The Potala Palace, a landmark building of Tibet, is the largest and best-preserved ancient complex in the region. It is the winter palace of the 5th Dalai Lama and his successors. The complex building, standing on the Red Hill, was originally constructed during the Songtsen Gampo period, around the 7th century. With an area of more than 400,000 square meters, it consists of the White Palace, the Red Palace, Fang City and Dragon King Lake.

The Potala Palace hosts a number of valuable murals, pagodas, sculptures and thangkas, contributing a lot to the study of Tibet’s politics, economy, history and culture. In 1961, it was recognized as one of the first batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at National Level. In 1994, the Potala Palace was included in the list of world cultural heritage. And in March 2002, it was recognized as a National AAAA-class tourist area.

As the symbolic scenic spot, the Potala Palace attracts more than 500,000 tourists and pilgrims every year and enjoys an average daily flow of 1,500 people. The number of tourists is limited to less than 2,000 per day to better protect the Potala Place.