China Travel Forum

[Spingarn]

dear all.

I am planning to trip to tibet with my family in June 2008.I would love to know about some tibetan culture.
And,how to avoid risking cultural shock in Tibet?

thanks in advance.

[Amanda Du]

Tibet people are religious people and visitor may find their customs and practices are very different to that in the countries they come from. Although Tibet people are among the easiest to get along with in China but there are still some points you should be sensitive about when you travel there.

1. Do not photograph them without permission.
2. Do not talk the sensitive issues like politics and religions.
3. Take your hat off when entering a chapel.
4. Do not take photos during a prayer meeting and in some larger monastery, you may need to pay a small fee for the privilege of taking a photo.

5. Do not touch or remove anything on an altar.
6. Do not wear shorts or short shirts in a monastery and do not smoke in monastery.

7. Do not eat horse, donkey or dog when in Tibet.
8. When walking around monasteries, piles of Mani stones, pagodas or other religious structures, walk in a clockwise direction.

9. Never touch Tibetan People on the head.