Brief Introduction of Tibet Autonomous Region

** Geography and Natural Conditions
Area: 1.22 million sq km
Population: 2.74 million in 2004
Tibet, averaging more than 4,000 meters above sea level, forms the main part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and is well known as the "roof of the world." The Himalayas, ranging from east to west on the southern edge of the Tibet Plateau, run for 2,400 km with an elevation of more than 6,000 meters. Mount Qomolangma is the world's highest peak with an elevation of 8848.13 meters. Yarlungzangbo Gorge, at a depth of 5,382 meters, is the world's deepest gorge. Tibet adjoins Xinjiang and Qinghai in the north, Sichuan in the east, Yunnan in the Southeast, and such countries as Myanmar, India, Bhutan and Nepal in the south and west along an international border of nearly 4,000 km.
** Climate
It is suitable for travel to Tibet from April to the beginning of November, and the best time is August and September. The sunlight in Lhasa is so intense that the city is called Sunlight City. The thin air can neither block off nor retain heat so that the temperature extremes can be met in daytime and the same night respectively in Tibet. However, it is not impossible to visit the holy snow land. May, June and September are the tourism season in east Tibet. Most annual rainfall comes in the rainy season that starts from June to September. Usually it rains at night in Lhasa, Shigatse and Chamdo area. The rainfall may block roads and make travel difficult but the scenery at the time will be the best.
** Brief History
Tibetan history can be traced thousands of years back. However, the written history only dates back to the 7th century when Songtsan Gampo, the 33rd Tibetan king, sent his minister Sambhota to India to study Sanskrit who on his return invented the present Tibetan script based on Sanskrit.
Tibet's history can be divided into the following periods:
-- From the 7th to the 10th century
In the Tang Dynasty: Close Relations between Tibet and Central China
-- In the 13th century
In the Yuan Dynasty: Tibet became an administrative Region of China
-- From the 14th to the 17th century
The Ming Imperial Court's Administration of Tibet
-- From the 17th to the 20th century
The Qing Imperial Court Improving the Administration of Tibet
-- From 1912 to 1949
The Nationalist Government Safeguards China's Sovereignty over Tibet
-- 1951
Peaceful Liberation of Tibet in 1951
** Local Customs and Traditions
Presenting Hada is a common practice among the Tibetan people to express their best wishes on many occasions, such as wedding ceremonies, festivals, visiting the elders and the betters, and entertaining guests. The white Hada, a long narrow scarf made of silk, embodies purity and good fortune.
Proposing a Toast and Tea When you come to a Tibetan family, the host will propose a toast, usually barley wine. You should sip three times and then drink up. To entertain guests with tea is a daily etiquette. The guest has not to drink until the host presents the tea to you.
Greetings do not forget to add "la" after saying hello to the Tibetan people to show respect. Make Way to others. Try not to make any sounds while eating and drinking.
Sky Burials is a common form in Tibet. There are many prohibitions. Strangers are not allowed to attend the ceremony. Visitors should respect this custom and keep away from such occasions.
Tibetan Buddhism Also known as the Lamaism, the Tibetan Buddhism was introduced to Tibet from the mainland and India in the seventh century. The Tibetan Buddhism consists of four major sects, the Ge-lug-pa (Yellow) Sect, the Nying-ma-pa (Red) Sec, the Saturday-kya-pa (Variegated) Sect, and the Ka-gyu-pa (White) Sect.
Pilgrimage The immediate motivations of pilgrimage are many, but for the ordinary Tibetan it amounts to a means of accumulating merit or good luck. The lay practitioner might go on pilgrimage in the hope of winning a better rebirth, cure an illness, and end a spate of bad luck or simply because of a vow to take a pilgrimage if a bodhisattva granted a wish. In Tibet, there are countless sacred destinations, ranging from lakes and mountains to monasteries and caves that once served as meditation retreats for important yogin.
** Tibetan Arts
We will categories Tibetan art into three parts: (I) Flat (2-dimensional) Paintings which include `Thangka', Fresco, Wooden Tablet and Sand Painting, (II) Solid (3-dimensional) Objects which include Bronze, Clay Sculpture, Clay Modeling, Wooden Carving, Stone Carving, Ritual Objects, Butter Sculpture, Mask and Cazha, and (III) Costume.
Thangkas are painted or embroidered images rendered on cloth, silk or paper, which is mounted on a cloth backing and may be rolled up like a scroll when not hung. Thangka is a special art of Tibet. The material used for Thangka is linen cloth or coarse woolen fabric or silk or paper. The drawing usually begins at the center. Coloring comes last. The pigments used come from non-transparent minerals and plants such as malachite and cinnabar. They are mixed with animal glue and ox bile to make the luster stay.
Fresco Painting is an important part of Tibetan art. The pigments used are similar to the one used for Thangka painting. Frescoes cover wider range of subjects than Thangkas do. They include the images of Buddha in his many manifestations, portraits of saints, great masters, and founders of various Buddhist sects and the stories of their lives, wars, and scenes of manual labor, construction of monasteries and everyday life of the people.
Wooden Tablet Painting represents yet another branch of Tibetan art. Its subjects and pictorial composition are similar to those of Thangka and the difference is that the pictures are drawn on wooden tablets of various shapes.
Sand Painting The materials are colored sand and minerals. They are filled inside a cone with a tiny hole at the tip. Many disperse though the hole will form a single line in the picture. The subject is usually “Mandala”.
Bronze As Buddhism believes in the worship of idols (as against a teaching of Buddha), the production of the images of Buddha and other deities must follow the strict rules prescribed in the cannon for their faces, gestures, the ornaments they wear and the objects they hold. The Tibetan artists absorbed the influences of the art of Han, Nepalese and Indian sculpture and developed a style and craft of their own, which was distinctively Tibetan. The shaping of a bronze is a complicated process.
Clay Sculpture There are numerous Clay Sculptures preserved to the present day. Most of them are sculptures of Buddha, saints and great figures. Some of them are with treasures preserved inside.
Clay Molding of miniature Buddhist image represents a form of artistic expression in Tibetan Buddhism. As the modeling is not difficult to make and the material is easily obtainable, such objects of art are turned out in large quantities by Tibetan.
Wooden and Stone Carving These beautiful engravings lavishly decorate the columns, beams, door, windows and crossbeam supports in Tibetan monasteries and temples. Shrines, platforms seating deities, altars, stupas and some ritual objects are often adorned with woodcarving or stone carving.
Ritual Object The numerous ritual objects of Tibetan Buddhism may be divided into six groups symbolizing respect, praise, attendance, devotion, protection and guidance. Kasayas, necklaces and Hadas (ceremonious scarves) are symbols of respect. Bells, drums, bone flutes, and six-string lutes symbolize praise. The Buddhas' throne, water vessels, flower baskets, and canopies belong to the attendance group. Rosary beads, the fish-shaped wooden percussion instrument, scepters, bells, and initiation vessels are used to show devotion. Images of protecting deities and written secret messages signify protection. Wheels, cylinders, tablets, banners and stones with the `Six-Syllable True Teaching' on them symbolize guidance.
Butter Sculpture produced in Lhasa and elsewhere is made for the Lamp Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month of the Tibetan year. The butter is first mixed with ice water, and then mineral dyes mixed in. Working on a wooden support, a world of flowers and grass and towers and buildings, populated with men and animals and deities, is then created.
Masks depict the range of beings from deities to men and animals, Qiangmu religious dances and folk tales. Those depicting humans are carved to display a certain characteristic such as honesty, harshness, greed or humor. Animals depicted are mainly deer, yaks, sheep and birds.
The Thousand-Buddha Wall "Cazha" is an ancient traditional form of sculpture creating mainly the statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Engraved on the back of the wall are scriptures of prayers for good luck and prosperity. The wall is an object of various sizes, the wall, therefore, is called ''Thousand-Buddha''.
** Tibetan Food and Drinks
Food and drink in Tibet are much related to climate, local products, religion and folk customs.
Tsampa is traditional staple food of Tibetan, roasted barley flour mixed with Tibetan yak-butter tea.
Yak Butter refined from the milk of yaks, is the daily food of Tibetans. It has very high value of nutrition. The way of Tibetans to refine yak butter is very intriguing.
Beef and Mutton Tibetans like to eat beef and mutton because meat can provide enough energy to withstand coldness in the high elevation areas. Usually Tibetans boil beef and mutton with salt, ginger and spices.
Yoghurts and Milk Sediments The popular milk products are yoghourt and milk sediment. Yoghourt is a kind of food full of nourishing components and easier to digest. Milk sediment is usually used to make Tibet buns.
Tibetan Sausages Tibetans like varied sausages made of yak meat, yak blood and flour.
Momo Tibetan Ravioli or dumpling, is the most famous and popular of Tibetan food. The half-moon-shaped Momo filled with meat, vegetables and ginger can be either steamed or fried.
Thenthuk A typical Tibetan noodle soup can keep the nomads withstand the coldness during wintertime. It can be made either with vegetables or with meat.
Salted Yak Butter Tea is made of boiled tea poured into a long cylindrical churn along with salt and yak butter. Tibetan people drink it throughout the whole day.
Sweet Milk Tea is also popular among Tibetans. Hot boiling black tea filtered is decanted into a churn, and is mixed with fresh milk and sugar.
Tibetan Barley Wine is brewed from fermented barley grown on the highland. The wine is mild, slightly sweet and sour and contains little alcohol. It is a very popular alcoholic drink in Tibet.
** Shopping
Popular things to buy here are carpets, daggers, jewelry, aprons and hats, all of which can be found in the famous Barkhor Street. The vendors on the street outside the Holiday Inn have the same range, but in smaller quantities and at higher prices. Besides this, plenty of department stores line the Yuthok Lu, selling more routine articles. Those interested with Chinese herbal medicines also have the chance here to pick up some potions rarely seen in other Chinese cities.
** Tibet Taboos
1. Remember not step on threshold when entering the tent or house. Calling Somebody in name please add "la" behind the name to express respects. If you are asked to sit down, please cross your legs, do not stretch your legs forward and face your sole to others. You should accept the gift with both hands. While presenting the gift you should bend your body forward and hold the gift higher than your head with both hands. While offering tea, wine or cigarette, you should offer them by both hands and any fingers do not tough inside of the bowl.
2. When the host presents you a cup of wine, you should dip your ring finger in the wine and flick the wine into the sky, in the air and to the ground respectively to express your respects to the heaven, the earth and the ancestors before sipping the wine. The host will fill the cup, and you take a sip of the wine again. After the host fills your cup again, you have to bottom it up.
3. Tibetan people do not take horse, dog and donkey meat and do not eat fish in Ome areas, so please respect their diet habits.
4. It is not polite to clap your palms and spit behind the Tibetan people.
5. Tibetan people stretch out their tongue to say hello to you. Also it is a courtesy to put
their hands palm in front of breast.
6. Do not smoke in monasteries. In addition, it is banned to touch the statue of Buddha and religious articles and take pictures of them. In addition, all should walk clockwise (not in the Bon temples).
7. Seeing any dagobas, monasteries or Mani piles, please go around them clockwise (not of the Bon), do not cross them.
8. Eagles are the sacred birds in the eyes of the Tibetan people. You should not drive them away or injure them. On the outskirts, you could not drive or disturb the sheep or cows with red, green or yellow cloth strips on.
** Culture notice 
Do not photo them without permission! Always circumambulate gompas and other religious objects clockwise, thus keeping shrines and shortens to your right. Do not touch or remove anything on an altar. Do not take photos during a prayer meeting. At other times always, ask permission to take a photo, especially one using flash. The larger monasteries charge photography fees. Do not wear shorts or short skirts in a monastery. Take your hat off when you go into a chapel. Do not smoke in a monastery. Do not eat dog, donkey and horse in Tibet. Be aware that Tibetans often gesture with their lips to show a direction, so if a member of the opposite sex pouts at you they are just showing you where to go.

** National AAAA Tourist Attractions in Tibet Autonomous Region
1. The Tibet Museum in Lhasa City
2. The Potala Palace in Lhasa City
3. The Norbulingka area in Lhasa City
4. Jokhang Temple Monastery in Lhasa City
5. Basongcuo Scenic Area in Nyingchi Region
6. Tashilhungpo Monastery in Shigatse Area
** National Key Scenic Area in Tibet Autonomous Region
Yalong River Scenic Area in Shannan Region
** National famous historic and cultural cities in Tibet Autonomous Region
Lhasa City, Shigatse City, Jiangzi City