Tibet in Brief
Tibet is a most unusual and beautiful place. The majority of its land rests above 4000 meters (13,000 feet) and is surrounded by
mountain ranges on three sides. The awe-inspiring Himalayas are the highest in the world, as is the never-ending Tibetan plateau. It is a place for the rugged adventurer as well as the spiritual wanderer
Tibet is a land held back in time, housing many secrets. Nomads remain much the same as they did one hundred years ago. Roaming the plateau from winter and summer camps the nomads still mainly subsist from their yak herds. Then, there are the monasteries, which are striving to find a place in a country that's suddenly facing the 21st century.
The Tibetan people and their religion have been inseparable. Even in their earliest myths one finds references to Tibetan religious beliefs. Originally, the Bon religion dominated Tibet. After the introduction of Buddhist statues and later, Sanskrit documents from India, Buddhism crept increasingly into Tibetan culture. Tibetan Buddhism is the culmination of some early Bon beliefs, Indian Buddhist texts and several great lamas. Buddhism and politics had been interwoven since King Songsten Gampo married a Chinese and a Nepali princess, who were both intergral in the emergence of Buddhism. It was the Fifth Dalai Lama who actually built the Potala Palace as the government seat and religious center. A theocracy had prevailed until 1951.
The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, in the southwest of China, has long enjoyed reputation of being "the Roof of the World", where Tibet Autonomous Region with an average altitude of over 4,000 meters and an area of 1.2 million square kilometers occupies a major portion. The majestic Tibetan highland stands on of the world and its unique cultural tradition has an international fame. This is a land of vast contrast with snow-capped mountains offering beauty unsurpassed and deep tropical rainforests in another, and with open pastureland against imposing mountains and cornier forests. The great Himalayas lies in its south with the towering Mt. Qomolangma (Everest) standing above all world's peaks.
