Huge Cypress Forest in Nyingchi
The Huge Cypress Nature Reserve in Baji Town, Nyingchi County, is a complete forest of huge cypress trees. Among these cypress trees, one is 46 meters tall and is about 2,000 to 2,500 years old by inference and is respected as the sacred tree by the local people.

The Big Turn of the Yarlung Zangbo River
The Yarlung Zangbo River originates from the middle section of the northern slope of the Himalaya Mountain with an elevation of more than 6,000 meters. It turns south suddenly in Mainling County and cuts the Himalaya Mountain into two sections. Then the river runs through a narrow passage between the two 7,000-meter-high peaks of Namjagbarwa and Jialabailei. Its flow averages 1,000 cubic meters per second year round.
In one section less than 1,000 meters, the drop is more than 300 meters and its current velocity is more than 18 meters per second. Here is the Yarlung Zangbo Canyon, the first one in the world. Standing by it, you will feel the fascination of the nature, including the precipitous cliffs, hot springs, waterfalls, primeval forests, rare plants and animals.
(It takes one month to go through the Yarlung Zangbo Canyon. From July to October is the season for entering the canyon.)

Pungri Holy Mountain
Pungri Holy Mountain is to the southeast of Nyingchi County seat on the northern bank of the Yarlung Zangbo River. It is one of the mountains respected by the Bon believers. During a competition with the Bon, Buddhism gained the upper hand and put the Bon in the edge of termination.
A legend says the Bon believer Aqiong Jibu destroyed the magic arts of the Buddhist master Padmasambhava in the power contests and thus saved the Bon.
(It takes three days to walk around the holy mountain at least. Plus visits to the monasteries around it, it takes seven days. In Nyingchi tourists can hire horses and yaks for carrying your luggage. But the horse and yak could not pass through the mountain pass and have to make a detour from the east slope. Fortunately, the monasteries on the mountain provide food and lodging.)

Peach Blossom Valley
Some five kilometers to the southeast of Nyingchi County seat, it is a wild peach forest. Surrounded by mountains in three sides, the valley has water running down from the mountains. It has green verdant trees, fragrant flowers and singing birds everywhere. The valley is a good place for purifying your hearts.
(It takes only 10 minutes, from Nyingchi County seat to the valley by car or two hours on toot.)

Follow Me to Nagqu
Having an elevation of more than 4,500 meters, Nagqu is located on the famous North Tibet Plateau. It is 338 kilometers from Lhasa and at the juncture of the Qinghai-Tibet Highway, northern section of the Sichuan-Tibet Highway and Heihe Highway.
Nagqu has good transport facilities and a unique landscape. The ancient Yamtung (or Zhangzhung) cultural site, the Bon monasteries, the Holy Lake Nam Co and the life of the highland herdsmen are unique tourist attractions.

Lake Nam Co
Nam Co is the highest lake in the world and is 4,718 meters above sea level. It is 72 kilometers long from east to west and 30 kilometers wide from south to north. It has an area of 1,940 square kilometers. Some 60 kilometers to the northwest of Damxung County seat, it is one of the three holy lakes in Tibet and receives high respects among the local people.
On the Tibetan year of sheep, pilgrims from faraway come here to walk around the lake. It takes more than 10 days to circle the lake once.
(Five or seven tourists can hire a minibus from Lhasa to go and back in three days for 1,700-2,000 yuan. The journey takes eight hours. The Zhaxi Monastery by the lake provides lodging fin- 15 yuan each bed.)

Follow Me to Ngari
In the western part of Tibet, Ngari has an average elevation of more than 4,500 meters and is famous as the top of the roof of the world. The area has many lakes but less people and is a paradise of wild yaks, Pantholops hodgsoni, Mongolian gazelle, wild donkeys and other kinds of wildlife.
In the western part of Ngari there are the famous ruins of Guge Kingdom, Toding Monastery, Duoxiang Castle and other historical sites. The holy mountains and sacred lakes in Burang attract more domestic and fbreign pilgrims.

Guge Kingdom
The Guge Kingdom is a wonder of Ngari. In the mid-nine century, the Tubo imperial court came to an end. The offspring of the King Namdam established their own kingdoms and Gyede Nyimagong became the king of Ngari. The second son of his three sons occupied Zarang and established the Guge Kingdom.
In the main ruins of the Guge Kingdom in Zarang, the destroyed city walls and the natural earthen forests exist harmoniously. More than 400 houses and 800 caves scatter on the 300-meter-high mountain slope. As the capital of the Guge Kingdom, the Zarang Ruins cover an area of 720,000 square meters. It is the second largest building complex in Tibet next to the Potala Palace.
The main buildings include the Red Temple, White Temple and Mandala Hall. More than 1,000square-meter murals on the walls of the Samsara Hall are most precious. In addition to the images of Buddha, murals demonstrate such seldom images as other living things and the snakes with a human head. The caves around the temples still house some weaponry and hamlets used by the ancient soldiers.

(Tourists should buy tickets in advance from the Zanda County Cultural Bureau for the visit to the Ruins of the Gage Kingdom.)

Rutog Cliff Carvings
Cliff carvings are discovered in several places along the road from Shiquanhe to Rutog. Renmudong cliff carvings on the side of the road are of the animals and figures. Simple and rough, they are full of vitality. Qiniaopu cliff carvings are rare to find and are 70 kilometers from Rutog.
Carved on a precipitous cliff, they depict all kinds of animals and figures. The carvings are vivid and are of a high artistic value.

Sacred Lake Mapam Yumco
One of the three sacred lakes in Tibet, Lake Mapam Yumco is a place respected by the Tibetan people. Lake Mapam Yumco is 4,587 meters above sea level. The lake covers an area of 412 square kilometers and is 77 meters deep. On the slope of the mountain by the lake stands the Jiniao Monastery, a best place to overlook the lake.
(Tourists can take any passing buses from Burang to Shiquanhe and get off halfway for visiting the Jiniao Monastery. The travel is about 100 kilometers for 30 yuan or less. The road is poor. If you take the bus from Lhasa to Shiquanhe you have to get off at Bagag and change for another bus. It is 30 kilometers from Bagag to the Jiniao Monastery. It takes one day on foot. At the foot of the Jiniao Monastery Hill there are small hostels for 30 yuan per person. )

Zanda Earthen Forests
The organic movement of the Himalayas has made the bottom of the lake ascend. And the undulating earthen forest of dozens of kilometers were formed by the flushing of water subsidence and long years of weathering. Walking in these narrow earthen forests as if a walk in the ruins of an ancient kingdom, desolate but magnificent.
(It takes a dozen hours from Shiquenhe to the earthen forests and the trip covers 255 kilometers. You can hire a car to go and hack for three or four days and daily cost is 800 yuan. The earthen forests are close to the Zanda County seat. It can be reached on.foot from the county seat.)

Holy Mountain Kangrinboqe
Kangrinboqe Peak is 6,638 meters above sea level and is the main peak of the Gangdise Mountains. More than 250 glaciers around the peak make it the sources of the Indus, Ganges and Yarlung Zangbo Rivers.
Kangrinboqc Peak is the holy mountain in Tibet and attracts flocks of pilgrims from other parts of the country, India and Nepal to pay their respect to the Buddha. Also it is one of the pilgrimage centers of Tibet Buddhism, Hinduism and the Bon.

Burang
Burang has a Chinese customs and border check point to Nepal and India. From here the Nepalese and Indian people enter China.
Burang is a place of mountains and lakes. The Himalaya and Gangdise mountains meet here.
Burang registers a developed frontier trade. People from its neighboring countries do business here. In the county seat, there is an international trade market and many Nepalese businessmen deal fabrics and perfumes on this market.

Lake Banggong
The Lake Banggong extends from Rutog of China to Indian controlled Kashmir. In Tibetan, it is called the Com Ngangla Ringbo Lake, meaning a long-neck goose, for its narrow shape. It is 150 kilometers long and five kilometers wide with the narrowest section being only five meters. The lake covers an area of 604 square kilometers. In the lake there are a dozen islets on which inhabit various species of birds.
(Some 10 kilometers out of the county seat, tourists can see the lake. On the southern bank, there is a simple highway. Tourists can take a taxi to go. But it takes 40 minutes by boat to the Bird Islet in the lake.)

Ghost Lake La'nga Co
Next to the Sacred Lake Mapam Yumco, Lake La'nga Co is famous as the Ghost Lake. But water in the Lake Mapam Yumco is fresh and that in the Lake La'nga Co is a little salty.
Ghost Lake was connected with the sacred lake. Later they separated as the water decreased and water surface dropped. But there is still a small river to link them together.

Rutog Glaciers
In the vast Rutog, the large uninhabited zones. glaciers, lakes, the highland pastures and magnificent mountains and mounds constitute a rare moving picture. To the north of the uninhabited zones locates the glacier of the fourth period.

Common Knowledge About Tours to Tibet

Taboos
Remember not step on threshold when entering the tent or house. Calling somebody in name please add "la" behind the name to express respects. If you are asked to sit down, please cross your legs, don't stretch your legs forward and face your sole to others. You should accept the gift with both hands. While presenting the gift you should bend your body forward and hold the gift higher than your head with both hands. While offering tea, wine or cigarette, you should offer them by both hands and any fingers don't tough inside of the bowl.
When the host presents you a cup of wine, you should dip your ring finger in the wine and flick the wine into the sky, in the air and to the ground respectively to express your respects to the heaven, the earth and the ancestors before sipping the wine. The host will fill the cup, and you take a sip of the wine again. After the host fills your cup again, you have to bottom it up.
Tibetan people don't take horse, dog and donkey meat and also don't eat fish in some areas, so please respect their diet habits.
It is not polite to clap your palms and spit behind the Tibetan people.
Tibetan people stretch out their tongue to say hello to you. Also it is a courtesy to put their hands palm to palm in front of breast.
No smoke in monasteries. Also it is banned to touch the statue of Buddha and religious articles and take pictures of them. In addition. all should walk clockwise (not in the Bon temples).
Seeing any dagobas, monasteries or Mani piles, please go around them clockwise (not of the Bon), don't cross them.
Eagles are the sacred birds in the eyes of the Tibetan people. You should not drive them away or injure them. On the outskirts, you could not drive or disturb the sheep or cows with red, green or yellow cloth strips on.

Best Season for Touring Tibet

From April to October is the best season for touring Tibet. From June to September there are more rainfalls and the scenery is beautiful. But the heavy rain may topple down mud and as a result the traffic will be affected.

Taking Some Medicines
Drugstores in Lhasa sell medicines for preventing mountain sickness. The best way is to go to the doctor and take medicine recommended by the doctor according to your conditions. Also you can take the water with 30 grams of brown sugar every day (not white sugar) and pills of multi vitamins for three days in succession. It is helpful for decreasing the chance of having mountain sickness.

Mountain sickness
What the visitors to Tibet are concerned about is the mountain sickness. On highland, the air is thin and the air contains less oxygen. If the elevation increases quickly, you will find uncomfortable, such as taking airplanes or buses to Tibet. With mountain sickness, you will feel headache, dizzy, heavy breathing, tired and insomnia. Those with heart diseases or high blood pressure should be more careful.

Almost every tourist will suffer from the effects of high altitude, the degree differs from person to person. The mountain sickness usually develops slowly during the first two or three days. Its symptoms include headache, nausea, loss of appetite, sleeplessness and difficulty in breathing, people will be effected in different ways and not all the symptoms need be present, most people get over the initial symptoms quite soon but it takes about six weeks before complete adaptation occurs so. For the first two or three days in Tibet, it is suggested to take an easy sightseeing , to walk slowly, drink plenty of water, stop smoking and drinking wine, do not eat too much and try to have much vegetables and fruits. People who have heart or lung disease are not suggested to come to Tibet. It is advisable that before leaving for Tibet the elderly and people with chronic illnesses consult the doctor.

Buying a Bottle of Oxygen in Case
Lack of oxygen is the main reason for mountain sickness. In many places in Tibet you can buy oxygen in bottles. You can buy one or two bottles in case. With an oxygen-taking mask, they cost 20 yuan.
Must for Adapting to Highland Climate
Doing everything slowly and taking a good rest.
Drinking much more water.
Stabilizing the temperature of your body and not to catch cold.
Bringing some pain-killers which don't cause a heavy sleep.
Not take any smoke or wine.
Necessities for Touring Tibet
Heavy clothes - The weather has a big gap in the morning and evening. Even in June or July it is best to bring with you enough heavy clothes such as down coat and woolen sweater.
Sleeping bag - It is necessary for those who enter Tibet through land or tour other places than Lhasa.
Louse-killing powder - Except Lhasa, most places in Tibet have simple hotels. Maybe there are louses around. It is best to spread such powder.
Tibet has strong ultraviolet ray. In addition to sunglasses, it is useful to bring some sun blocks to prevent sunburn.
Solid food and drinks - It should bring enough high-calorie solid food with you, such as cookie, chocolate, and candy. Also you should bring enough drinking water. In addition, you should be ready to meet landslide and car broken in your tours in Tibet.
Confirmation Letter for Entering Tibet
Overseas tourists and compatriots from Taiwan should get a confirmation letter for entering Tibet in advance. Otherwise, they would be refused by the inspectors on their way to Tibet.
Tibet Tourism Bureau has established its offices in Hong Kong, Beijing and other places and issues confirmation letter for entering Tibet.

What's prepare for ?

It is advisable to bring the things as follows: dark glasses, a hat to protect you from the sun, suntan lotion , lip salve, a mug and torch, strong, resistant clothing and good walking shoes or boots, wind proof down jackets and thermal underwear, bring at least one set of light clothes. For medicine , lozenges or anything for sore throats, a supply of multivitamins or at least vitamin C are necessary.

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