Visas and Alien Travel Permits: Although the government encourages group tours, tourists do need a Tibetan entry permit, issued by the Tibet Tourism Bureau, in addition to a Chinese visa.

The Tibetan People: Religion seems to be almost everything to these people. Many live for the next life, not the present. They accumulate deeds of virtue and pray for their final liberation, which is enlightenment. The lips and hands of the elders are never still; their lips are often busied in murmuring the six-syllable mantric prayer, Om Ma Ni Pad Me Hum (Hail the Jewel in the Lotus); their hands work in rotating hand prayer wheels or counting prayer beads. Pious pilgrims from every corner of Tibet gather at the Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Street, offering donations and praying for themselves, their friends, and even their friends’ friends.