The Potala Palace I

There is no reason to not visit the Potala Palace when you come to Tibet. The Potala Palace is well known in China. Not only is it a famous historical palace and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but also it is the background of a  50 yuan bill, which is equivalent of a10 dollars bill in U.S.. We in China see it everyday. So the first stop of my Tibet journey was Potala Palace.

the Potala Palace

Potala Palace is located on the top of Marpo Ri, the "Red Hill”, in the northwest point of Lhasa. It is 384ft.(117 meters) high, has nine floors and contains more than 1,000 rooms. Potala Palace was built in 637 by Songtsen Gampo, the king of Tibeten Empire. He built this palace for his marriage with princess Bhrikuti Devi from Nepali and princess Wencheng from China (Tang dynasty). But that Palace was destroyed after the collapse of the Tibetan Empire; only two rooms survived. The Potala Palace we can see today was rebuilt by the Great Fifth Dalai Lama in 1645 on the relic's remains. It was finished in1693, and it was expanded by the later Dalai Lama. The Potala Palace has two parts: the White Palace and the Red Palace, which are named for the colors of the walls. The White Palace is the Dalai Lama’s winter palace, where he lives and works during the winter. The Red Palace is composed of holy stupas of Dalai Lama and different kinds of rooms use by monks. Some of them are used for prayer; some of them contain statues of Buddha; and some of them are libraries. This place is the worthwhile place to visit in the Palace.

On my first day in Tibet, I took a glance at Potala Palace on the way to my hotel. I just felt excited at that time, and forgot there was a big problem waiting for me— its height. Last time I talked about my experience of high altitude sickness, I mentioned that it’s very hard for me to reach the second floor of my hotel. While I look forward to visit the Potala Palace it was not easy for me. But I was so excited to arrive in Tibet, I ignored this problem until the second day, when I arrived at Potala Palace. It is a magnificent building located on a hill. I needed to climb the hill to get to the entrance of  Potala Palace, and I also needed to climb nine levels to visit the whole Palace. What was worst, the visiting hours of Potala Palace are limited, especially for the Red Palace; every visitor only has one hour. Because this old building cannot contain so many people at the same time, government launched the time limit rule to protect this old building and control the population of visitors. Also Potala Palace has very strict security check; it is like going abroad on an airplane. Any dangerous materials are not allowed, and visitor are not allowed to bring water in.

stat to climbing

half way to the entrance

the wall of the White Palace

the entrance of the Red Palace

Finally, I completed this challenge, I arrived at the entrance of the Red Palace. The White Palace is the working place of Dalai Lama. Although he is not there, only few rooms are opened to visitors. So the main point of this trip was to visit the Red Palace. When I got to the entrance, I was exhausted. I took a 15 minute break, drank some water (bought at the entrance) and put my camera in my backpack. It is forbid to take photos in the Red Palace. 

Did you want to know what I saw in the Red Palace? Did you know why people say Potala Palace is made of gold? Subscribe to my blog, I will tell you next week.