There is a Guandi Temple in Lhasa, and the Potala Palace has a sweet wall: Lhasa is not an intermediate station (2)

October 28, 2020

In the autumn in Lhasa, the sun rises very late, and it does not appear above the horizon until 8 o'clock. When I went out at almost 9 o'clock, there were no people on the street. Most of the shops were not open for business yet. The sun was still low and the sunlight could not reach the street. I felt cold all over.

At 8 o'clock, which is equivalent to 6 o'clock in the morning in the mainland, there is only one Lugu Tibetan noodle restaurant open for business on the street of Deji North Road. There are some Tibetans coming in and out of the store. We also walked in. A store serving traditional Tibetan breakfast when ordering. We were going to order a three-pound bottle of sweet tea, but the cashier told us that three pounds was too much for the two of you. He suggested that you buy one or two pounds, which would be enough. We followed the suggestion and ordered two pounds of sweet tea and meatloaf. and Tibetan-style beef noodles. It is still the traditional mode of paying tickets and picking up food at the window. While waiting at the window, I met a Han man. When I greeted him, I thought he was also a tourist. The other person said that he worked in the Tibetan education system. He especially liked this shop for breakfast and had a drink. Order sweet tea, and the freshly fried beef patties are also good, and they suit the taste.

Many people in the Tibetan noodle restaurant are very leisurely, and there is no rush at all for breakfast. Drinking sweet tea, eating meat pie, talking and laughing. Those who prefer quiet can also dine on the second floor. Drinking sweet tea and watching the dogs trotting in the store is not like the fast pace unique to Jingzhou breakfast restaurants. It even feels awkward to sit on the small bench outside the door and take a few bites before leaving. The leisurely breakfast gave me the feeling of morning tea.

Walking onto Beijing Middle Road in Lhasa, I found several Tibetans saluting at the gate of a temple. It turns out that there is a Guandigelsang Lakhang on this hill. I didn’t find it in Lhasa before. When did Tibetan Buddhism integrate with the traditional Guandi culture in the mainland? Thinking of the tallest Guandi statue in the country beside the city wall in Jingzhou, the Guandi Temple with the highest altitude in the world seems too low-key.

Guandi Lakang (Lakang means temple in Tibetan) was a product of the Qianlong period. In addition to worshiping Manjushri Bodhisattva, there is also a Guandi Hall. It was built to commemorate the joint fight between Chinese and Tibetan soldiers and civilians against aggression. It is the only temple in Tibetan areas that integrates Chinese and Tibetan culture. The main hall of Guandi Lakang is dedicated to Emperor Guandi and his soldiers. There are densely packed butter lamps on the table inside the hall. Outside the hall is a large golden incense burner with typical Han style. There is also a Tibetan-style incense burner in front of it. The mulberry burning furnace and the combination of Chinese and Tibetan sacrifices and prayers are very eye-catching. The Gurkhas are brave and good at fighting, and there are still several Gurkha battalions in the British army. The Qing Dynasty fought tooth and nail with the Gorkhas for the benefit of Tibet. They crossed the Himalayas and drove the Gorkhas who invaded Tibet back to Kathmandu, Nepal. After reading about the origin of the temple built by Guandi Kelsang Lakang, I feel grateful that the people in Tibetan areas still remember the glorious Qing army, which was invincible in pre-modern wars.

Internet information:

In the fifty-sixth year of Qianlong's reign, the Gorkhas attacked Tibet and plundered all the gold, silver and jewelry from Tashilhunpo Monastery. They also looted a large amount of cattle and sheep hidden in the back, occupied Nyalam and other three counties, and killed the Pai Qianlong was furious when the Red Hat Lama went to negotiate. He ordered General Fukang'an to mobilize elite troops to conquer, rushed from Xining to Lhasa, and recovered the lost territory in only thirty days. After that, the Qing soldiers crossed the Himalayas and penetrated into enemy territory to attack the Gorkhas. Finally, they reached outside Kathmandu. The Gurkhas surrendered and not only handed over the looted property, but also became vassals forever and paid tribute once every five years. For the Qing soldiers who had always fought in the plains and entered the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the foothills of the Himalayas for the first time, they easily won victory in such a harsh environment, which made people feel like they were assisted by the god of war, Guandi. As a result, officials, soldiers, and Tibetans stationed in Tibet built the Guandi Temple, the highest-altitude temple on Parmari Mountain (also called Mopan Mountain), a geomantic treasure land in Lhasa.

A few steps further to the south on the west side of Potala Palace Square, there is a Chalalup Grotto, in which a large butter lamp is enshrined in the palace. Many believers are replacing the wick and oil of the butter lamp. The scene is quite spectacular. Next to the road leading to the grotto, there are piles of dark red plate stones. A young carver is carving a six-character mantra on the plate stones. His movements are very skillful. Only visitors are allowed to visit and no photos are allowed, so no images are left.

Lying on the ground is for the reflection of the Potala Palace

The Nikon D750 camera has a flip screen, so you can take qualified photos of the Potala Palace's reflection without lying on the ground. However, there is a little less water on the ground and the reflection area is not large enough.

Taking the 50 yuan prepared in advance, I gestured around the Potala Palace.

I spent the whole day wandering around the Potala Palace Square, soaking up the sun, watching the believers visiting the Potala Palace, and the 50-yuan scenic spot of Yaowang Mountain, an internet celebrity check-in spot. From morning to night, there are always people making reflections of the Potala Palace in the square. There is no traffic in the Potala Palace, only the crowds of Tibetan believers milling around. There are no crowds of tourists, no clouds, and the sky is clean. As if there is no background, Lhasa is a bit free today. While waiting for the night view of the Potala Palace, I met a photography enthusiast from Daqing. It was his fourth time to go to Lhasa to take pictures of the night view of the Potala Palace. Apart from Qinghai photography enthusiasts who traveled all over the country.

Special note: I read the wrong date, and my reservation for a free visit to the Potala Palace was cancelled.

October 29, 2020

I asked a friend to help me rebook the tickets for the Potala Palace. I set out early in the morning, drank two pounds of sweet tea, and ate two meat pies. Arrive at the south gate of the Potala Palace early to check in and visit the Potala Palace. Autumn and winter are really a good time to visit Tibet. You can’t even buy tickets to the Potala Palace in summer. Visiting in autumn and winter is free. There aren’t many tourists. You don’t have to worry about crowds going up and down the narrow stairs of the Potala Palace.

Even more fortunately, when I visited Lhasa in 2020, I encountered the Potala Palace’s annual one-week “sweet wall”. According to local Tibetans, there is a week of splashing every year. The paint is mixed with milk, white sugar and other materials to make the wall paint more sticky and not easy to fall off. A large number of volunteers sang cheerful songs, mixed the white paint, then tied their bodies with safety ropes, hung from a high place, and used high-pressure water cannons to splash the sweet wall paint onto the white walls of the Potala Palace. A dedicated person stood at the commanding height opposite the white wall to observe the direction and progress of the sweet wall, and then used a loudspeaker to direct the direction of the sweet wall. The coordination was perfect. The Potala Palace, which was already very white, became even more dazzlingly white. Get close to the wall and smell it. The snow-white painted wall really doesn't have any pungent smell.

There are not many tourists, so it’s free to visit. If you climb all the way up the stairs, take a slow stroll and take a closer look. It’s a great value for money trip to the Potala Palace.

After looking around the Potala Palace, the impression I left was that Tibetan culture has a long history and deserves respect. It is a pity that our beliefs are being exploited.

Faith became a means of domination. In the Potala Palace, there are tons of gold, turquoise, red coral and other expensive materials, which are hard-won for the people. A large amount of private wealth has been separated from the economic field, and wealth that has jumped out of the economic cycle has only symbolic meaning. Economic development requires real gold and silver as the foundation. Most Tibetans are permanently trapped in a life of hardship and hardship, and can only place their hope in the afterlife. Religious belief has become a means of rule to make Tibetans content with the status quo.

The Tibetan people who live in poverty and live happily should be grateful to the Communist Party of China for pushing the slave society into modern society at one stroke. It is no exaggeration to describe the pace of progress as thousands of miles a day. Without the exploitation of slave owners, Tibetan people's religious habits remain the same. They devoutly donate most of their income to monasteries, which is much better than leaving it to domineering slave owners.

Today, we walked to the Potala Palace, then to the Jokhang Temple, turned to Barkhor Street, and then walked back to the hotel in Deji North Road from Barkhor Street. The mobile phone records showed that we walked more than 20,000 steps, traveled 15 kilometers, and passed through Xuexin Village on the return trip. On the roads in the community, there are various small shops, fresh yak meat stalls, sweet tea houses one after another, and several Sichuan Maocai. Lhasa people live a leisurely market life, basking in the sun and drinking sweet tea. The streets are full of people thinking about it. People who shake scriptures and turn prayer wheels need strong determination to maintain the most traditional cultural costumes and beliefs in modern society. Tibetan people are not simple!