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Places in China: Tibet Autonomous Region

The highest region in the world, the Tibetan Plateau, is where you find Tibet Province in China. Most of the Himalaya Mountains are in Tibet. Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, sits near the border between Nepal and Tibet.

The weather in this high elevation is generally quite cool. Winters are very cold. Thus, the best time to visit this elevated province is from April to September. Some of China's largest grasslands and forestry areas are in Tibet, making for many herds of goats, sheep, cattle and yaks. Farming is not too successful due to uneven soil conditions in the province. The farming which has much success in Tibet includes farming barley, wheat, potatoes and rape. Tibet also produces other products of a medicinal nature, such as snow lotus, musk and pilose antlers.

Water, solar and wind energy are generated in Tibet, which produces about thirty percent of the country's total output. Besides income from herds and tourism, energy production is a major income source for Tibet.

The capital of the province is Lhasa. It has some of the elements of a modern Chinese city although it has many cultural attractions, especially in the Bakhor District. There are many good examples of Tibetan architecture in such places as Norbulinka Park, the Jokang and in the Potala Palace. The city is 3500 metres above sea level and is full of Buddhist religious shrines which attract many visitors. Around 200,000 people call Lhasa home.

The province of Tibet is unusual in ethnic makeup. Unlike most of China's provinces which have over ninety percent Han Chinese, Tibet's Hans are at only six percent. The majority of the people in the province are Tibetan, around ninety-three percent. Other ethnic groups in the province include Hui, Moinba and Lhoba.

Tibet covers 1,228,500 square kilometres of land area with a total population of more than 2,700,000 people. The population density is 2.2 persons per square kilometre in the province. The province is also sometimes called Zizang. Tibet is on the western side of China and borders Myanmar (Burma), Nepal and India.

Tourists choose Tibet often because of the Buddhist tradition there. Although the area did not embrace Buddhism until a thousand years after the death of the Buddha, Tibet is strongly Buddhist now. Tourists, besides those with religious motives, are often interested in mountain climbing. Most of the Himalaya Mountains are in Tibet. Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, sits near the border between Nepal and Tibet.

The 13th Dalai Lama, who left Tibet in 1910, and his resistance forces fled into India in 1959. The present Dalai Lama is not expected to return to China.