Barkhor Street

Barkhor Street, a circular street at the center of Old Lhasa, is the oldest street in Tibet, and a must-see.

　　
Barkhor is the road by which pilgrims visited Jokhang Temple throughout the centuries. Buddhist pilgrims walk or prostrate themselves and progress by body-lengths along the street clockwise every day into the deep night. Most of Lhasa‘s transient population is comprised of these pilgrims. The pilgrims walk around four columns on which colorful streamers printed with scriptures are hung, a custom which began in the Tubo period as a way to show respect.

　　
The street is also a marketplace where shaggy nomads, traders, robed monks and chanting pilgrims join together.