The Potala Palace in Tibet 西藏布达拉宫

布达拉宫坐落于中国西南部西藏自治区拉萨市市中心的红山上，“布达拉”为梵语“普陀”的音译，原指观世音菩萨所居之岛。布达拉宫始建于吐蕃王朝第32代赞普松赞干布时期（公元7世纪），当时称“红山宫”，后来随着吐蕃王朝的没落而逐渐毁弃。公元17世纪时，五世达赖喇嘛在红山宫的旧址上重新修建了宏伟的宫殿，称“布达拉宫”。此后这里一直作为西藏政治和宗教的中心。

The Potala Palace is situated on the top of the "Red Hill" in the heart of Lhasa, capital of southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region. A transliteration from Sanskrit, "Potala" originally refers to the abode island of Avalokitesvara. First built in the seventh century, during the reign of Songtsen Gampo, the 32nd-generation Tsempo of the Tubo Dynasty, and then called "the Red Hill Palace", the structure slowly fell into decay later along with the decline of the Dynasty. During the 17th century, the Fifth Dalai Lama rebuilt magnificent palaces on the ruins and renamed it "the Potala Palace", which since then has been serving as the political and religious center of Tibet.

布达拉宫规模庞大，气势宏伟，依山势而建，占地面积36万余平方米，主建筑共13层，高117米。它是著名的藏式宫堡式建筑，也是藏族古代建筑和中国古代建筑艺术的杰出代表，享有“世界屋脊上的明珠”的美誉。

Perching on the hill, the Potala Palace is of significant size and splendor. It covers an area of more than 360,000 square meters, with the main building soaring up 117 meters in 13 storeys. “A pearl on the roof of the world”, it is a famous complex of the Tibetan fortress type, as well as a distinguished representative of both ancient Tibetan and Chinese architectural art.

布达拉宫的主体建筑包括白宫、红宫以及周边与之相搭配的各种建筑。以白宫为主体的建筑群建成于1648年。白宫是历代达赖喇嘛进行政治、宗教管理的地方，建筑坐北朝南共7层；红宫位于布达拉宫的中部，以红宫为主体的建筑群竣工于1694年，共6层，这里是供奉历代达赖喇嘛灵塔以及进行各种宗教活动的场所。此外，布达拉宫还包括有山上的僧官学校、僧舍、东西庭院以及山下的雪老城、西藏地方政府马基康、印经院、监狱、马厩、布达拉宫后园、龙王潭等附属建筑。

The main body of the Potala Palace consists of the White Palace, the Red Palace and various surrounding buildings. The cluster centering on the White Palace was completed in 1648. The White Palace, a seven-storey building facing south, is the political and religious seat of generations of Dalai Lama; the Red Palace cluster, at the middle of the Potala Palace, was completed in 1694, with the six-storey main building serving as a place for the sacred gold stupas—the tombs of eight Dalai Lamas—and various religious activities. Attached buildings on the hill include the seminary, monk's living quarters, yards at west and east, and those down the hill include Xoililekong, Tibetan local government Marjikang, printing house, jail, stables, the back garden and the Dragon King's Pond.

从五世达赖喇嘛开始，布达拉宫就成为历世达赖喇嘛的冬宫，也是西藏地方统治者政教合一政权的统治中心，重大的宗教、政治仪式均在此举行。布达拉宫气势雄伟、规模宏大的建筑中，蕴藏了藏、汉、蒙等民族在文化、艺术、宗教等方面的卓越成就。今天，布达拉宫以其辉煌的雄姿和藏传佛教圣地的地位，成为世所公认的藏民族象征。

Since the Fifth Dalai Lama, the Potala Palace has become the winter palace of the successive Dalai Lamas, and the center of clerical governance by local leaders, wher important religious and political ceremonies are staged. The imposing structures epitomize excellent achievements of Tibetan, Han and Mongolian people in culture, art and religion. Today, the Palace, with its glorious charm and position as a sacred site of Tibetan Buddhism, has become a universally acknowledged symbol of the Tibetan ethnic group.

大昭寺位于拉萨市区的东南部，始建于唐贞观二十一年（公元601年）。先后被称为“惹刹”、“逻些”等，9世纪改称“大昭寺”，意为“存放经书的大殿”，清代（公元1644～1911年）又称其为“伊克昭庙”。它是西藏地区最古老的一座仿唐式汉藏结合木结构建筑。大昭寺初建时的只有8间殿堂。15世纪宗喀巴在此创建了喇嘛教格鲁派，寺庙的香火日渐繁盛起来。17世纪时五世达赖喇嘛对大昭寺进行了大规模的扩建和修葺，最终形成了占地面积2.51万平方米的庞大建筑群。

The Jokhang Temple is situated in the southeastern part of downtown Lhasa. Its construction first started in 601 AD, the 21st year of the reign of emperor Zhenguan of the Tang Dynasty, and it received its present name during the ninth century, meaning "a hall storing scriptures". It is Tibet's oldest Han-Tibetan wooden structure built after the Tang style. At the very beginning it only contained eight halls. During the 15th century, Je Tsongkhapa created here the Gelug school of Lamaism, and the temple gradually gained popularity among followers. During the 17th century, the Fifth Dalai Lama administered large-sized expansion and renovation to the temple, finally creating a grand building cluster covering an area of 25,100 square meters.

大昭寺的主要建筑为经堂大殿。大殿高4层，建筑构件为汉式风格，柱头和屋檐的装饰则为典型的藏式风格。大殿的一层供奉有唐代（公元618～904年）文成公主带入西藏的释迦牟尼金像。二层供奉松赞干布、文成公主和赤尊公主的塑像。三层为一天井，是一层殿堂的屋顶和天窗。四层正中为4座金顶。佛殿内外和四周的回廊满绘壁画，面积达2600余平方米，题材包括佛教、历史人物和故事。此外，寺内还保存了大量珍贵文物，寺前矗立的“唐蕃会盟碑”，更是汉藏两族人民友好交往的历史见证。

The main body of the temple is the four-storey scripture hall, with a Han style structure and typically Tibetan decorations at column heads and eaves. The first floor houses a gold statue of Jowo Shakyamuni Buddha, brought into Tibet by Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty (618-904 AD); the second floor accommodates statues of Songsten Gampo, Princess Wencheng and Princess Bhrikuti; the third floor is a patio, serving as roofs and windows of the ground hall; the fourth floor features four gold roofs in the center. Corridors inside and outside the temple are full of paintings, covering an area of 2,600 square meters and telling stories from Buddhism, historical figures and folktales. The temple is also a treasure house of cultural relics, and the Tang-Tibetan Alliance Tablet standing in front of it testifies to a history of friendly relationships between the two ethnic groups.

罗布林卡位于布达拉宫西侧约2公里的拉萨河畔。 “罗布林卡”在藏语中意为“宝贝园林”。它始建于公元18世纪中叶，是历世达赖喇嘛处理政务和进行宗教活动的夏宫。自七世达赖以后，历世达赖喇嘛均曾对罗布林卡进行扩建，其中以八世和十三世达赖进行的扩建规模最为宏大。八世达赖扩建后，使罗布林卡明显具备了园林特点。十三世达赖主要辟建了“金色林”，并在园林西部修建了金色颇章等建筑。

Norbulingka, about two kilometers west of the Potala Palace and along the Lhasa River, means "a garden of treasures" in the Tibetan language. First built in the middle of the 18th century, it served as the traditional summer residence for the successive Dalai Lamas to handle political and religious affairs. After the Seventh Dalai Lama, all Dalai Lamas conducted expansions to the park, especially the Eighth and the Thirteenth. Norbulingka began to display visible features of a garden after the Eighth Dalai Lama, while the Thirteenth Dalai Lama added the "golden wood" and the Golden Phodron in its western part.

罗布林卡的占地面积约为360万平方米。园内有植物100余种，不仅有拉萨地区常见花木，而且有取自喜马拉雅山南北麓的奇花异草，还有从内地移植或从国外引进的名贵花卉，堪称高原植物园。

Covering an area about 3.6 million square meters, Norbulingka is lauded a "botanical garden on the plateau" as home to 100-odd species of plants, not only common ones found in Lhasa, but rare varieties from both southern and northern slopes of the Himalayas, and precious flowers introduced from the inland and abroad.

罗布林卡由格桑颇章、金色颇章、达旦明久颇章等几组宫殿建筑组成，每组建筑又分为宫区、宫前区和林区三个主要部分。以格桑颇章为主体的建筑群，位于第二重围墙内南院的东南部。以措吉颇章（湖心亭）为主体的建筑群，位于格桑颇章西北约120米处，是罗布林卡中最美丽的景区。以金色颇章为主体的建筑群，位于罗布林卡西部。各组建筑均以木、石为主要材料建成，规划整齐，具有明显的藏式建筑风格。主要殿堂内的墙壁上均绘有精美的壁画。此外，罗布林卡内还珍藏有大量的文物和典籍。

Norbulingka consists of several palace groups: the Kelsang Phodrong, the Golden Phodron and the Tagten Migyur Phodrang, and each is divided into the palace area, the area in front and the wood. The Kelsang Phodrong is at the southeastern part of the south yard within the second-layer wall; the Tsokyil Phodrong, which is a pavilion in the midst of a lake, is 120 meters northwest of the Kelsang Phodrong and the most beautiful spot in Norbulingka; the Golden Phodron is at the western part of Norbulingka. All structures are mainly built in wood and stone, with unified planning and a noticeable style of Tibetan architecture. Fine paintings are found in walls of main halls and Norbulingka also houses a large quantity of cultural relics and scriptures.

布达拉宫号称“世界屋脊上的明珠”，它的宫殿布局、土木工程、金属冶炼、绘画、雕刻等方面均闻名于世，体现了以藏族为主，汉、蒙、满各族能工巧匠高超技艺和藏族建筑艺术的伟大成就。

Dubbed "a pearl on the roof of the world", the Potala Palace is famous for its architectural layout, engineering, metallurgy, painting and sculpture, which embody high achievements of Tibetan craftsmen as well as those of Han, Mongolian and Man ethnic groups.