Potala Palace in Lhasa

Potala Palace, located on the mabri mountain in the northwest of Lhasa City, is a grand building with the highest altitude in the world, integrating palaces, castles and monasteries. It is also the largest and most complete ancient palace building complex in Tibet. Potala Palace is built on the hill and the buildings are overlapping. It is an outstanding representative of Tibetan ancient architecture. The essence of Chinese ancient architecture is divided into two parts: the White House and the Red Palace. The palace is more than 200 meters high, 13 floors in appearance and 9 floors in interior; the East and west sides of the main building of Potala Palace extend downward respectively, connecting with the tall palace wall. The palace wall is 6 meters high, 4.4 meters wide at the bottom and 2.8 meters wide at the top. It is built with rammed earth and covered with masonry. In the East, South and west of the wall, there is a three-story gate tower, and in the southeast and northwest corner, there is also a corner tower. The main building is divided into the White House and the Red Palace. The main building has 13 floors and is 115.7 meters high. It is composed of the dormitory, the Buddha Hall, the stupa hall and the monk's room. In December 1994, UNESCO listed it as a world cultural heritage; in January 2013, the National Tourism Administration listed it as a national AAAAA tourist attraction.