On the north side of Parma Ri is the Gesar Lhakang, a Manchu construction that dates back to 1793 and was recently renovated. It is the only Tibetan-style Guandi temple in China.
分类： Tibet
Buy Train Tickets in Lhasa – $1 only
Cost: 5 yuan service charge, 0-2 yuan bus fare
You could buy your tickets at Lhasa Railway Station which is in fact not in Lhasa. It’s not only far away from Lhasa, but also far from the train station bus stop. You need to walk at least 1km from the bus stop to the railway station building itself after strict security checks.
So the best place to buy train tickets once you are in Lhasa is at No. 19 De Ji Zhong Lu.
Bus No. 2/3/7/8/13/24/25 all have a stop nearby. The bus fare is 1 yuan per person per way.
Most tourists can use No.8 or No.7 bus on Beijing Road to reach the ticket office.
Ce Men Lin bus stop on Beijing Road.
Train Trip to Lhasa
It’s quite easy to get a hard-sleeper ticket to Lhasa at Xining West Railway Station. I asked for a middle berth, the train station staff sold me a more expensive lower berth ticket which sucks. Why? Because cigarette smoke and carbon dioxide are heavier than oxygen, I felt short of oxygen while sleeping in the lower berth.
The train does allow passengers to smoke and a lot of people happily practice their such rights. Only during the section between Golmud and Lhasa, passengers are not allowed to smoke although some still do.
The train has squash toilets. Users are supposed to press the green button to flush the toilet. Some passengers may not be aware of it and water is not always available, so the toilets can be messy at times. Also, don’t forget to bring your own toilet paper.
Train attendants sell Chinese magazines on board. A Tibetan man failed to find any magazine that’s printed in Tibetan language. He was simply told, “Nowadays, everybody studies Mandarin.” No apology, no sympathy.
Lhasa’s Street of Prayers
In June 2009, ten famous Chinese streets, all in different provinces, were included on a list of “Historical and Cultural Streets in China”. The aim, in compiling the list, was to promote the protection of key cultural sites in the country’s cities.
Today, we’re beginning a brand new series, all about these ten famous streets. To start things off, we head to Tibet.
There’s an old saying among Tibetans, “Jokhang Temple was built before Lhasa itself.” Originally built in the seventh century, the Temple is one of the oldest buildings in Tibet. Tibetan Buddhists believe that Jokhang Temple is at the centre of Lhasa and Lhasa is at the centre of the world. In other words, it is the most sacred temple in Tibetan Buddhism. Surrounding the temple is Barkor Street, and it is a key act of worship among Tibetan Buddhists, to circumnavigate the temple, walking clockwise along this street.
To Cedor and Huang Jialin, Barkor Street is a place of warmth and charm. Their lives are closely associated with the street. And the many historic buildings have provided them with plenty of inspiration for their writing and painting.
In the years of Reform and Opening, Barkor Street and the life of the people there, have been transformed in many ways. At the same time, a number of traditional objects and practices, such as the thangka and the famous landmarks on Barkor Street, still remain, unaltered for hundreds of years.
Jokhang Temple and the circumambulation of prayer, make Barkor Street a highly religious place. On the other hand, its many thriving shops and busy merchants make it an important centre of temporal life. As the writer Cedor says, Barkor Street is at one and the same time, a religious river and also a river of daily life. Material and spiritual values coexist here; as do tradition and modernity. However, while commerce on Barkor Street continues to flourish, some of its traditional culture and living habits are being lost in the course of its development.