Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Lhasa rose to prominence as an important administrative centre in the 7th century AD,
when King Songtsen Gampo (c 618-49) moved his capital from the Yarlung Valley to
Lhasa and built a palace on the site now occupied by the Potala. It was at this time that the
temples of Ramoche and the Jokhang were founded to house the priceless first Buddha
statues brought to Tibet as the dowries of Songtsen Gampo's Chinese and Nepali wives.
With the breakup of the Yarlung empire 250 years later, Tibet's centre of power shifted
to Sakya, Nedong (Ü) and then Shigatse (Tsang). No longer the capital, Lhasa languished
in the backwaters of Tibetan history until the fifth Dalai Lama (1617-82) defeated the
Shigatse kings with Mongol support.
The fifth Dalai Lama moved his capital to Lhasa and started construction on his palace,
the Potala, on the site of the ruins of Songtsen Gampo's 7th-century palace. Lhasa has re-
mained Tibet's capital since 1642, and most of the city's historical sights date from this
second stage of the city's development.
Modern Lhasa in many ways provides the visitor with both the best and the worst of
contemporary Tibet. Photographs of the city taken before October 1950 reveal a small
town nestled at the foot of the Potala, with a second cluster of residences surrounding the
Jokhang, housing a population of between 20,000 and 30,000. Today the city has a popula-
tion of around 500,000, and Han Chinese residents outnumber Tibetans.
Shöl, the village at the foot of the Potala, has long since disappeared, and the area in
front of the Potala has been made into a Tiān'ānmén-style public square, complete with a
35m-tall monument to the 'liberation' of Tibet (under constant guard to prevent vandal-
ism).
Physically the city has at least doubled in size in the last 20 years and it now takes 20
minutes to drive through the sprawling Chinese-style western suburbs. The Tibetan quarter
is now an isolated enclave at the eastern end of town, comprising only around 4% of the
city, and even these lingering enclaves of tradition are under threat from the bulldozers,
despite official protection. Lhasa has probably changed more in the last 20 years than in
the thousand years before.
Permits
Lhasa is currently the only part of Tibet that doesn't require you to hire pricey transporta-
tion. The only time you will be asked for your Tibet Tourism Bureau (TTB) permit is
when you check in to a hotel. No other permits are required for the city or surroundings.
