Potala Palace plaza takes on new look
By Sun Xiaohua (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-08-22 06:01

An old man named Tashi in his 70s could not help but see the changes of the renovated plaza together with his grandson and granddaughter as soon as the plaza was opened to the public. He told the Tibet Daily that when he was a kid, he once caught frogs for fun on the wetlands before the Potala Palace. Now he was glad to see the wetlands transformed into a broad and beautiful plaza.

Potala Palace was first built by the Tibetan King Songtsa Gambo in the 7th century during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), and was extended during the 17th century by the Dalai Lama.

In 2002, the central government invested a total 179.3 million yuan (US$22 million) into the renovation of the Potala Palace.

Potala Palace, together with the Norbu Lingka and the Sakya Monastery, are the three main Tibetan cultural heritage sites. They have been restored with a total investment of 333 million yuan (US$40 million) by the central government since 2002.

The Potala Palace is the essence of ancient Tibetan architectural art. It was added to the list of world cultural heritage sites by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1994.