We finally arrived at Lhasa, Tibet, the holy land of Tibetan Buddhists after 22 hours by train from Xining,
No sooner than off the train, I breathed fresh air and felt that the sky was dry, yet clean. The altitude of Lhasa is about 3,663 meters, but I have little reaction to such high altitude. The reason, in part, may be attributable to gradual adaption after a night on the train. The customs officials in Lhasa are very friendly and efficient. My foreign friends who were traveling with me were able to get out of customs in less than half an hour with their Tibet entry passes. After leaving the train station, we took the bus to the hotel for a short rest to avoid altitude sickness.
The next day, we took a bus to the center city of Lhasa, or Bajiao Street. Compared to Chinese cities in inland, Lhasa’s center city was very quiet, although the streets are crowded with tourists, locals and visitors. Pilgrims or Buddhists on the street were in groups or individuals, praying as they walk, crawling step by step. Almost all shopkeepers on the street are Tibetan, and they were very welcoming and friendly when we walked into their stores. Some of us even asked them to have photos with us.
We visited several famous temples in Lhasa. Of course the most exciting temple is the Potala Palace. Standing in front of the Potala Palace, the solemn feeling in my heart couldn’t be described in any words. After visiting the Potala Palace, I fully understood why the Tibetan people are so devout in their faith. As I walked down the steps of the temple, I thought that I would be lucky if I were one of them.
从西宁坐火车大约22个小时后，我们终于到达了藏传佛教徒的圣地—西藏拉萨。
一下火车，我就感觉空气非常清新，天空干燥又干净。拉萨的海拔大约是3,663米，但我对高海拔反应很小，部分原因可能是经一夜的火车逐渐适应了。 拉萨的海关官员非常友好和高效，同行的外藉朋友凭入藏通行证，不到半小时就出关。离开了火车站，我们乘坐巴士前往酒店稍作休息，以避免高原反应。
第二天，我们乘车前往拉萨市中心，八角街。与中国内地城市相比，尽管街道上挤满了旅客、当地人和外地人， 拉萨市中心非常安静。 街上的香客或佛教徒三五成群或个人，边走边祈祷，一步一步爬行。街道边上的店主几乎都是藏族人。当我们走进他们的店时，他们很热情地欢迎我们。 我们中有些人还拉着当地人和我们合影。
我们参观了拉萨的几座著名寺庙。 当然最精彩的寺庙是布达拉宫。 站在布达拉宫前面，那种庄严肃穆的感觉，是任何语言都无法表达的。参观布达拉宫后出来， 我完全理解了为什么藏族人民对他们的信仰如此虔诚。从寺庙的台阶往下走的时候， 我想我要是他们中的一员， 也未尝不是一种幸运。
The city of Tibet and the Potala Palace
罗布林卡 Norbulingka
Norbulingka, which means “treasure garden” in Tibetan, is located in the western suburbs of Lhasa, Tibet. First built in the 1840s (Dalai VII), it is the place where Dalai Lamas of all generations administered government affairs during summer. It is a typical Tibetan-style classical garden.
In the garden I met a Tibetan family who came from far away in Tibet to make a pilgrimage to Lhasa. I took a family photo of them. Unfortunately, there was communication error when exchanging WeChat IDs, so that the photos were not sent out. Hope they can see their bright sunny smiles here.
罗布林卡，藏语意为“宝贝园林”, 位于西藏拉萨西郊。始建于十八世纪40年代（达赖七世），是历代达赖喇嘛消夏理政的地方，是一座典型的藏式风格的古典园林。
在园里我遇到了一家从西藏远地来拉萨朝圣的藏人。 我给他们拍了合家欢。但可惜互换微信时没有没有确认，以致照片没能发给他们。希望他们能在这里看到他们灿烂阳光般的微笑。
色拉寺的辩经活动 Holy debate in Sera Monastery
Sera Monastery, “Sera Mahayana Monastery” in full, is located at the northern suburbs of Lhasa. It is one of the three major monasteries of the Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism and a representative Yellow Sect monastery. In addition to its history, it is most famous for its debate activities. In the debate field, monks actively debate every day. They have rich and colorful facial expressions and all kinds of body movements; everyone is very devoted. Although we didn’t understand what they were saying, sitting on the sidelines of the debate field and watching the monks debating, we may have our spirits cleansed at least in some degree. Their piety is enough to influence every mortal.
色拉寺， 全称为“色拉大乘寺”， 坐落在拉萨北郊，是藏传佛教格鲁派三大寺之一， 是一所具有代表性的黄教寺院。除了它的历史，它最出名的就是辩经活动。在辨经场上，每天都会有僧人们积极地辩论。他们神态各异，肢体动作丰富多彩，每人都非常投入。虽然我们听不懂他们在说什么，但坐在辩论场边看僧人们形神并茂的辩经，至少心灵会得到某种程度的净化。他们的虔诚足可以感化每一个凡人。
纳木错 Namtso or Lake Nam
Namtso, or Lake Nam, which means “Sky Lake” in Tibetan, is located in central Tibet. It is the largest lake of its kind with the highest altitude (4,718 meters) in the world and the second largest lake in Tibet. It is about 250 kilometers from Lhasa and takes about 3 hours one way by car. On the way to the lake, we passed through the Nyenchen Tanglha Mountain Observation Deck. When we arrived, it was already noon. Under the clear sky at noon, the lake is quiet, vast, holy, and perfectly blending between the water and sky. At this moment, who cares about any altitude sickness.
纳木错, 藏语意为“天湖”，位于西藏中部，是世界上海拔最高的大型湖泊, 是西藏第二大湖泊，湖面海拔4718米。从拉萨到纳木错大概250公里，坐车单程大约3小时，途径念青唐古拉山观景台。到达时，已经中午。在正午晴朗的天空下，湖面宁静，浩瀚，圣洁，水天相融。 这时侯，一点点的高原反应算得了什么呢。
标语 Slogans
During the trip, I paid special attention to slogans of various shapes and colors, which can be seen everywhere on walls, roads and even mountains. They spread all the corners whether in densely populated cities or remote countryside, such as villages in Qinghai and Tibet. Their content seems to focus on one theme: eradicating bad guys and destroy gangs. Following are some of the slogans I collected.
这次旅行中，我特别注意形状各异、各种颜色的标语，在墙上、路上甚至山上随处可见。无论在人口稠密的城市，还是偏远山区， 比如在青海和西藏在内的村庄里，它无空不入。其内容似乎集中在一个主题上：除恶扫黑。以下是我收集的一些标语。
