Barkhor Old Town: Lhasa's historic heart of culture, commerce, and harmony

With Barkhor Street at its core, the Barkhor Old Town covers an area of 1.33 square kilometers and is the birthplace of Lhasa.

Barkhor Street itself is short. The whole street is irregularly circular, with a circumference of about 1,000 meters. More than 400 large and small shopping malls and shops, five temples, and 25 large and small residential courtyards are distributed along the street.

Walking along Barkhor Street is like stepping into a thousand years of history. In the 7th century, the Tubo King Songtsen Gampo married Princess Wencheng and Princess Shakuzen, and built the Ramoche Temple and the Jokhang Temple. This led to the development of a region that integrated culture, commerce, religion, and residential life, establishing the original layout of Barkhor Old Town.

Today, the Barkhor Old Town features 56 ancient courtyards, with eight national cultural relic protection units and ten items recognized as national intangible cultural heritage. It is home to over 71,000 residents from more than 20 ethnic groups, including Tibetan, Han, Hui and Menba people. For thousands of years, these diverse ethnic groups have lived harmoniously in this area.