The Sho Dun Festival in Tibet

The Sho Dun Festival , commonly known as the Yogurt Festival  or Banquet is an annual festival held at Norbulingka or "Jewel Park" palace in Lhasa, Tibet.

The festival is celebrated in the summer, from the 15th to the 24th of the 5th lunar month - usually about the middle of August, after a month's retreat by the monks who stay within their monasteries to avoid walking on the emerging summer insects and killing them.
Partying at Sho Dun Festival, Norbulingka, 1993

It began in the 16th century with a banquet given by the lay people for the monks featuring yoghurt. Later on, summer operas, or Lhamo, and theatricals were added to the festivities. The operas, "last all day with clashing cymbals, bells and drums; piercing recitatives punctuating more melodious choruses; hooded villains, leaping devils, swirling girls with long silk sleeves. In the past dancers came from all over Tibet, but today there is only the state-run Lhasa Singing and Dancing Troupe."

The beautiful grounds of the Norbulingka are filled with partying groups shielded from the wind by gaily coloured hanging walls of rugs and printed canvas. There is much feasting and visiting between family groups and bonfires are common at night.

 

Shoton Festival originates from the 11th century. It had been exclusively a religious observance until the 17th century when the Great 5th Dalai Lama introduced the Tibetan opera into the celebration, making it a nationwide gala. Being the largest and most mysterious festival on the roof of the world, Shoton Festival serves as a showcase to rooted tradition, appealing culture and great piety of the Tibetan people. Global travelers, who urge to discover more than just turquoise lakes and snow capped mountains on this forbidden land, are drawn to Tibet at this time of year.

The festival mainly consists of 3 parts - Great Buddha Display, Tibetan Opera Show and Horsemanship & Yak Race Show. In combination they represent the best of Tibetan religion, culture and tradition.

Namchabarwa is a mountain in the Tibetan Himalaya

Namcha Barwa or Namchabarwa  is a mountain in the Tibetan Himalaya. The traditional definition of the Himalaya extending from the Indus River to the Brahmaputra would make it the eastern anchor of the entire mountain chain, and it is the highest peak of its own section as well as Earth's easternmost peak over 7,600 metres.

 
Namjagbarwa is the 15th highest peak in the world having an altitude of 7782 merters above the sea level. It stands the interior of the bend of the Yarlung Tsangpo River.In face of Indian Ocean, the peak refects an obvious vertical landform. Tropical rain forest in its valley and above the snow line, it is a snow world.

Namjagbarwa has existed for over 700 million years, with a great abundance of mountain eco-systems, mountain vegetation forms and bio-communities compressed in one tight area. The first piece of land in the Himalayan region to emerge from the sea, it deserves its title of Number One among the Eastern Himalayan Mountains.

The Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon is regarded by some as the deepest canyon in the world

The Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon or Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon or simply the Tsangpo Canyon or Tsangpo Gorge, along the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet, China, is regarded by some as the deepest canyon in the world, and is slightly longer than the Grand Canyon in the United States, making it one of the world's largest. The Yarlung Tsangpo (Tibetan name for the upper course of the Brahmaputra) originates near Mount Kailash and runs east for about 1700 km, draining a northern section of the Himalayas before it enters the gorge near downstream of Pei, Tibet near the settlement of Zhibe. The canyon has a length of about 150 miles (240 km) as the gorge bends around Mount Namcha Barwa (7782 m) and cuts its way through the eastern Himalayan range. Its waters drop from about 2,900 m near Pei to about 1,500 m at the end of the Upper Gorge where the Po Tsangpo River enters. The river continues through the Lower Gorge to the Indian border at an elevation of 660 m. The river then enters Arunachal Pradesh and eventually becomes the Brahmaputra.

 

The Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon is the highest green land on earth. Green mountains have snow-covered peaks poking through the clouds. Visitors come to see the area's mountain belts, unusual plants and animals, and mysterious cultures. The Yarlung area is home to many living species. Preliminary statistics show that there are over 3,768 varieties of plants, 680 varieties of large fungi, 232 species of birds 31 species of amphibians, 2,000 kinds of insects and over 230 rust fungi.
The Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon stretches 496-kilometers long and averages over 5,000 meters deep. It measures 21-kilometer wide and even at the narrowest part it has a depth of 5,138-meters. It is the deepest, narrowest and longest canyon of the world as compared to the other grand canyons in the world; Furthermore, the natural landscape is also unmatchable in the world.

The abundant rainfall and the geomorphology of high mountains and deep gorges in this area have helped to form lots of glaciers, snow-slides and waterfalls, lakes and springs that, together with the roaring river, make up the attractive and fanciful natural sights.

A varied and changeable climate makes the canyon a place of different landscapes. Areas lower than 1,100 meters above sea level and with annual mean temperature of 16? to 18? have tropical rainforests and a variety of crops, including thermophilous crops and tropical and subtropical trees. Between 1100 meters and 2,400 meters above sea level with an average mean temperature of 11? to 16?, there are evergreen and broad-leafed trees. Between 2,400 meters and 3,800 meters with annual mean temperature of 2? to 11?, there are conifer forests, winter crops and timber production. At 3,800 meters above sea level, the climate is cold and moist and there are large mountain meadows and good-quality highland pastures in the summer.