A Few Small Tips for Traveling Tibet

Tibet, a mysterious plateau region in people’s eyes, is located in the southwest of China and its capital, Lhasa, is regarded as “Pearl of Plateau” for its richness in historical, cultural and natural wealth, such as great Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple which is worshiped by Buddhist every day, and Qomolangma, the highest peak of the world. All of this makes Tibet a unique and irreplaceable tourist attraction to many China travel agency and tourists, especially for the adventurers.
However, a lot of tourists have no idea of how to plan their first trip to Tibet and I, once been there, would like to share some important issues about Tibet tourism here. Hope that would be helpful.

Purposes
First and foremost, you should ask yourself what exactly you want from Tibet. In other words, which part of Tibet you like the most and make a good schedule for that. For most of the travelers, cultural and natural sites are the focus and Tibet is just famous for that, most of which spread in Lhasa and Shigatse.

Potala Palace — The Chief Residence of All Dalai Lamas.

Budget
The cost on traveling Tibet mainly includes travelling expenses, accommodation and food, ticket and shopping and there are two kinds of Tibet tourism, one is joining a China tour agency and the other is self-traveling.

It is very easy to predict the total cost if joining a travel agency, the service fee charged by the agency plus your own possible cost. Please note, usually the service fee includes travelling expenses, accommodation, food, tickets, insurance and China tour guide fees. In a word, they cover all the expenses except for your own shopping cost.

There’s no standard price for self-traveling, because different people have different tendency on their tour, but it can be still calculated in advance if you takes a little more time.

Yamdrok Lake — The Holy Lake of Tibet!

Time
How many days is the most suitable for Tibet tourism? Perhaps everyone has his own answer, five days, ten days or even one month. If you don’t care about the duration or money, I suggest the following answer, which, I think, is enough and perfect to appreciate the Tibet.3 days of Lhasa, 3 days of Nyingchi and 2 days of Shigatse. If you can afford more time, it is highly recommended to take a trip to Qomolangma. It may request 4 days more.

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Shigatse, A Prosperous Buddhism City in Tibet

Resource: Tibet Tour Guide

With an area of 3,875 square kilometers and population of 820,000, Shigatse is the second biggest and the only county-level city in Tibet. Shigatse is a prosperous Buddhism city as it is the traditional seat of the  Panchen Lama, dozens of monasteries in Shigatse region give this land heavy religious atmosphere. If you are going to plan a Tibet Buddhist tour, Shigatse is your must go destination.

Attractions in Shigatse you should pick them up for your Buddhist tour:

Tashilhunpo Monastery
Tashilhunpo Monastery  has become a prominent landmark on the face of shigatse. The monastery has been the seat of Panchen Lama for hundreds of years who is the second most important religious leader of Tibet after Dalai Lama. The monastery witnesses the largest number of visitors during the Buddha Thangka display festival which is held on every 14, 15and 16 of May according to Tibetan calendar.

Palkhor Monastery
Located in the Gyantse county of Shigatse prefecture, around 230 km away from the Lhasa city. Palkhor Monastery enjoys a high status in Tibet Buddhism history because it is the only one where houses three sects – Sakyapa, Kadampa and Gelugpa together. Initially, there was lot of quarrel and disagreement amongst the monks of the different sect, however, today they have hit upon the art of living peacefully.

New Palace of Panchen
The palace is known as the summer palace of the tenth Panchen Lama and is a wonderful blend of the traditional and modern architectural style. The palace, reached after passing three gates, offers beautiful interiors of Panchen Lama bedrooms, drawing rooms, sutra hall, Buddha hall and Buddhist Guardian Hall. Amongst valuable cultural relics of the palace are the spectacular frescos like the ‘Phakpa Meeting Kublai Khan’ which depicts Lama Chogyal Phakpa joining the court of Kublai Khan as imperial spiritual teacher. The surroundings of the palace covered with greenery provides a tranquil environment in which you can relax and refresh yourself.

Sakya Monastery
Located in Sakya County southwest of Shigatse, the Sakya Monastery is the principal monastery of the Sakyapa Sect of Tibetan Buddhism.

Related Links: Tibet Tour China ;  Ngari – The Most Tibetan Part of Tibet

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Tibet Tour Guide – Eating in Tibet

Resource:  Tibet Tours

Due to the special geographic position, religious beliefs, and distinctive Tibetan culture, Tibet features a really unique custom on eating. If you are going to Tibet, let’s take a glance at what you probably will eat when you been there.

Butter Tea

Butter Tea

Butter tea (酥油茶) is another staple of  Tibetan meal. To put it simply, the butter tea is boiled tea added with ghee and salt. Tibetan people drink butter tea to keep themselves warm and it usually drank whiling eating tsampa. Some say the butter tea tastes more like soup rather than tea.

Zanba

Zanba

The staple food of Tibetan people is Zanba, a kind of dough made with roasted highland qingke barley flour and yak butter with water. Method of making: grind the roasted Highland Barley into flour, and mix it with ghee. It is similar to parching wheat flour in northern China.

People in northern China grind the wheat into flour before parching it, but Tibetan people do the opposite. They roast the Barley seeds before grinding them into flour. What’s more, Tibetan people do not remove the husk of the Barley.

In larger Tibetan towns and cities many restaurants now serve Sichuan-style Chinese food. Western imports and fusion dishes, such as fried yak and chips, are also popular. Nevertheless, many small restaurants serving traditional Tibetan dishes persist in both cities and the countryside.

Milk Curd and Yogurt

Milk Curd

Tibetan people eat all kinds of dairy products, including ghee (butter), cheese, yogurt, and milk curd. Milk curd or named milk sediment (奶渣) is solidified sediments of boiled milk, which tasts sour. Tibetans bring it when traveling to avoid environmental inadaptability. Milk curd can be eaten as snacks or used to make Tibet buns. Besides, fried milk curd tastes good too.

 

Tibetan Sausages

Tibetan Sausages

Sausage was early from more than 1000 years a ago. It is a food created by nomad. The main method is to prime different materials into the fresh animal guts such as sheep, pig or cow.

The Tibetan sausages can be either steamed or roasted and then cut into slices to eat. Tibetans usually make this food in batches during new-year time. The Tibetan sausage taste fresh and goluptious and not oily, which is a nice cold dish. Then it can be stored for about one year.
Know more: How to Deal With AMS When Travelling Tibet

Tibet Tour Guide

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