Lhasa is the capital of the Tibet autonomous region in China. It is located at 3650 meters (12 000 feet) above sea level on the northern slopes of the Himalayas. Lhasa, which means “Land of the Gods”, is the heart of Tibet. Over 1,300 years old, it sits in a valley right next to the Lhasa River. Tourist resources are plenty, good hotels, tasty restaurants, travel agencies, Chinese department stores and supermarkets, in some parts of the city, you may find no difference to other Chinese cities, but the Tibetan influence is still strong and evident, especially around the old quarters near Barkhor.
In Lhasa, the most popular vehicles for the travellers are these 3: bus, taxi and manpower three-wheeled cart car.
There are several bus lines in the city of Lhasa. You can take them to the major tourist attractions in Lhasa(the price is the same for all the bus lines: 2 rmb). The bus is not a bad choice for your Lhasa travel because the bus starts from the departure stop at every 1 or 2 minutes and it is not crowded(much more comfortable than the bus in other Chinese cities). Some tips here:The Tibetan Hospital of Lhasa(near the Square of Dazhao Temple) is most buses’ terminal and you can get in the bus there if you want. An interesting thing I found out is that many buses here do not have bus stops in their way to the tourist attractions and all you need to do is to wave your hands to the bus driver. He/she will stop the bus for you(like what you do to get a taxicab). It is pretty funny, 🙂
Although Lhasa does not have a big population, the number of taxicabs in Lhasa is not small. In the downtown of Lhasa, the cost is always 10 rmb(no matter day or night). If you are going to some place a little bit far away,like the Zhebang Temple, you can bargain with the taxi driver first. Usually the cost is from 15 to 20 rmb. Another choice is to rent a taxicab for a whole day and it is about 200 to 300 rmb. (You can get more information about Lhasa travel and China vacations at Travel2ChinaInfo Dot COM)
The manpower three-wheeled cart car is a very interesting thing in Lhasa and it is also most travellers’ favourite vehicle. The capacity is 2 people and you can experience the real Tibetan people’s life by taking this specail vehicle. The manpower three-wheeled cart car can take you to lots of interesting places in Lhasa. If the cart car owner is a Tibetan, you will find it very hard to communicate with him because they don’t speak English or Mandarin Chinese. You will need to learn some basic Tibetan for the communication with them. Counting from 3 to 5 in Tibetan is very useful here because you can use it to bargain with the cart car owner, 🙂 . If the cart car owner is a Han people, usually they will ask you to pay 1 or 2 rmb extra fees.(They speak Mandarin Chinese and this will help you to understand the life in Lhasa better if you can speak Mandarin too.)
Here is some useful Tibetan for your Lhasa travel(Tibetan for the number from 1 to 10):
1: ji, 2: ni, 3: song, 4: xi, 5: nga, 6: chu, 7: diu, 8: gei, 9: wu, 10: jio.
Travelling by bike in Lhasa is also a very pleasant experience. Many hotels and motels have the bike rental services and usually the cost is about 2-3 rmb for a hour and 20-30 rmb for a day.