Learn about Tibet, starting with the Tibet Museum.

The Tibet Museum is the first modern museum in Tibet. It houses many precious cultural relics, showcasing the unique charm of Tibetan culture and its long history. 🏠The museum has three floors. The first floor is a souvenir shop, the second floor is a Tibetan history exhibition, and the third floor houses special exhibitions of Thangka paintings, flora and fauna, jade, and temporary exhibitions. 🏠The museum's exhibition halls are divided into four main sections: Prehistoric Culture, Indivisible History, Culture and Art, and Folk Culture. 🏠The exhibition halls display a rich collection of treasures, such as Buddha and Bodhisattva statues of various materials and shapes, Tibetan scriptures handwritten in gold, silver, and coral powder from different dynasties, gold seals awarded to great living Buddhas by successive central governments, jade lots used for divination, colorful Thangka paintings, various musical instruments and ritual objects, handicrafts with distinctive ethnic characteristics, and uniquely styled pottery. These exhibits offer visitors a visual representation of Tibetan history, culture, art, religion, and customs, showcasing the unique charm of Tibetan culture and its long history. 🏠The Prehistoric Culture exhibition hall displays Paleolithic tools such as stone flakes and cores used in daily life, excavated from northern Tibet, as well as stone adzes, axes, chisels unearthed in Qamdo, and late Neolithic stone arrowheads, bone awls, bone needles, and various red, gray, and black pottery artifacts. It completely recreates several representative eras before Tibet entered civilized society: the Paleolithic Age, the Neolithic Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age. The Indivisible History exhibition hall uses precious historical materials to visually reveal that Tibet has been an inseparable part of China since ancient times. 🏠The Culture and Art, and Folk Culture exhibition halls vividly showcase Tibet's long history and splendid culture through exquisite cultural relics such as Buddha statues, Thangka paintings, pottery, and scriptures. Among all the exhibits, the Fifth Dalai Lama's gold seal is not to be missed. Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso went to Beijing to pay homage to the Qing central government to gain its support, and Emperor Shunzhi bestowed this seal upon him after his enthronement. The gold seal is made of pure gold, weighing 8.5 kg, and the inscription is in four languages: Chinese, Tibetan, Manchu, and Mongolian. 🏠In addition, there is a Thangka painting called the "Witch Map," which is said to have been drawn by Princess Wencheng, depicting the terrain of Tibet. In the painting, a witch lies on her back, with temples built on twelve important parts of her body, including her joints and heart. The Jokhang Temple is located right at the witch's heart, which has a profound meaning. 📍Address: No. 19, Norbulingka Road, Chengguan District, Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region 🚗Transportation: Bus: L2, 2, 3, 8, 24, and Bus Route 8 Peak Line, get off at the Museum Station 🎟️Tickets: Free 💗Other tips: Have your ID ready. Plan your time accordingly. There are more people and longer queues for tickets when the museum first opens in the morning. The queues are relatively shorter at other times. For convenient travel, choose Trip.com's customized travel services.