Tibetan carpets and textiles are famous worldwide, but in recent years most "Tibetan" textiles have tended to come from Nepal or India rather than Tibet. This situation is now starting to change, and good traditional textiles are once more becoming available in Lhasa, but finding them takes a little effort. In particular you will need to look beyond the tourist trap shops in the Barkhor and by the Potala, where most of what is on sale has not been made in Tibet (or anywhere near!).

Two places where you can find authentic textiles are the Dropenling Handicrafts Center and the Tanva Carpet Workshop. Dropenling is a project started by the Tibet Poverty Alleviation Fund a few years back: its store is near to the Mosque (follow the sign by the Makye Ame cafe, or look for leaflets and posters in cafes around town). It sells good Wangden carpets made in the villages around Lhasa and distinctive apron fabrics.

The Tanva workshop is a recently started venture in Nam village, on the road between Lhasa and the airport, using local handspun Tibetan wool and both traditional and contemporary designs. You can watch the carpet making process from start to finish and carpets can be bought in the showroom on site. Call the factory manager Norbu on his cellphone 1398 990 8681 to arrange a visit.

Be wary of carpet factories in town showing "weaving demonstrations": these may not be all they seem - in many cases the carpets that are actually on sale in their showrooms are not the ones made by the demonstration weavers!

The Potala Palace, maybe the most famous building in Tibet, known by every tourist, is still able to keep its promise, even if you have seen all the movies and reports you wont be disappointed, because it is incredible!
The Potala dominates the city from a hill right in the center of Lhasa.It is the highest building in town and can be seen from nearly every point of the city. Despite the fact that the days are gone when religious and political decisions for Tibet were made here, it is not a dead and dusty museum. There is a vivid life inside and around the building because of the huge number of pilgrims visiting it each day (at least during my stay).
The building consists of up to 13 storeys and can be devided into the Red and the White Palace. Walk all the way through mystic dark halls filled with incense, chapels and rooms up to the roof from where you have the best view over the city!
Around the Potala, especially in the back there is a narrow pilgrimage circuit with hundreds of prayer wheels and stone carvings and paintings.