Chakpori Hill

Chakpori Hill stands beside Potala Palace like a giant, with altitude of 3725 meters. On the spired peak of Chakpori Hill, you can enjoy the beautiful and mysterious landscapes of Lhasa.

On the cliff, there are many exquisite figures of Buddha, gods in different poses, and Buddhist scripture in Tibetan characters. And on the southeast mountainside, you will see a grotto in the shape of unequal rectangle. Although more than one thousand years have elapsed, the grotto is preserved very well. 69 vivid and lifelike stone statues were engraved on the rock, which represent the soul of Tibetan stone inscription art.

At the north foot of the mountain is a pure and sweet spring, named "Holy Water". During the middle of 17th century, a temple was erected on the top of the mountain, housing the sapphire figure of a certain Tibetan Medicine King. Legend has it that the King was the avatar of Sakyamuni, who was able to treat patients no matter what the disease or how difficult the cure. During the period of the fifth Dalai Lama (1642-1682), lamas from all over the country were brought to this temple to systematically study and coordinate the knowledge of traditional Tibetan medicine. So the temple was once the Tibetan Medicine Bureau.

Unfortunately, it fell into ruin after many years. Chakpori Hill (Yao Wang Shan) is also the ideal location for taking photographs of Potala Palace. In the early morning of holidays or peak seasons, dense crowds of photographers and photography aficionados come here to shoot a rare view of Potala Palace irradiated by the first rays of the sun.