Ultimate Tibet Travel Guide: Essential Tips & Advice for Organizing Your Trip | Explore Tibetan Culture & Scenic Adventures

Tibet, the enigmatic country perched high in the Himalaya, has long had a magnetic hold over the consciousness of Westerners, drawing both traders and travelers. No wonder, either. Its reputation as a picturesque, spiritual Shangri-La is well justified, with its ice-clean air, some of the tallest peaks in the world, and an abundance of Buddhist temples. However, not everything is a bed of rhododendrons; since since the Chinese invaded Tibet in 1950, or "liberated" it, as they put it, hundreds of thousands of Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama, have fled. In spite of an inflow of Han Chinese settlers, industrialization, and mass tourism, the Tibetan people today are resolutely holding to their way of life.