Discover Lhasa
Chakpori Viewpoint and Potala Square
药王山观景台与布达拉宫广场
The terrace on Chakpori hill gives the exact view of the Potala printed on the 50-yuan note, and the square below is where Lhasa families walk in the evening once the palace is floodlit. Both are free and need no ticket.
The story
What makes this place special
Chakpori, Yaowang Shan or Medicine King Hill, is the hill immediately southwest of the Potala, historically the site of Tibet's college of medicine. The view of the Potala from its terrace is the image reproduced on the back of the 50 yuan note. The hill also carries the Chakpori rock carvings, one of the largest bodies of Tibetan rock relief: a scholarly survey describes the images as grouped on the north cliff of the lower eastern summit, the south cliff on the north side and the cliffs on the south side, with no fewer than five thousand figures surviving, predominantly Akshobhya. Local practice includes repainting the carvings as an act of merit. The Drak Lhalupuk cave shrine on the hill is described as the only cave temple in Tibet traceable to the imperial Tubo period. Potala Square, the large open plaza facing the palace, is a modern creation.
What you’ll discover
A short staircase from the road up to a railed terrace, where the whole Potala stands square on across the valley with prayer flags in the foreground, which is the composition on the banknote. On the hill behind and below, cliff faces are covered in painted rock-cut Buddhas in strong reds, yellows and blues, with pilgrims circling them, and the Drak Lhalupuk cave shrine is cut into the rock. Potala Square opposite is a vast paved plaza with fountains, a monument, a flagpole and flower beds, used in the evening by Lhasa families and heavily policed.
A little local insight
Good to know before you go
- This is the free view of the Potala and the best one. Sunrise is when the east face lights up, and in high season the terrace is taken by tripods well before dawn; arrive early if you want the front rail.
- Walk on past the viewpoint. The painted rock carvings on the cliffs below the terrace and the Drak Lhalupuk cave shrine get a fraction of the visitors and are older than anything in the Potala.
- Reported admission arrangements for the hill and the cave vary widely between sources and have changed; be prepared for either a small charge or none, and do not plan around an online figure.
- Potala Square is a security zone. Expect screening to enter it, uniformed and plainclothes presence, and do not photograph police, posts or checkpoints; the view across the square to the palace is fine.
- The square works best after dark, when the palace is lit and local families are out, and in the early morning when pilgrims do the Lingkhor circuit past it.
- The climb to the terrace is short but it is still 3,650m and before breakfast. Allow more time than the distance suggests.
When to come
Sunrise for the lit east face of the Potala from Chakpori, and after dark for the illuminated palace from Potala Square. Clear winter mornings give the sharpest air and the fewest tripods.
Getting around
The viewpoint terrace is reached by a flight of steps from the road with no ramp, so it is not wheelchair-accessible, though the flight is short and a bad knee can manage it slowly. The rock carvings and the cave shrine involve further uneven, stepped ground. Potala Square itself is entirely flat, paved and wheelchair-friendly once through the screening point, and the view of the palace from it is the accessible alternative.
Worth knowing before you go
Come at sunrise for the banknote shot with the mountains behind, or after dark when the palace is lit and the square's fountain show runs — the midday light flattens the whole facade.
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