To the north of the Himalayas within the Chinese borders, there lies a vast land of tranquility and vigour, This is the Tibet Autono- mous Region of China, Here there are snowcapped mountains deep acre highland lakes dense forests rare birds and animals peculiar to the highlands, Tibet covers an area of 1 .2 million square kilometers and has a population of 2.32 million, of whom 95 percent are Tibetans, It is the highest plateau in the world, with an average elevation of 4,000 me- tres above sea level, Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet, is the holy city of Tibetan Buddhism and the Potala Palace is its sacred palace, Every year hundreds of thousands of Buddhists come to worship here.