Experiencing Buddhism-12,000 Feet Above Sea Level

I arrived in Lhasa, Tibet, as my last destination on a three week archaeological college trip to China that included three other cities. This of course was the highlight of my trip, being the one and only reason that I went on this my second trip to China. From the time I landed I felt that the last 2 weeks being rushed through China, deprived of sleep, and just plain worn out was worth going through to see the mountainous Tibet region of China. I just cannot describe what it felt like to be in the same mountain range as the world’s tallest mountain, Mt. Everest, and be only a couple hundred miles from it (probably as close as I will every get).

Despite being a Religious Studies minor learning about the Buddhist religion was entirely new to me. Before I arrived in Tibet I had very limited knowledge about Buddhism, except for the info I read in a book on Chinese Buddhism, but I soon learned that Buddhism in Tibet is unique compared to that on the rest of China and closer related to that of India, thus part of the reason there is a hidden struggle to free themselves from the control of the Chinese Central Government. The Chinese are so aware that the Tibetians believe that they should be independent that the Tibet Museum is full of Central Government propaganda. If you like politics, history, religion, or just love great views of mountains then you should try to get to Tibet.

Quick Tips:

Being located at 12,000 feet above sea level altitude sickness is something you should beware of. The best way to avoid it is to take it easy the first couple of days, drink plenty of water, and pay attention to what you body is telling you. Mild symptoms include headache, lethargy, dizziness, loss of appetite, nausea, breathlessness, irritability, and difficulty sleeping. Symptoms that are serious include breathlessness at rest, dry irritate cough, severe headache, lack of coordination, confusion, irrational behaviour, vomiting, and eventually unconsciousness. Altitude sickness affects almost everyone. In our group of 40 we had two go to the hospital overnight and a few that needed to purchase oxygen from the hotel. I was one of the lucky few that only suffered from difficulty sleeping.

Best Way To Get Around:

The drive from the airport to Lhasa is 1 hour. Once you get to Lhasa you may be surprised at how small it is. You can probably walk everywhere you want/need to go. You can also ride in a rickshaw, just do not get ripped off and make sure you agree on a price before you get in. The biggest trick they try to pull is quoting a price and not telling you if it is per person or combined. Three of us got in one rickshaw thinking that we were paying 30 yuan for all three, but ended up finding out it was 30 yuan per person. We did not complain, as we felt bad that the guy took three Americans almost 2 miles. Just make sure you know what you are paying and you are willing to pay that price. You can also get around inexpensively by taxi.

Yes, it really was once owned and managed by the Holiday Inn chain. And, yes, they really do promote it by calling it the Former Holiday Inn. I do not know if it is because they want guests to return that stayed there when it actually was the Holiday Inn, or they just use the name to give it a recognizable chain name bringing in new guests that expect that it has remained up to Holiday Inn standards. Maybe, it is a combination of both reasons, but as far as I am concerned it is not a Holiday Inn and is not as great as one would expect a hotel of that standard to be. That being said it is still a great hotel and does have customer service, just do not expect it to be quite up to the standards one can expect from most Holiday Inns and most American chains similar to the Holiday Inn.

The Tibet hotel has some nice outdoor fountain areas and a pool area. Unfortunately, the pool was drained despite it supposedly being the warm season when the pool is open. The one fountain was filled one day, drained the next morning, full again at night, and then yet again was drained when we left. They sure were wasting water making up their mind if the weather was right for having a fountain going. What did not make sense was the other one was not fussed with at all. I thought maybe they were doing maintenance on the one, but it turned out they were not.

The room was not too bad. Plenty of room for two of us to unpack our suitcases. Also, adequate for five of us to play cards on the small table and sit on beds. The bathroom was obviously old and not well taken care of. The toilet did not always flush and there were rust stains everywhere. The staff was overall friendly, but I did get irritated at the lady who came for laundry every morning. She always knocked then automatically opened the door. The last day we put our "do not disturb" sign up, but she did the same thing while we were dressing. Sorry, but I do not enjoy having strangers come into my hotel room while I am in it, especially when I am dressing. The hotel is overall okay if you just do not end up with the one maid that does this. I heard from other people in my group staying on other floors that they did not have this problem.

It would be pretty hard to spend time in Lhasa and not at least notice the massive red and white structure that sits upon a hill in the middle of Lhasa. The structure is one of the Dalai Lama’s palaces and called the Potala. Both the red and white palaces were built during the time of the fifth Dalai Lama, although it is believed that the red palace was completed after his death, which was not announced until the red palace’s completion 12 years later. The Potala has been inhabited by every Dalai Lama since the fifth, although since the construction of Norbulingka in the 18th century it only served as the winter palace. Currently the Dalai Lama does not reside here, but is living in exile in India.

The Potala Palace was the first site I saw on my tour of Lhasa during my 4 days in Lhasa. It was my second day in Tibet, but I do not recommend visiting here until you have had two days to adjust to the altitude. Touring the Potala is physically challenging when you are not accustomed to the level of oxygen present at 12,000 feet, especially if you are not used to climbing hills and steps at your normal altitude. In other words save the Potala for later in your trip if you can. If you end up on a tour, as many tourists to Tibet do, and it is one of your first sites take it easy. Go at your own pace and do not wear yourself out trying to keep up with your Tibetan tour guide who is accustomed to the altitude.

Any visit to the Potala begins by you walking up the hill to the base of the palace. A hike that may not look all that hard at first, but it can turn out to be much harder than you think. To me it appeared to be a simple hike, but I soon realized that there really is less oxygen at 12,000 feet than home and I had not yet adjusted to the levels present in Lhasa. I made it up without a problem it just took longer than I expected. The view of the mountains beyond Lhasa was quite the site to see upon reaching the top, where the back entrance to the Potala was located.

Inside the Palace your tour will hopefully lead you in a clockwise direction, as is Tibetan religious tradition, but according to my guidebook you are forced to go counterclockwise. My tour guide lead us clockwise through the rooms and it did not seem like any visitors were going the opposite direction. Also, no photography is allowed inside. The tour inside the Potala consists of going up and down several flights of stairs of varying sizes. Some of the stairs are so small it is more like you are climbing ladder than an actual staircase. Throughout the Palace are chapels with Buddha statues, Dalai Lama thrones, and boxes containing religious scripts.

At first glance Norbulingka Summer Palace does not appear to be much of a palace. As our guide led us through the deserted courtyards towards the New Summer Palace. It was like I was just in a normal public park lacking the public presence. I never imagined that I would see advertisements on the grounds of a site of such cultural and religious importance to the extent I witnessed. I was most disturbed by the presence of Budweiser (or maybe it was another brand of beer, but it was definitely an American brand) advertisements all over a sitting area in one of the courtyards. It was certainly not the scene I expected to see when visiting a place whose name translates to Jewel Park in English.

Despite my disappointing first impressions after visiting the New Summer Palace, I found that Norbulingka really was once the home of the Tibetan religious and political leader, currently the 14th Dalai Lama resides in exile. Although throughout my visit I was surprised by the lack or tourist and pilgrims. I had expected there to be just as many as I had seen at the Potala. The absence of large crowds or people made the palace keep to some extent its feeling of being a private residence. My visit to Norbulingka was the one place in Tibet where I truly felt that Tibet’s leader was in exile, but the hope of eventual return still remained.

Norbulingka became the Dalai Lama summer palace after it was founded by the 7th Dalai Lama in 1755. In 1956 the current Dalai Lama built the New Summer Palace, a building within the grounds of the Jewel Park. In 1959 the Dalai Lama fled from Tibet by leaving Norbulingka disguised as a Tibetan soldier. Afterwards the palace received heavy damage at the hands of the Chinese and their artillery. I guess considering this fact the way the palace lacks its royal qualities is understandable. Knowing this makes it all the more surprising to see the New Summer Palace remains in similar condition to how the 14th Dalai Lama left it. The biggest difference being the addition of a gift shop.

As soon as I entered the New Summer Palace and passed the gift shop I was amazed at what I saw. Every inch of the walls are painted. Some just have simple lines of color designs, but many have elaborate paintings. The most spectacular being the mural that covers three of the walls in the Dalai Lama’s Audience Chamber. This mural depicts the history of Tibet from the mythical origin of man (interestingly their story involves humans coming from monkeys) to the history of the current Dalai Lama and the building of the New Summer Palace at Norbulingka. The murals of the 14 Dalai Lamas that lines the wall of the Assembly Room is also intricate. Besides the paintings I was also surprised at some of the western items found in the Dalai Lama’s living quarters, including the Soviet radio.

The ticket price to the museum includes the use of self-guided audio tour equipment. What you can read on the signs is pretty much what you will hear on the device except when it gives in depth information on the particular object the number is by, which is surprising not very often. Although the information given is interesting, it is hard not to notice how it is propaganda. The most annoying thing to me was how the audio guide pronounced some of the things, especially Dalai Lama, which was pronounced Dalay Lamar (you have to hear it to really understand how much the name is butchered).

The Museum has quite an impressive assortment of artifacts, but is it all really from Tibet? Innocently, I just assumed they were all Tibetan artifacts. It is the Tibet Museum in the capital of Tibet, is not it? The only exhibit, where I realized that the items were from other parts of China was the exhibit on items that were gifts from the Chinese Emperors to the Tibetan Kings and Dalai Lamas. These items, according to the signs, proves that Tibet has been under the control of the Chinese Central Government since at least the Mind Dynasty. Besides the conclusion gained from these artifacts (I assume the presence of these items in Tibet are due to either peaceful coexistence, i.e. trade or similar to how current governments give each other gifts, but do not assume they control the other because of the gifts.) the most interesting thing about the Chinese spin on Tibetan history is how they have made the tern of Central Government apply back into the dynastic history of China. Not that term cannot apply to the dynastic system of ruling, I just thought it odd to see such a modern proper noun term be turned into a sort of generalization of all systems that ruled China.

I later learned that there are other parts of the museum that contain items that were brought in from other parts of China. I guess it is just another way of putting the Chinese spin on Tibetan history. So how much is really Tibetan? I do not know, but I now wish I had had time to talk more with my guide to find out what, if any, parts of the museum accurately displayed Tibetan history, as the Tibetans believe it is. I do not know if the Tibetans need their own country, but I at least think that they need a say in what their own history is.

The Jokhang Temple (means Chapel of the Jowo) is the most revered religious site in Tibet. The Jokhang Temple’s name comes from the name of the Tibet’s most revered Buddha image, Jowo Sakyamuni, which was given to King Songsten Gampo by his Chinese wife Princess Wencheng. The temple was founded between 639 to 647 CE. Legend says that Princess Wencheng chose the spot for the Jokhang, which now stands on the site of Lake Wothang that was filled in. During the Cultural Revolution the interior was desecrated by the Red Guard, but it has since been restored to its former glory.

The main area to visit here is the central sanctuary. Pilgrims circle the sanctuary in a clockwise direction, as should any non-religious visitor, visiting the many chapels that surround the room. The chapels here include those dedicated to the Eight Medicine Buddhas, Jampa, the Buddha of Infinite Light, the Nine Buddhas of Longevity, and the Hidden Jowo. Also, be sure to visit the roof, where you can get a great view of the Barkhor marketplace below and the architecture of the Temple.

In front of Jokhang Temple lies Barkhor Square, where a market begins and continues onto the pedestrian street that surrounds the Temple. As is Tibetan tradition, follow the market in a clockwise direction. Here in the market you can find a variety of items being sold by locals that you can bargain for. One of the main things you will find is prayer flags. You can also find prayer wheels, incense, singing bowls (metal bowls with a little stick that you glide around edge to create sound), and shell flutes (these tend to be way over priced). Even if you do not purchase anything it is a great experience walking through the market with the locals and pilgrims circling Temple. If you are buying incense be sure to find a vendor that will burn the different kinds for you, so you can find the one(s) you most like.