Tibet, roof of the world

By virtue of its geography, Tibet is the highest plateau of the world. That’s why it’s called the “roof of the world”. It is located in the middle of Asia.

The town of Lhasa is its historical and current capital city; in 2006, the average population was approximately 120.000 inhabitants.

The surface of Tibet varies from 1.221.600 km², for the administrative area, to 2.500.000 km² for historical Tibet and counts + - 13 million inhabitants.
The Tibetans and the Chinese frequently run up for hundreds years.
But with the dynasty of Qing, Manchu people who invaded China, the relations between the 2 countries become friendly and a “priest-boss” relation settles then between them.
This relation will end with the Chinese revolution of 1911 which put an end to the dynasty of Qing.

In 1949, Tibet is invaded by China, a “peaceful” release of the Tibetan people from the foreign oppressor, according to the P.R.C. The result of this “peaceful” release is the death of more than 1 200.000 Tibetans and an immense cultural loss. Tibet is since then attached to China.

The Tibetan culture is full of traditions and unique, the Tibetans are more than ever attached to it.
It’s present everywhere: in the gastronomy, the music, the medicine …
The architecture, for example, is very different from what we know in Occident, the houses of Tibet are rather of Eastern and Indian influence. The most splendid example of the Tibetan architecture Tibetan is without any doubt the Potala palace in Lhasa.

This difference is also found in the Tibetan gastronomy, extremely different from the Western gastronomy, but also varied and full of savours. However, one can find in Lhasa a multitude of restaurants serving Chinese or even Western kitchen.