most memorable trip to Tibet. long awaited wishes in My life. If traveling is for beautiful scenery. I have never seen and experienced in life, as in Tibet. It is the most beautiful adventure I ever imagine.
Tibet has always been out of reach in my heart, distance, altitude, weather, cultural etc.,
Until this summer, my husband mentioned this topic again, and Tibet suddenly came into my heart.
It took one second to decide to go to Tibet, and more than three months to prepare for it. I believe that every one’s soul will call Tibet, but some people have heard it, while others have not.
Maybe I’m old enough to go while I still want to dare. Let’s go!
In the process of preparation, I browsed a lot of travel notes and borrowed a few books from the library to learn more about Tibetan culture and history.
For Tibet, it is not suitable for a just go trip, and one trip is certainly not enough.
About Altitude Sickness
Altitude Sickness should be the concern of everyone. I’m no exception. In the months from preparation to return, I heard the most about the high-Altitude Sickness. I’ve done a lot of preparation for that.
In terms of altitude, Linzhi 3100, Lhasa 3650, Xigaze 3836, Dangxiong 4200, Namtso 4718, Yamdrok Lake 4441, Tsedang 3560, Ali 4500 and Everest base camp 5200. The trip lasted for 14 days. Although there was plenty of time, I chose the regular route for my first visit to Tibet. Let’s leave the route of Ali and Everest for the next time.
Rhodiola: I bought Chinese herbal medicine and capsules and began to take them 2 weeks in advance. I continued to take them one week after I arrived in Lhasa.
Erythromycin eye ointment: can be applied in the nasal cavity, to prevent dry bleeding is very effective.
Headache, is the most common reaction of high reaction, used ibuprofen capsules, fenbide phenol caffeine tablets, Qutong tablets, etc., are effective.
Gastrointestinal discomfort, to Lhasa, has been unable to eat, flatulence, acid reflux, but also accompanied by headache, occasional diarrhoea and so on. After taking Huoxiang Zhengqi Capsule, it was slightly relieved.
As for oxygen inhalation, it is said that oxygen inhalation is not conducive to adaptation to high altitude. I still think that oxygen can be used to relieve discomfort when it is uncomfortable, which is more conducive to adapting to the plateau environment.
our reaction was the least. We have no symptoms on the train and had a slight headache after arrived in Lhasa. Our Friend had a headache and vomited on the train and got better after he arrived in Tibet for one day. The most serious reaction was himself. When the train arrived in Golmud, he began to have a headache. Strangely, he also had diarrhea, and he still had a headache after he arrived in Lhasa for five days, so he had to give an infusion Almost all the time.
Things Need to keep in Mind
In Tibet, all kinds of military facilities and personnel must not be photographed.
Public toilets in Tibet (except Lhasa City) are basically charged, 1 yuan or 2 yuan. Tibetans only recognize banknotes. They can’t use coins without Tibetan.
Please bring your own change when you visit temples. Of course, it’s voluntary. Outside the door of the Jokhang Temple, there are also money changers, including dimes, Wujiao and one yuan. There will be some handling charges.
In Tibet, there are many Tibetans do kowtow. First of all, don’t look block the way in front of them. If you want to, you can bend and give money to them. You will hear them chanting and Praying for you with their hands together.
But there are also some Tibetans who are similar to begging. We met a young man in the underpass of Potala Palace square, who gave him one yuan and converted 50 yuan in your hand. When they found that you didn’t want to give him, they vomited towards the one yuan note. A few days later, we met him in the hotel and asked for money for each table one by one. We saw him and said that we had met you in * *. Sure enough, the young man ran out with a guilty heart and saw his accomplice outside the door.
As for safety, there are strict security checks in places like Potala and Jokhang Temple, and some have armed guards. Especially when walking on the streets of Lhasa, there are five-star red flags on the light poles on both sides, which is the same as in the mainland.
Potala Palace
Potala Palace is built on the waist of the red mountain in Lhasa, with an altitude of 3700 meters and an area of 360000 square meters. Potala is the largest and most complete palace style building complex in Tibet. It is the largest ancient palace with the highest altitude in the world. In 1961, the Potala Palace was announced by the State Council as one of the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units. In 1994, the Potala Palace was listed as a world cultural heritage.
History
Potala Palace was built in the middle of the seventh century. The main reason is that Songtsan Gampo moved his ruling centre from Lhokha Tsedang to Lhasa. In order to defend against foreign aggression, he built the palace on Red Hill. The earlier name of Potala Palace is Known as Red palace. On the other hand, Nepalese princess built the Potala Palace for Songtsan Gampo. After reconstruction in the 17th century, the Potala Palace became the winter palace residence of the Dalai Lamas of all ages, and also the ruling center of the integration of politics and religion in Tibet.
The whole palace is composed of Red Palace and the White house. The Red Palace is in the middle, and the White palace serves as a base across the two wings. The buildings overlap with beautiful colour, which is very spectacular. The Red Palace is mainly a place for religious activities and a shrine, while the White House is the living room and political administration centre of the Dalai Lama. The combination of red and white fully reflects the social characteristics of the integration of politics and religion in old Tibet.
The Potala Palace also has numerous treasures, which can be called a palace of art. A wide range of murals is made of gold, silver and jewellery. For example, gold, silver, pearl and conch, coral and cinnabar, green turquoise. Therefore, the murals are luxurious and long-lasting.
White House
The tour starts from the White House. The White House was started to built-in 1645 and took eight years. The White House is seven stories high. Located in the centre of the fourth floor, the “Tsokchen Shar” (East Hall) covers an area of 717 square meters and is supported by 38 pillars. It is the largest Hall of the Potala Palace, where the Dalai Lamas of all time hold important religious and political activities such as Enthroenment ceremony and attending political ceremonies.
The fifth and sixth floors are Regent’s office and living rooms. The highest floor (the seventh floor) is the Dalai Lama Winter Palace, commonly known as the “Eastern sunshine Palace”. Since the completion of the White House, the fifth Dalai Lama moved here from Drepung temple until his death. Since then, all the Dalai Lamas lived in the White House, so the Potala Palace has become a holy place for lamas and religious people to worship.
Red Palace
Then tour continues with the Red Palace, which was built in 1690. The main building is a variety of Buddhist halls and the tomb stupa of the Dalai Lama. There are eight pagodas in the palace where the Dharma bodies of successive Dalai Lamas are kept. Among them, the pagoda of the fifth Dalai Lama is the largest and the most gorgeous, with a height of 14.85 meters. The body of the pagoda is wrapped in gold skin, inlaid with beads and jade. It is said that it shares more than 110000 taels of gold, including 18677 pearls, gemstones, corals, amber, agate, etc.
“Tsomchen Sidshi Phuntosk” (West Hall), the largest hall in the Red Palace, covers an area of 725 meters.
Baima grass and aga.
The majestic Potala is a world-famous ancient building complex, whose main building materials are stone and wood. In addition, there are two unique building materials in Tibet: Baima grass and aga. Baima grass is a kind of strange willow branch. It is dried in autumn, peeled off, and then tied into small bundles with pimps. It is neatly pressed on the outside under the scull, tamped layer by layer, fixed with this nail, and painted after scraping. It’s used in the parapet of Potala Palace and under the groove of all temples. From a distance, it’s red and white. It’s like a pile of wool and velvet. It looks like a tent. It’s solemn and elegant. It’s not expensive. It’s only 100 yuan per ton. But because of the complex manufacturing process and low utilization rate, the cost is greatly increased.
The ground of the square is made of AGA soil unique to Tibet. AGA is actually a kind of weathered stone. It’s like earth and stone. It’s also like earth and stone. It’s mainly used to make floors. Tibet is rich in AGA resources. However, due to the time-consuming and labor-consuming process of making AGA, only temples and some noble families could afford to use it in old Tibet. Because of its supreme status, potala palace is almost full of AGA ground.
Red represents the rule of the three realms, white represents the tranquility, and yellow represents the boundless longevity, constant happiness and prosperity. The upper level of Potala Palace is basically the place for important religious ceremonies, which is red; the lower level of Potala Palace is mostly the government’s office space, monk’s house and warehouse, which is white; other infrastructure on the outermost edge is yellow.
The palace walls are all made of one meter thick granite. There is no south facing gate on the palace wall, only neat rows of trapezoidal small windows. There are stone steps on the east side, leading to the east gate.
Jokhang Temple
The Jokhang Temple was built by Songtsan Gampo to Houisng Budhha statue brought by Nepal Princess. It has been built for generations to form today’s architectural complex. It is an existing building in Tibet during the Tubo Period. The overall building structure is a civil structure building, which is very different from our brick and concrete buildings.
Barkhor street
The Sakyamuni Buddha Hall around the inner centre of the Jokhang Temple is called “Nangkhor”, the outer wall around the Jokhang Temple is called “Barkhot”, and the street outside the Jokhang Temple is called “Barkhor Street”. Taking the Jokhang Temple as the centre, a large circle including Potala Palace, Chakpo ri and Ramoche temple is called “lingkhor”.
These three rings from the inside to the outside are the routes of Tibetan people’s rituals. The Jokhang Temple combines the architectural styles of Tibet, Tang, Nepal and India, and has become an eternal model of Tibetan religious architecture.
The 12-year-old statue of Sakyamuni is worshipped in the Jokhang Temple, which is the supreme shrine of Tibetan Buddhism. There are three statues of Sakyamuni: 8 years old, 12 years old and 25 years old. When Sakyamuni Buddha was alive, he opposed idolatry and did not set up temples for idolatry.
As a result, Indians gave the 12-year-old statue to Datang, the 8-year-old statue to Nepal, and then lost their 25-year-old statue… As a result, Buddhism in India declined rapidly and almost disappeared. Then, Songtsen Gampo, emperor in Tibet, married Princess Tritsun of Nepal and Princess Wencheng of Datang and brought the 8-year-old and 12-year-old statues to Tibet as dowries. Buddhism in Tibet has been booming ever since. During the cultural revolution, the 8-year-old statue was badly damaged. This 12-year-old statute is in Jokhang Temple.
The Jokhang Temple is the centre of Lhasa People’s life, and everything they do revolves around it.
