded in Kodari, the first town in Nepal across the border from Tibet, on 27 April. According to various sources, 80% of the buildings in Nyalam have either major damage or have collapsed.
Following the quake, large convoys of military trucks were depicted moving from Lhasa and Shigatse city (which were not affected by the earthquake) to quake-hit areas in the border regions.
At 3:10 pm on April 27, a powerful aftershock hit the town of Dram (Chinese: Zhangmu), which clings to the mountainside above the border point with Nepal. The aftershock destroyed 10% of buildings in Dram, causing cracks or other damage to "all buildings" in the town, according to a Chinese state media report. Pictures were posted in the state media of people being evacuated from Dram.

The news of 25 deaths and four missing was posted yesterday (April 30) in the state media, in contrast to the rolling news coverage from Nepal by the Nepalese and international media since the quake struck.
The political importance of handling relief efforts in this sensitive border area of Tibet was underlined in a statement on April 30 by senior leaders of the Tibet Autonomous Region led by Party Secretary Chen Quanguo. Party Secretary Chen referred to a direct message from China's leader Xi Jinping in his comments, saying that "With the safety and well-being of the disaster area weighing heavily on the hearts of Secretary Xi Jinping and the Party central committee, and with the strong support of the central committee and national organs, the entire Autonomous Region Party, government, military, police, and people will lead the first charge. This fully reflects the warmth of the motherland's great family and the advantages of the socialist system. When one area faces difficulties support will come from all directions, a traditional Chinese value. We must study and implement the spirit and driving forces of the important instructions from Secretary Xi Jinping and other comrades from the central committee, redouble our efforts, fight continuously, and strive to win a complete victory in the earthquake relief field."
Another official report stated the following: "Communications services disrupted in 41 of 388 township centres, Chuteng (Chinese: Qutang) township in Tingri county out of communication, Rongshar cut off. Due to snowfall, road to Kotang township in Kyirong county cut. Due to landslide, road from Kyirong township down to Rizur bridge is blocked. Road to Rongshar township from Tingri blocked by fallen boulders, and is being cleared. Helicopters are landing at Rizur bridge. A lake formed by landslide on that road is being investigated by experts. As of 1 pm on Apr 28, there had been 94 aftershocks, 2 were Richter 7 and 3 were Richter 5 strength. 20,000 relief personnel and 1400 machines have been sent by TAR govt relief coordination command, Tibet Military District has sent 4,100 personnel, 700 machines and 9 helicopters, TAR PAP command has sent 750 personnel and 158 machines, 1300 personnel from TAR PSB Border security command, 266 and 44 vehicles from PSB fire brigade. So far relocation has been arranged for 47,826 people."
In Nepal, 6,204 people are known to have died, as far as is known so far, with a further 13,932 injured across the country. Eighteen climbers died at Mount Everest base camp when the quake sparked an avalanche. The death toll is expected to increase. Seventy-five people were killed in India.
The death toll of both Tibetans and Nepalese in the more remote settlements and villages is not yet known; a Tibetan who has worked with the Nepal Buddhist Federation told ICT that "many Tibetans have lost their lives". Rasuwa – where there is a Tibetan settlement and a primary school with a small clinic – was hit by the quake, and the Tibetan settlements of Tsagang and Bagang in the Sindupalchok district are also badly affected. The Nepalese Buddhist Federation and other groups are coordinating various relief efforts across the community, involving many Himalayan and Tibetan monks and nuns in active rescue and rebuilding work
The Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala reported the deaths of three Tibetans in Nepal on April 28, stating in a report that almost all Tibetans in Nepal are currently staying in tents outside of their homes in open areas, with people still unable to go back to their homes fearing more aftershocks of the earthquake. ICT will report further as more information becomes available.