Get to know something about mysterious Tibet

TIBET, often contained in China vacation packages, is manifest proof of the smallness of human beings. The Himalayan landscapes are so vast, so bereft of any inhabitants except the odd nomad, that here it is the land that has shaped the people instead of the other way around. When Tibetans die, they do not build tombs; they leave the corpse for the vultures to devour. Occasionally the Government makes an effort to tame the plateau, to show who is boss, by carving a road through the emptiness, but nature gets its revenge by bogging down vehicles in snow or mud.

It is from the roof of the Potala Palace, where the Dalai Lama as a boy rigged a telescope to study ordinary people as they strolled among the yaks on the streets below, that Tibet is at its most magnificent. As Tibetan pilgrims shuffle by, turning prayer wheels and mumbling chants before disappearing into little chapels to light yak-butter candles, the mysticism and beauty of the land are simply overpowering

Tibet inspired the notion of Shangri-La, and it retains a remoteness and exotic quality now rare elsewhere in the world. The Tibetan pilgrims who prostrate themselves in the dust have nothing but their faith, but they count themselves as very rich indeed -- for they have been able to make the holy journey to Lhasa. The pilgrims clutch prayer wheels as they walk clockwise around the Jokhang Temple, according to ritual.

In recent years, to be sure, Tibet has been an unhappy sort of Shangri-La, included in Shangri-La adventure. It had links over the centuries with the Chinese empire, and in 1950 the newly installed Communist Chinese Government used those relations to justify sending its army to "liberate" Tibet, which it claimed was part of China. These days there is a Tibetan Government in exile, but the United States and other Western governments recognize Chinese sovereignty over Tibet -- while urging Beijing to halt the torture and repression there.
Tibet can be reached from Nepal -- there are two flights a week -- but most tourists arrive on the daily China Southwest Airlines flights from Chengdu, China. If You have a China tour to Tibet, you can both choose train and flight.