Norbulingka

Located three kilometers west of the Potala Palace, at the bank of the Kyichu River, Norbulingka is a palace and surrounding park which served as the traditional summer residence of the successive religious leaders from the 1780s up until the PRC takeover in the late 1950s. In 2001, UNESCO inscribed Norbulingka on its World Heritage Site as part of the "Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace".

History:
In 1755, the 7th religious leader built the formal palace called Kelsang, known as Norbulingka, which has become the Summer Palace for successive Lamas to handle administrative affairs and carry out religious activities. After that, other religious leaders, especially the eighth and the thirteenth religious leader have modified Norbulingka.

After the expansion of the eighth religious leader, thus Norbulingka possessed the features as a park. In 1954, the Central People's Government built up a Takten Migyur Potrang (commonly known as New Palace) for the 14th Dalai Lama Dan, resulting in Norbulingka’ s current scale.

After a series of expansions and renovations, the appearance was improved with potrangs, pavilions, gardens and woods. It has now been turned into a park open to the public.

Features:
Norbulingka covers an area of 360,000 square meters (about 430,000 square yards), with 374 rooms inside. The park has more than 100 kinds of plants, including flowers and trees common in the Lhasa area, plants from the northern and southern foot of the Himalayas, as well as special and unique transplants from the Mainland or from foreign countries. As a result, Norbulingka is also called Plateau Botanical Garden.

The garden is a favourite picnic spot and provides a beautiful venue for theatre, dancing and festivals, particularly at the Sho Dun or 'Yoghurt Festival'. At the beginning of August, families camp in the grounds for days, surrounded by colorful windbreaks of rugs and scarves, and enjoy the height of summer weather.

Architectural specialty:
Norbulingka consists of several palace complexes, such as the Kelsang Potrang, Tsokyil Potrang, Golden Linka and Takten Migyur Potrang. Each palace complex is divided into three sections, namely the palace section, the section in front of the palaces and the woods.

Kelsang Potrang is a three-storey palace with halls for worshipping Buddha, bedrooms, reading rooms and sanctuaries. As for Tsokyil Potrang, it is considered to be the most attractive in Norbulingka when the Eighth religious leader was in power. Khamsum Zilnon built during that time is really a striking pavilion of the Han architecture style, where religious leaders enjoyed Tibetan opera. In 1922, a wealthy benefactor had Golden Linka and Chensel Potrang constructed for the Thirteenth religious leader. In 1954, the Fourteenth religious leader built Takten Migyur Potrang, also called the New Summer Palace, means 'Eternal Palace' in Tibetan.

The architecture has combined the characteristics of temple and villa and is more magnificent than other palaces. It both reflects the ethnical, religious features of the Tibetan people and embodies the architecture style of inland China. You will deserve more knowledge about culture of Tibetan.

Tips:
1.Opening Hours: 09:00 to 12:00 in the morning, 15: 00 to 16:00 in the afternoon
2.Recommended Time for a Visit: Three hours.
3.Transportation: you can take No.2 bus from the entrance of Tibetan medicine hospital straight to the Norbulingka. If you are in the downtown, you can walk there or spend four Yuan by taking three-wheeled vehicle.