[Tibet Final Chapter] Half-Day Tour of the Tibet Museum: Settling the Heart Through Culture, Bidding Farewell to the Plateau with Sweet Tea and Home-Style Rice Bowls

The final day of our Tibet trip has arrived. Our flight is at 4:00 PM, and the travel agency has arranged for us to leave the hotel at 13:00 for the airport. For the half day before that, we decided to end the whole journey at the place most fitting for a finale — the Tibet Museum. 🗓 Today's Itinerary Hotel breakfast → Tibet Museum → Lunch at Yongbing Teahouse (sweet tea × rice with toppings) → Back to hotel to collect luggage → Lhasa Airport → Chengdu (staying at an airport hotel) A leisurely morning: an easy pace before departure Since the Tibet Museum only opens at 09:30, we could enjoy a leisurely breakfast. When we first woke up, 3 travel companions from our group had already left by shuttle bus, while we gathered in the lobby at 09:15 and took a taxi to the museum. Tibet Museum: More modern and more impressive than we imagined Our first impression upon arrival was: the building was newer and grander than expected. After entering the lobby, we saw a volunteer guide, so we quickly caught up with the group and joined the exhibition hall tour already in progress — "The Long Song of the Snowland.

Snowland Epic Exhibition: Walk Through a Thousand Years of Tibetan History in One Hour This exhibition hall is centered on "The History of Tibet from Ancient Times to Today," and the content is extremely substantial: Exhibition Highlights: Prehistoric cave paintings and early human activity The formation of the three major tribes → Unification by Songtsen Gampo → Creation of the Tibetan script The origin and development of Tibetan medicine Princess Wencheng and Princess Bhrikuti entering Tibet → Buddhism officially entering Tibet The fusion of Bon religion × Buddhism → The prototype of Tibetan Buddhism The Qing Dynasty period: The joint governance model of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama

The tour lasted about an hour, but the pace was quite fast. We originally wanted to go back and take a closer look, but because we didn't have enough time, we had to leave it for our next visit. Details outside the exhibition hall worth seeing Because we were rushing to catch up with the tour guide, we didn't look closely at the building itself at first. It wasn't until the guided tour ended that we finally had the chance to properly admire it— The overall design is exquisite, the exhibition planning is thorough, and best of all, admission is completely free. You can clearly sense that the government hopes more people will come to understand Tibetan culture. 1st floor Cultural & Creative Center: A wide variety of cultural and creative products, though the prices are on the high side. 1st floor 4D cinema: The film we watched, themed "Apocalypse of Disaster," was rather average. We didn't get to visit the other major exhibition hall, "Liberation of a Million Serfs," due to lack of time.

Closest to the Sun" Exhibition: The Life and Culture of the Tibetan People. This exhibition hall focuses on the themes of Clothing × Architecture × Festivals × Living Crafts.

Highlights include: Differences and characteristics in clothing across regions The white and black color scheme of Tibet's mud-built architecture The herding tents commonly seen on the plateau Traditional boats such as horse-head boats and yak-hide boats Pulu (Tibet's most iconic woolen textile) The "Da A Ga" dance (also featured in last night's Princess Wencheng performance) The Shoton Festival and the giant thangka unveiling ceremony at Drepung Monastery Lhasa's New Year customs

Looking at the exhibits, I often thought back to what the guide had told us over the past few days, and it also echoed the "Princess Wencheng" theatrical show from the day before yesterday. Ending the trip with the museum was a perfect arrangement. Suggested visiting time for the Tibet Museum We stayed for about 2 hours, but in fact you'd need at least 3 hours to see everything more thoroughly. It's really worth arranging a visit if you're interested in culture, history, religion, or architecture. Lunch: sweet tea and rice bowl at Yongbing Teahouse made for the best way to wrap things up. After leaving the museum, we headed back to Yongbing Teahouse near our hotel— Over these past few days, we've completely fallen in love with Tibetan sweet tea. The teahouse was doing brisk business, with four big pots of freshly cooked home-style dishes sitting by the counter. When we asked, we learned that was their most popular item — the rice bowl (over-rice dish). We ordered: The rice bowl (spicy and so satisfying — perfect with rice) Vegetarian Tibetan noodles (for my vegetarian mom) And we raised our cups of sweet tea in a toast, celebrating this trip to Tibet.

Thoughts on this trip to Tibet: We came at just the right time. I think—— Right now is the best era for travelers to visit Tibet. Hotels generally have oxygen supply equipment. The ascent to Everest Base Camp comes with large oxygen tanks. There was absolutely no altitude sickness the whole trip. We also happened to arrive right before the second Tibet railway opened. The number of tourists at the sights was just right — not crowded, not noisy. Tibet's simplicity and purity can still be seen, and its beautiful scenery remains intact. I'll put together the travel expenses in my guide article, hoping to encourage more people who long to visit Tibet to set off sooner rather than later. Arriving in Chengdu: The reassuring feeling of being back at sea level We landed in Chengdu at 6 PM. Unlike Lhasa, the sky was already dark by this time, but we no longer had to worry about "getting out of breath from walking too fast" or "getting shocked by static in the elevator." We stayed at a hotel inside Tianfu Airport: About NT$2000 per night Within walking distance of the terminal The room had a view of the tarmac Check-in came with a free fast-track pass (didn't end up using it, but it felt nice) The only downside — you can only eat inside the airport, so the choices are limited. Tomorrow I still have half a day of free time to look around Chengdu, then I'll head back to Vietnam and start my own little trip.