CURRENCY
The unit of currency is Yuan US $ 1=8 Yuan. Foreign currency
can be directly use in Tibet travelers check and foreign
currency in bank of China. You can with draw the cash with
a credit card in bank of china.Insurance: Personal traveling
insurance should be made by the client prior to arrival
in Nepal. Full Insurance coverage particularly for trip
cancellation and interruption is strongly recommended.
CUSTOM
Register watches, radios, cameras, calculators, and similar
devices on entering Tibet and China and account for them
on leaving. Do not lose the declaration form or you may
be required to pay a heavy fine on departure. Do not bring
in printed matter, cassettes, or anything considered seditious
by the Chinese, which includes Tibetan flags or literature
pertaining to the Tibetan independence movement.You can
import four bottles of liquor, two cartons of cigarettes,
up to 72 rolls of still film, and 1,000 meters of 8mm moving
film. There are no known restrictions on video equipment.
Artefacts made before 1959 are officially considered antiques
and must be exported. Rugs and small religious objects can
be taken out but tourists considered to be carrying 'too
much' may have goods confiscated. Body searches are unlikely.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Photography is controlled in monasteries. In some cases
you must pay per photograph, in others you may be refused
permission to shoot at all. Respect these rules but get
around them sometimes by being nice to the monks. Do not
photograph Chinese military installations, bridges or airports.
Take plenty of film; sometimes print film runs out of stock
even in Lhasa. Be prepared for the strong light and appalling
dust of Tibet. A lenshood and a polarizer can help the exposure
problem. It's best to photograph in the early mornings and
late afternoons to avoid the harsh light and it is worth
underexposing by half a stop to one stop at other times.
Nothing will completely keep out the dust but plastic helps.
A strong flash is needed for many temple interiors. Take
flash photographs of wall murals at an angle to avoid reflection.
Do not give money in exchange for taking photos; it is a
quick way to create beggars.
On the whole, most Tibetans ate happy to let
you photograph them.
TIBETAN FOOD
A Tibetan dinner begins with cold appetizers, which can
be quite spicy, followed by a main course of several hot
dishes. Meat is often boiled to tenderize it and then stir-fried
with other ingredients. An important mainstay is tsampa,
a flour ground from highland barley. This is mixed with
tea, butter or eaten dry.
Noodles or dumplings accompany dishes, as good rice is scarce.
Soup with a broth base is usually an integral part of the
meal espe-cially if momos, steamed meat dumplings like giant
ravioli, are being served. Fried momos are particularly
good, called kothay. Another favorite is shabalay, deep-fried
meat pies, which are served with a spicy salad made from
radish or cabbage, rather like Korean kimchi. Tibetans like
hot chilies with their meat but these are usually served
separately or sliced in a vinegar sauce.
Meat is very popular in Tibet and non-Buddhists
are employed to kill the animals. Dried yak meat is especially
good for travelling in these cold climes, as is another
unusual snack; a hard cheese that is sucked like a boiled
sweet.
Tibetans do not eat sweets and generally do not finish the
meal with a dessert. In Lhasa, diners eat with chopsticks.
In the rural areas, they eat with spoons, often carrying
them on strings around their necks.
TIBETAN MEDICINE
Traditional Tibetan medicine is a highly evolved science
using ayurvedic and herbal techniques based on a combination
of the traditional Indian and Chinese practices. Evolved
in monasteries and illustrated with thangkas, these ancient
methods are attracting much international interest
BAVERAGE
None Alcoholic Beverages :
The drink with which you will become most familiar by the
end of your stay is jasmine tea. For contrast, try the famous
and unique Tibetan tea. To make it, tea is boiled and pounded
in a churn with yak butter and salt. It is kept hot in a
thermos for instant use during the day. It helps to handle
the un-usual taste of Tibetan tea by think-ing of it as
soup.
Soft drinks include a non-caffeinated Cola
and Hi-Orange. Electrolytic Jian Li Bao soft drinks come
in a variety of flavors in-cluding lemon and honey, and
pear and honey.
Alcoholic Beverages:
Most hotel bars serve alcoholic drinks using spirits distilled
in China; in Lhasa, foreign liquors are available. Chinese
wines are usually sweet but are quite tasty. Lhasa Beer
is the most popular light beer.
Tibetan rice wine, chhang, is made from fermented
barley and occasionally rice or millet. It tastes mild but
is seldom made with pure water and can sneak up on you after
a few glasses, having a strong effect at Tibet's high altitudes.
In some hotel Bars in they serves a delicious, mild chhang
drink laced with honey.
ELECTRICITY AND BATTERIES
An adequate electrical supply (220 volts, 50 cycles AC)
exists in nearly all towns and major villages. The hours
of operation are, however, unpredictable. Rely on battery-operated
equipment. Tibet has no facilities for reprocessing of batteries-they
are merely dumped. Take used batteries out of the country
when you leave.
