.jpg)
Every city has its featured street. Beijing has its most famous Wangfujing Street. Shanghai has its Nanjing Road. Hong Kong has Causeway Bay. Guangzhou has Beijing Road. Chengdu has Chunxi Road. And Wuhan has Jianghan Road. These famous streets are mainly characterized by shopping, but more importantly these streets are where the center of local culture and life. There are the best places to learn and know the city. Barkhor Street is one of the typical streets among this category. And it is outstandingly featured with Lhasa colors.
When you come to Lhasa, Barkhor Street is a must go destination. Barkhor Street is one of the most sacred places in Tibet. Constructed about 1,300 years ago, the Barkhor Street was built to circle the sacred Jokhang Temple. The street is a famous circumambulation circuit in Lhasa. There are pilgrims from everywhere to worship and chant in the street.
Barkhor Street is said to be the best place where you can have a quick view of Tibet and Tibetan life. There are houses and buildings of Tibetan styles standing alongside the street. There are a lot of Tibetan people in the street, some of them are owners of the stores, some of them are pilgrims who are doing their prayers and chanting. They are people dressing different costumes, speaking Tibetan and other languages. There are Tibetan culture and customs to learn and enjoy, Tibetan styled handcrafts and accessories to discover and buy. All these presented in Barkhor Street tell the real Lhasa and Tibet.
Barkhor Street is where you can buy various kinds of souvenirs and gifts. There are more than 300 stores and stalls along the streets that sell various kinds of commodities. Most of the items sold are of Tibetan features. You can not only buy religious staff like copper Buddha, prayer wheels and prayer flags there, also you can buy numerous Tibetan-styled handmade crafts and souvenirs there like leather bag, harness, shoes, hat, wooden bowls, carpet, scarf and so on. When shopping in Barkhor Street, get more patience. Take your time at those stores and stalls, and you will find some special items. And of course, remember to bargain with the seller. You may find items sold there are of high prices, so always bargain with the seller and bargain hardly. Usually a quarter of the original offering price by the seller would be a reasonable ending price for an item, or you can try a lower price.
In Barkhor Street, you will find most of the houses there are with white walls, but there is a special restaurant is yellowish painted. This is the famous Magyia Ngami Restaurant. It is a two floored restaurant and is said to be the secret place where the 6th Dalai Lama Canyand Gyamco met his lover. Now the restaurant is a bar that has elegant taste with the decoration of unique artworks, paintings and handcrafts.
Popular Tibet tour packages provided by China Tour Advisors are:
http://www.chinatouradvisors.com/chinatour/Lhasa-Essence-4-Days-Tour-208.html
http://www.chinatouradvisors.com/chinatour/SichuanTibet-Highway-15-Days-Tour-1223.html