Explore Tibetan New Year in 2024

Tibetans dance in circle to celebrate New Year.

Arguably, the best time to experience the exotic customs of Tibet is to tour Lhasa during the Losar, Tibetan New Year. The large-scale pilgrimage, widespread celebration, and the air mixed with mumbling Buddhist chant, smoke of burnt religious offerings, and Tibetans’ laughter make Tibet a city with the most distinctive New Year’s atmosphere. According to the Tibetan calendar, the date of Tibetan New Year is on Feb., 10, 2024. And the festival will last until Mar, 4.So why not join hospitable Tibetans for the grand celebration and a lifetime experience in Lhasa.

What to enjoy in Lhasa during Tibetan New Year?

Firstly, unlike the conventional wisdom that Tibet would be extremely cold in winter. In reality, the average temperature of Lhasa is around -6 Celsius to 9 Celsius in winter. Largely due to the high altitude and the subsequent strong sunlight, the daytime is quite cozy when the sun comes out. However, do pay attention to the freezing wind and dramatic temperature change between day and night. Here are a number of places recommended for you to explore during the New Year celebration in Lhasa.

Pilgrimage and Kora

A pilgrim burns the offering and throws confetti into the air.

Travelling to Lhasa during important festivals like Tibetan New Year allows tourists to experience the most impressive aspect of Tibetan customs. During the New Year festival, most of Tibetan pilgrims from all the Tibet Autonomous Region will flock to Lhasa to do pilgrimage and Kora( religious circling around sacred Buddhist sites) to pray for the blessings from Tibetan gods and good health and peace for their families. The Jokhang Temple, the holiest place in Lhasa, will be the focus of pilgrimage and Kora. Ceaseless flow of Tibetan pilgrims will visit the sacred temple and carry thermos filled with yak butter oil to add oil to butter lamps in Jokhang temple. Devout pilgrims will also prostrate themselves in front of Jokhang Temple to show their deepest respect to the Buddhas and Tibetan Gods enshrined in the temple.

Pious pilgrims prostrate themselves in front of Potala Palace.

The Barkhor Street that surrounds the Jokhang Temple will be packed with pilgrims and locals who will circle the Jokhang temple while spinning the prayer wheels and chanting the Buddhist scriptures. Pilgrims will also burn the offerings, which normally consist of incense, branch of pine tree, tsampa, barley, tea leaves etc. People believe that evil and bad luck will be removed by burning the offering. You may also find large pilgrims doing prostration around Patala Palace. Meanwhile, you can stroll along the bustling Barkhor Street and find your favorite souvenirs. If you have no problem acclimatizing to the high altitude after your arrival, later visiting Drepung and Sera monastery is also a great choice.

Local Delicacies

Locals and tourists chat leisurely while enjoying the local delicacies in Canggu Nunnery Sweet Teahouse.

Traditionally, Tibetan family will have a traditional food, known as “Thukpa Bhathuk”, a hand-rolled noddle soup with broth. For most tourists, there are Tibetan delicacies to satisfy your taste buds. If you walk around Barkhor Street for quite a while and feel tired, two of the highly recommended places for you to mingle with locals and taste the brilliant local delicacies is the Canggu Nunnery and Guangming Gang Qiong Teahouse where the tasty sweet tea and yak meat noodels, roasted lamb ribs, fried potatoes, etc. are served. You can meet locals from all walks of life and chat with them while bathing in the cozy sunshine. Of course, if you fancy some serious food, you can have a taste of yammy Tibetan pork, Butter-fried Matsutake, and Air-dried Yak Meat, etc in larger local restaurants.

Specialty of Canggu Nunnery: yak meat noodles and tasty sweet tea

Enjoy Black-necked Cranes

Migratory Black-necked cranes spend winter in Lhasa Valley.

The vast plateau grasslands and unspoiled lakes and snow mountains, swamps make Tibet a perfect place for migratory birds to spend the cold winter. From Jan to Feb, it is the season for a large number of black-necked cranes to spend the winter. Linzhou County, 65km northeast of the of Lhasa city, is located in the upper reaches of Lhasa Valley. Its warm temperature, flat terrain and ample vegetation allure a sizeable flock of black-necked cranes to prey here in winter. It’s a rare chance to take photos of the rare birds and the best moment would be at sunrise and sunset.

Cultural Tips: 

A man was so happy even if his face was covered with the splash of tsampa.

On the first day of the New Year, Traditionally, Tibetans will have an early start and wear traditional clothes. They would drink “Jianggu”, a barely wine made of tsampa and brown sugar, and yak cheese quark. They will visit relatives and go to Jokhang temple for pray and do pilgrimage. When they greet their friends with a hand of “Qiema” , a bucket of grain mixed with tsampa, barley, and splash it high above the sky, saying “Tashi Delek”, meaning auspicious and all the best. On the third day, people will climb to the top of the roof and put the new prayer flags on the roof and later burn branches of pine trees and throw tsampa in the air to worship the “god of roof”.