我到天边走一回(1)Going Tibet
我到天边走一回(2)On the way to Tibet
文接自：天边走一回(3)步步沉重的Potala Palace
←藏族小孩坐在卖围巾的摊子上。A scene that I had caught when we stepped out of the restaurant.
After our “pass the dishes” lunch (haha… because we were sitting in a long table and the dishes had to be passed around for sharing) , we walked towards a well known bazaar street at Lhasa, the Barkhor Street. There was located another famous temple called Jokhang Monastery 大昭寺.
Our arrival was greeted by a mild drizzle of rain.
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Jokhang Temple 大昭寺 is a very important pilgrimage destination for Tibetan Buddhists. Pilgrims come from all corners of Tibet, usually on foot and often perform austerities for penance along the way. The most devout pilgrims cover the last several miles prostrate on the ground. More prostrations were undertaken in the plaza in front of the temple. Before entering, most pilgrims circumambulate the temple on the Barkhor clockwise, always keeping the temple to their right.
Adequacy: Out of respect for Buddhist tradition, don’t wear shorts or short skirts in the Temple and remove your hat indoors. Don’t touch items on an altar or remove prayer flags or stones. Photos are not allowed inside the main temple.
If you are self-travelling to Tibet, do take note that the admission fee of Jokhang Temple: RMB 85
Opening Hours: 09:00 to 18:00
Recommended time to visit:
Tourists can only tour Jokhang Temple in the afternoon; morning is reserved for pilgrims. The best way to experience the temple is to arrive at 8am to watch the pilgrims perform their devotions, then visit the interior in the afternoon.
This is one of the very special stone slab on the floor inside the Jokhang Temple, known to be a mineral stone that can cure Rheumatism 风湿病 and Arthritis 关节炎. The concavity was caused by centuries of attrition of the pilgrims’ knees. The authorities had fenced up this area preventing visitors to reach the stone slab.
参观要点: 世上只有3尊释迦牟尼等身佛像。佛教创始人释迦牟尼在世时反对偶像崇拜，不立寺供像。在他临终时释迦牟尼只同意以自己三个不同年龄时的模样塑像，并亲自为塑像绘图。这三尊佛像中，以12岁时释迦牟尼身为皇子的鎏金铜像最为精美与尊贵。该佛像后从古印度流入中国，又经唐代文成公主带入西藏.
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Jokhang's interior was dark and atmospheric labyrinth of chapels dedicated to various gods and bodhisattvas, illuminated by votive yak-butter candles. We climbed up a steep staircase to the open roof, gilded bronze tiles and figures on the roof dazzled under the bright sun.
From this vantage, I could see the Potala Palace and a wonderful view of Barkhor street.
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“Well-full” of money…
←Huge bronze door handle on a wooden door in Jokhang Temple
→ As we stepped out of the Temple, we saw more Tibetan pilgrims were prostrating in the front of the open porch. Many Tibetans believed in making long-distance prostrating pilgrimage of minimum 10,000 prostrations from their respective home village to Jokhang Temple have to be done once in their lifetime.
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3:30pm After around 2 hours of touring within the Jokhang Temple, we had a free and easy walk round the Bakhor Street.
Bakhor street 八角街 was a street encircling Jokhang Temple. Along the street were lined with stalls selling products like Prayer’s Wheel, T-Shirts, souvenirs and etc.
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“Makye Ame” means “unmarried pretty girl” in Tibetan. The restaurant was inspired by a beautiful story relating to the sixth Dalai Lama Tsangyang Gyatso.
“Rising from the highest mountaintop/ is the bright and glamorous moon/ It reminds me of the smile of Makye Ame/ which shines in the depths of my heart.” The song was written by Tsangyang Gyatso, who caught sight of a stunningly beautiful girl after stealing out of Potala Palace one evening and drinking at a wine shop at the Barkhor Bazaar.
Tsangyang Gyatso was a special Dalai Lama whose desolate life was unfortunately surrounded by politics empowerment.
狗狗无处不在……满街跑的。西藏人很爱狗。
5:00pm We were gathered and headed to a tea house… They promoted their precious mountain snow tea, extreme green tea and some tea snacks. We got to see the tea demo and tried all the samples. It was quite expensive, yet they gave more and more offers and discount at the end of the session.
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7:30pm We headed to Tibet Cultural Arts Center where world class Tibetan cultural and ritual dance were concentrated in a 2 hour show.
The dancers and singers were auditioned from countryside villages everywhere around Tibet. Performances were spread around the audience, which surprised us from time to time. Later I found out that the ticket for this show was RMB280~!! (included in our tour fare)
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Performers appeared behind us… synchronized performances on the stage at the same time.
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Performers now appeared on a hanging stage beside the audiences.
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9:45pm After the magnificent colourful night, it was time to call off a fulfilling day. The tour guide instructed the bus driver to detour round Lhasa city for us to have a glimpse of the Potala Palace in a night view while we headed back to the hotel.
And this marked the end of my day4 journey
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