Preface

The Tibet Autonomous Region, located In southwest China, neighbors the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province to the north, Sichuan Province to the east, Yunnan Province to the southeast, Myanmar, India, Bhutan, Nepal and Sikkim to the south and southwest. The Tibet Autonomous Region, which covers most of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is about 1,000km from south to north and about 2,000km from east to west. It boasts a total land area of 1.22 million sq km. With an average altitude of over 4,000m, it boasts ranges of ice-capped peaks, and a maze of rivers and lakes. The 8848.13m Qomolangma, the highest peak in the world, is situated here, and a number of famous rivers running through South Asia originate here. Tibet, therefore, has long been known as the "roof of the world," and "summit of all mountains and origin of all rivers".
This vast land is home to a population of over 2.62 million, some 92.2 percent of whom are Tibetans. The locals also include people from the Moinba, Lhoba, Dheng and Sherpa ethnic groups, who live in the foothills of the Himalayas. Tibet has always been well known for its high altitude, harsh climate and poor communications. Nevertheless, its unique social and religious systems and life styles have attracted Western adventurers for centuries. Now, with advanced telecommunications facilities and convenient land and air communications and in the tide of reform and opening to the outside world, today's Tibet, although no longer completely mysterious, is welcoming people from all over the world with its natural and cultural charms.