Many families in the Tibet autonomous region believe in Tibetan Buddhism and their religious needs have been fulfilled in accordance with the law.
Tibetan Buddhism was initially a product of the "roof of the world" and initially underscored the cultural, linguistic and spiritual differences between the people of the plateau and their counterparts in China's coastal areas.
Although Buddhism arrived in the region around the mid-7th century, when Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) left Chang'an (present-day Xi'an, Shaanxi province) to marry Songtsan Gambo, king of the Tubo kingdom, the present-day Tibet autonomous region, about 3,000 kilometers to the west.
Tsering Dorje, a junior monk at the Tashihunpo Monastery, speaks Mandarin and Tibetan so well that he has been selected as tour guide for visitors who arrive in the summer months to hear him "tell the history of the Tashihunpo Monastery and Tibetan culture to tourists from all over the country".
The Palcho Monastery, the main Buddhist establishment in Gyangze county in the southwest of the Tibet autonomous region, is famous for its stunning architecture and large numbers of religious murals.
Fifty Indian pilgrims began a 12-day bus trip along a recently-opened mountain pass linking India's Sikkim State to the sacred Mount Kangrinboqe and Mapam Yumco Lake in Ngari Prefecture, Tibet, on Wednesday morning.
Lozang Chodrak is a monk working in the Potala Palace. Every morning, Lozang Chodrak chants sutras first and then starts his daily work including doing some cleaning and sorting Buddhism classics.
Hu Guoqing is an award-winning photographer and member of the China Photographers Association. His works, Passage of the Heart, capture pious Tibetan pilgrims on their journey to the holy mountain last year.
