Traditional forms of residential buildings in Tibet mainly include tents, blockhouses and pile dwellings. Their characteristics include little interior space, thick lower walls and thin upper walls, small windows and doors, and a stable structure. A wooden frame and flat roof are adopted for the majority of buildings. Local building materials are preferred. The eastern and southern parts of Tibet are rich in timber, and logs or planks are generally used for buildings there. The herdsmen in the northwest of Tibet weave tents with cow hair, while blockhouses are popular in places rich in stone.

“Zhang Fang” (in Chinese) is commonly known as a tent, and is the most common and ancient form of residence. Cow hair tents are popular in the pastoral areas. Thick carpets made of cow hair are sewn to form a rectangular tent. Wooden poles are used to support the middle of the tent, and a rope extends outwards at each end for tying. Walls made of grass cakes or dung cakes are then built around the tent, and a single doorway is created. In daytime, two parts of the covering cloth are raised for easy access. In the evening, this cover is pulled down and tied tightly with a belt. A pot is placed on stones to build an oven in the middle near the tent doorway. There is a slit in the top of the tent, and small hooks are attached to it for easy ventilation. Although this kind of tents is simple, it can resist heavy wind, rain and snow because of thick texture of the cow hair, and is easy to dismantle for movement elsewhere at any time.

Most of the outer walls of a blockhouse are made up of stones. It is characterized by a flat roof, dignified shape, stability, small doors and windows, poor ventilation and lighting. A blockhouse is generally of two-three stories. The livestock pen and the fodder storage place are on the second or third. Grain is often dried on the roof. Blockhouses in the mountain areas are built along the hillside, and are stepped in shape to accommodate the gradient.

In the areas mild in climate, rainy and humid, such as Lhoyu, Medog, Nyingchi and Yadong in the Eastern Tibet, pile dwellings are popular. That is to say, the bottom of one pile dwelling is built on stilts to facilitate ventilation and reduce the humidity. These are located in places rich in timber. Planks are often used to replace stone and earth walls. With thin walls and many windows, such buildings are well lit and ventilated.