The Potala Palace

The Potala Palace is considered as an icon of Tibetan architecture. Located on the Red Hill in Lhasa, it covers more than 360,000 square meters and has 13 stories. In 641, Songtsan Gambo, ruler of the Tubo Kingdom, had the Potala Palace built for Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty, his bride. It enjoys supreme religous status in the heart of the Tibetan Buddhists.

Transportation:

• Bus Routes

Taking bus No. 1, No.6, No.12, No.17, No.24 and No.25 and get off at the Lhasa Department Store Station

• Taxi

The cab fare in Lhasa is negotiable. Generally, 10 RMB is enough to get you anywhere within the citycenter.

Purchasing Tickets:

The Potala Palace requires you to purchase your entrance tickets in advancesince the number of tickets is limited every day. Only 2,300 people are allowed to enter the Potala Palace per day (with 700 of those tickets being reserved for individual purchases). Tickets can be purchased every day after 5 pm for the following day. Every person is allowed to purchase a maximum of four tickets.

You have to wait in line the day before and present your identification document in order to purchase your tickets. Your assigned time to enter the Potala Palace will be determined by your position in line when you purchased the tickets the day before. The time to purchase tickets begins at 9 am and will end when all the tickets for the 24 hour block period are sold out.

Of course, you can also reserve your tickets online visa www.portalapalace.cn. When you buy your ticket online, the system will assign you a specific time to enter the palace grounds. You will need to enter through the second door (the sluice gate without any signboard). If you do not enter the palace grounds at your assigned time, the computer system will automatically nullify the ticket.

Tickets will be on sale beginning at 9 am and visitors will be permitted to enter the grounds at the same time.

Tickets will be checked and the doors will close at 4 pm.

All visitors will need to leave the premises by 5 pm.

The Potala Palace

The Potala Palace