Lhasa, Tibet

Jokhang Square, the first destination or drop-off for most tourists

Lhasa sometimes spelled Lasa, is the administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China. Lhasa is located at the foot of Mount Gephel.



Lhasa is rightly one of the most featured and dreamt-about cities in the world. This is not only because of its remoteness, its high altitude at 3,650 meters (11,975 feet) means limited accessibility, but also because of its impressive heritage of over a thousand years of cultural and spiritual history that has helped to create the romantic and mysterious Tibetan religion.

Sho Dun Festival

Traditionally, the city is the seat of the Dalai Lama and the capital of Tibet, and is one of the highest capitals in the world. It is the location of the Potala and Norbulingka palaces (both are included as World Heritage Sites), and in Tibetan Buddhism is regarded as the holiest centre in Tibet. The city is home to 257,400 people as of the 2004 census estimate.

Potala

Lhasa literally means "place of the gods", although ancient Tibetan documents and inscriptions demonstrate that the place was called Rasa, which means "goat's place", until the early 7th century.

Norbulinka

The city is part of a township-level prefecture, the Lhasa Prefecture consisting of 7 small counties: Lhünzhub County, Damxung County, Nyêmo County, Qüxü County, Doilungdêqên County, Dagzê County and Maizhokunggar County.

Differing from the inland cities and other places in Tibet, Lhasa is unique with an allure all of its own. In the Tibetan language, Lhasa means the Holy Land or the Buddha Land. It is the center of Tibet's politics, economy and culture. The city has also been appointed as one of the 24 historical and cultural cities of China. The splendor and grandeur of the Potala Palace in Lhasa remains a world-famous symbol of the enigmatic power of politics and religion in this region.


Lasha and the prefecture covers an area of close to 30,000 km2 (12,000 sq mi). It has a central area of 544 km2 (210 sq mi) and a total population of 500,000; 250,000 of its people live in the urban area. Lhasa is home to the Tibetan, Han, and Hui peoples, as well as several other ethnic groups, but overall the Tibetan ethnic group makes up a majority of the total population.

Lhasa Valley in Tibet

Located at the bottom of a small basin surrounded by mountains, Lhasa has an elevation of 3,650 metres (12,000 ft) and lies in the centre of the Tibetan Plateau with the surrounding mountains rising to 5,500 metres (18,000 ft). The Kyi River (or Kyi Chu), a tributary of the Yarlung Zangbo River), runs through the city. The city stands by the Lhasa River known to local Tibetans as the "merry blue waves,", which flows through the snow-covered peaks and gullies of the Nyainqêntanglha mountains, extending 315 km (196 mi). The river empties into the Yarlung Zangbo River at Qüxü, forming an area of great scenic beauty.


With its flat land and mild weather, Lhasa is free of both freezing winters and unbearably hot summers, having an annual average daily temperature of 8 °C (43 °F). It enjoys 3,000 hours of sunlight annually and is sometimes called the "sunlit city" by Tibetans.

Lhasa has an annual precipitation of 500 millimetres (20 in) with rain falling mainly in July, August and September. The rainy season is widely regarded the "best" of the year as rains come mostly at night and Lhasa is sunny during the daytime.

*Temperature - Daily average (January) -1.2oC, 29.8oF; (July) 16.4oC, 61.5oF
*Precipitation - Daily average (January) 0.5 mm, 0.02 inches; (July) 129.7 mm, 5.11 inches.

Depending on how the status of Tibet before 1950 is interpreted, Lhasa could be regarded as the highest national capital at that time, surpassing La Paz, Bolivia, which currently holds that distinction.