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Tibet province
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Locked away in its mountain fortress of the Himalaya, Tibet has long exercised a unique hold on the imagination of the west: 'Shangri-La', 'the Land of Snows', 'the Rooftop of the World' . Tibet is my-sterious in a way few other places are.
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Long, long ago,according to legend,an ogress,Sinmo, and a monkey , Avalokiteshvara , were the only living creat ures on the Tibetan plateau . In her loneliness, Sinmo lured the monkey into her cave,where they produced six offsp ring .These became the ancestors of the country's six m ain tribes.Tibet first became a nation in the 7th century,century when a chieftain,Songsten Gampo,co nsolidated his rule bysubjugating the ancient kingdom of Zhanzhung in the west. Songsten became the first true king of the un ified Tibetan empire, making Rasa(later renamed Lhasa) the capital.
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Until recently, few outsiders had laid eyes on the holy city of Lhasa and the other secrets of Tibet . It is more the pity that when Tibet finally opened to tourism in the mid-1980s,it was no longer the magical Buddhist kingdom that had so intoxicated early western travellers.
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Tibetans have never had it easy.Their environment is harsh,and h uman habitation has always been a precarious proposition. By necessity, Tibetans have become a tough and resilient people.Yet despite what appears to be a continuous grim struggle against nature and misfortune, Tibetans have not survived,but have managed to retain a remarkably cheerful outlook on life.
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Most of Tibet is too arid and cold to support human life and the place is still very thinly populated. With a geographical area more than twice that of France,Tibet still manages only a total population of 2.3 millio n. There are ,however,estimated to be some four million more Tibetans spread out over Tibet,Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan.
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Most of Tibet is made up of an immense plateau which lies at an altitude of 4000m to 5000m . the Qamdo region in the east is a somewhat lower section of plateau,drained by the headwaters of the Salween, Mekong and Upper Yangzi rivers . It's an area of considerably greater rainfall than the rest of Tibet and the climate is less extreme.Most of the Tibetan population lives in the valleys of this area. On the uplands surrounding these valleys , the inhabitants are mainly pastoralists who raise sheep, yaks and horse. |
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Lhasa| Lhasa is the heart and soul of Tibet, abode of the Dalai Lamas and an object of devout pilg rimage. It is really a city of wonders. As you enter the Kyi Chu Valley,either on the long haul from Golmud or from Gonggar airport, your first hint that Lhasa is close at hand is the sight of the Potala, a vast white and ochre fort ress soaring over one of the world's highest c ities.It is a sight that has heralded the marvels of the holy city to travellers for three centuries....... |
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