Potala Palace

Potala Palace, situated on the Red Hill in Lhasa, means "the Sacred Palace of Buddhism" in Sanskrit. Known as a historical and cultural museum of Tibetan Buddhism, the Potala Palace houses many artifacts of ancient Tibet, such as frescos, stupas and images of Buddha. People feel amazing about the colorful sculptures and paintings there. In December 1994, the Potala Palace of Lhasa was put on the UNESCO's list of World Cultural Heritage. It is a symbol of the wisdom and power of the Tibetan people.

The Potala Palace was built 1,300 years ago in Tang Dynasty (618-907AD) when the Tibetan King Songtsam Gambo married the Tang Princess Wencheng. Potala is the name of the place, which means residence of the Goddess of Mercy in Tibetan language. The Palace was enlarged and renovated by the successive Da1ais. Fifth Dalai Lama ordered to rebuild it in the 17th century. Repeated repairs and expansions until 1645 finally brought the palace to its present scale. Over the past three centuries, the palace gradually became a place where the Dalai Lama lived and worked and a place for keeping the remains of successive Dalai Lama.

The 13 story palace, 117 meters high, 360 meters east-west, with an area of 130,000 square meters was constructed completely by stone and wood.  It includes temple, seminary, chanting hal1, dormitory, mourning hall and yard. The eight mourning halls house the statues of several Dalai Lamas, which are covered with gold 1eaf and studded with jewels. Enormous precious historical relics and frescos on various themes are kept in the building. Potala Pa1ace was the winter residence of Dalai Lamas. The imposing grand building was constructed on the slope of the hill, which demonstrates a combined style of Tibetan and Han architecture.

The stone-and-wood-structured Potala Palace consists of the White Palace and Red Palace. The White Palace, comprising halls, temples and courtyards, serves as the living quarters of the Dalai Lama. The Red Palace includes various chambers for worshipping Buddha and chambers housing the eight stupa that contain the remains of fifth through thirteenth Dalai Lama. All the stupas are covered with gold foil. The most magnificent stupa belongs to the fifth Dalai Lama. It is 14.85 meters tall and inlaid with pearl and jade. The palace also collected a large number of sculptures, murals, scripture and other valuable cultural relics.

As sacred land for many years, it has been worshiped by lamas and Tibetan Buddhists and it is also Tibet's political and religious administration center. Now, it is on the list of Chinese national key protected cultural relics and is the most valuable storehouse in Tibet.

Admission Fee: CNY 100 (Nov. 1-Apr. 30) 　
CNY 200 (May. 1-Oct. 31) including the visit of Snow City

Opening Hours: 09:00 - 19:00