Residents of Tibet have welcomed in the new year. Losar, also known as Tibetan New Year, is celebrated on February 21. Guo Tianqi visited the Himalayan region to see how residents and visitors celebrate the holiday. 

 

Just like the Chinese New Year, there are plenty of rituals to welcome in the Tibetan New Year. It's a tradition that goes back centuries in the hope of welcoming a prosperous year. And on New Year's Day, the Jokhang Buddhist temple in Lhasa is very crowded.

 

GUO TIANQI, Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region "People have been queuing up since early this morning to enter the famous Jokhong temple. Because everyone wants the first thing they do in the new year is to worship the Buddha that has been protecting them for the whole year."

 

Tibetans from regions such as Sichuan and Gansu have also come here to pray for good luck. As visitors move around the temple in a clockwise direction, others chant from the sutra or turn the prayer wheel.

 

Passing the statues of Buddha, some present the Hada ceremonial scarf, or add yak butter to fuel the lamps in front of them. These traditions attract tourists from all over of China.

 

WANG LU, Visitor "This is my sixth visit to Lhasa, but my first time at Jokhang Temple. I came here specially on Tibetan New Year's Day. It's so interesting."

 

GUO CONGYUAN, Visitor "Tibetan hotel staffs offered us highland barley wine and the hada this morning. I was very moved."

 

LUNZHU, Lhasa resident "We also went to Jokhang Temple to pray for good luck. I saw many Han people, they respect our religious beliefs very much, and worship the Buddha too."

 

TENZIN PHOUT, Lhasa resident "I'm very happy to see that more and more Han people are interested in our tradition and customs, this can deepen our mutual understanding."

 

After New Year's Day, the 15th day of the Tibetan calendar – known as the butter lamp festival – is also widely celebrated. Guo Tianqi, CGTN, Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region.