Lhasa

　　Lhasa, the capital of China's Tibet Autonomous Region, has a history of more than 1,300 years. It is the political, economic, cultural and transport center of the region. Lhasa covers an area of close to 30,000 square km. It has a downtown of 544 square km and a population of 400,000; 140,000 of its people live in the downtown area. Lhasa is home to the Tibetan, Han, and Hui peoples, as well as many other ethnic groups, but the Tibetan ethnic group makes up 87 percent of the total population.

Potala Palace in winter

　　Lhasa has beautiful scenery. The Lhasa River, known as the "merry blue waves," runs through the snow-covered peaks and gullies of the Nyainqentanglha Mountains, extending 315 km. The river empties into the Yarlung Zangbo River at Quxu, forming a scenic wonder that features blue and white water waves.
　　The ancient city of Lhasa stands by the Lhasa River. Inside the city towers the Potala Palace. The city features a combination of traditional and modern things, including prayer wheels and computers.
　　Located at the bottom of a small basin surrounded by mountains, Lhasa has an elevation of 3,650 meters and sits at 91_06_E and 29_36_N, the center of the Tibet Plateau. Blessed with flat land and mild weather, Lhasa is free of frigid winters and unbearably hot summers, having an annual average daily temperature of 8 degrees C (43 degrees F). It enjoys 3,000 hours of sunlight annually, much more than all other cities in this regard, giving the city its title of "sunlit city."
　　Lhasa enjoys an annual precipitation of 500 mm. It rains mainly in July, August and September. The rainy seasons in the summer and fall are the best seasons of the year, when it rains mostly at night, and is sunny in the daytime.
Administrative Division and Natural Resources
　　Today, Lhasa exercises jurisdiction over seven counties (Damxung, Doilungdeqen, Quxu, Maizhokunggar, Dagze, Nyemo and Lhunzhub) and one district (Chengguan). Damxung and parts of Nyemo, Doilungdeqen, Lhunzhub and Maizhokunggar, which are north of Lhasa, form the southern rim of the North Tibet Grasslands. These Grasslands feature thriving livestock breeding, and produce quality beef, mutton, butter, cow wool, and sheep wool.
The Lhasa River Valley, in the middle part of the Lhasa area, belongs to the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River is home to one of the granaries in Tibet. It produces qingke highland barley, wheat, rapeseed, and beans. Lhasa No.1 soya beans are well known in and outside of China for their quality. The Lhasa area is also rich in mineral and water resources, and is home to wild life and plants. Various counties are richly endowed with peat and geothermal resources. Dozens of geothermal sites can be developed for economic and medical purposes. The Qusang Hot Spring in Doilungdeqen and the Dezhong Hot Spring in Maizhokunggar are famous throughout the Tibet Autonomous Region. Other mineral resources with impressive proven reserves include iron, copper and limestone.

An Unpolluted and Beautiful City

　　 The ancient city of Lhasa features blue skies, crystal clear river water, refreshing air, and a beautiful environment. It is the least polluted and most beautiful city.
　　The Central Government invested 3.9 million yuan to build a natural environment monitoring station in August 1990. This was followed by the construction of three sample air gathering stations, five environmental noise monitoring stations, 27 traffic noise monitoring stations, six sample drinking water gathering stations, and three water quality monitoring stations. The time when the Tibetan environment was not monitored is over.
　　Monitoring results show that the Lhasa area is basically free from pollution, with the carbon dioxide density in air being less than 0.1 mg, much lower than the national standard. In the downtown area, which is densely populated, the air contains slightly more soot than the other areas, a result of Buddha worshipping activities. However, the soot content of the downtown air nevertheless stays below 0.4 mg per cubic meter. The Lhasa River is free from lead, zinc, copper, and other metallic trace elements, and towns and villages on both banks of the river cause no pollution to the river.

Tibetan handicrafts available at the Barkor Street

　　The Tibet Autonomous Regional government and the Lhasan government have been planting trees in Lhasa for decades. Statistics gathered in 1991 show that the green area in the city covers 669.7 hectares, including 50.2 hectares of parks, 336 hectares of lingka woods, 233.3 hectares of lawns and flower beds, 13 hectares of seedlings, and 37.2 hectares of trees and lawns flanking roads. The greenery averages 12 square meters, ranking among the first in all of China. The three-river project, the system for the development of the valleys in the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo, Lhasa, and Nyang Qu rivers, brings benefit to the whole area of Lhasa. Several 100-hectare forests or tree belts have been built in the Nyemo mountain gully and Painbo river valley, as well as along the Lhasa river banks.