Special restaurants in Lhasa booming in slack tourist season

Restaurants in Lhasa catering for tourists are booming even in the current slack tourist season in Tibet, according to Tibet Business.

Tibet usually sees fewer tourists in winter than in other seasons. To spur the tourism industry, Tibet's Tourism Bureau launched the "travel to Tibet in winter" campaign in November last year, which will last till March 31.

People rest outside the Makyeame, a famous restaurant in the Barkhor Street in central Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, June 10, 2009. [Xinhua Photo]

During the campaign, both tickets to a number of scenic spots in the region and hotel rates have dropped substantially.

The Snowy Land Restaurant on the Barkhor Street, one of the most popular shopping streets for tourists in downtown Lhasa, is exceptionally busy at weekends. In addition to local residents, tourists, farmers and herdsmen from rural areas also choose to eat at the restaurant, which is rich in ethnic elements.

Picture shows a tourist from Beijing accepting blessing from her Tibetan friend in Nyingchi Prefecture, southeastern Tibet, Oct. 9, 2009. [Xinhua Photo]

"It is the restaurant nearest to the Balangxue Youth Hostel, where I'm staying. The food there is so tasty and the environment of the restaurant is also great," said a tourist surnamed Li from northwest China's Shaanxi Province. "Besides, I am very fond of its Tibetan-style decorations."

Different from the Snowy Land Restaurant, the Makyeame Restaurant at the southwestern corner of the street is more appealing to domestic and foreign tourists.

The restaurant was legendarily said to be where the 6th Dalai Lama Cangyang Gyamco, also a talented poet, met a charming young girl one night. Failing to meet the girl for a second time, the 6th Dalai Lama wrote a poem in memory of her, thus making the restaurant more romantic.

Ms. Brown, a tourist from Canada, liked to sit on the third floor of the Tibetan-style restaurant, enjoying drinking liquor made of highland barley while watching people on the Barkhor Street.

"I like Lhasa in winter very much as it is quieter and more real," she said. "I also like Makyeame in this season because I am feeling I'm closer to it."

Recommended China Guide :

1.Beijing tours

2 China tours