Norbulinka Palace
One theme for today is souvenir hunting. We thought about getting a thangka and to that end made a walking tour through the neighborhood. This tour led us through the Muslim neighborhood (veils, mosque, and even more meat on the streets).
The first thangka place we went to was very nice and the thangkas were very beautiful. They were rather large, though, and all the people there were artists, so no one was able to tell us about prices or anything.
The next place we went to, Mani thangka arts, also had magnificent thangkas, and fortunately someone to talk to. Two artists painted in the studio, and the humble “thangka master” showed us incredibly intricate thangkas. It was difficult to make a pick from so much beauty. We first had the impression that the thangkas on display were out of our financial reach, especially one beautiful thangka of the wheel of life (apparently forty days of work). But it turned out to be 1800 Yuan, so we didn’t consider bargaining. Eventually, we took our treasure home - hopefully, it will survive the long journey!
After that we went to the Norbulinka, the Dalai Lama’s Summer Palace. 
Here we could not only visit the palace itself, but also attend part of the festival, consisting of outdoor performances. This latter component was not as nice as expected. Although the performances themselves were o.k., the whole atmosphere was rather tacky, like a “Bradderie” in Dutch.
Here we could not only visit the palace itself, but also attend part of the festival, consisting of outdoor performances. This latter component was not as nice as expected. Although the performances themselves were o.k., the whole atmosphere was rather tacky, like a “Bradderie” in Dutch. No, no, no. The activities at the Norbulinka palace, still related to the Shötun festival, score zero for style. Apparently, Budweiser is the official sponsor of this part of the festival, and every available surface is covered in beer commercials as several musicians try to entice the stone-faced audience. 
One young man crooned Eurotrash ballads (“La Boum” style) -- at least he did so in front of a Lhasa-beer ad (“Beer from the roof of the world”) for some local spirit. Some of the more traditional acts were not bad, but the rubbish everywhere and the dorky crowds spoiled any hint of atmosphere that might have developed.
One young man crooned Eurotrash ballads (“La Boum” style) -- at least he did so in front of a Lhasa-beer ad (“Beer from the roof of the world”) for some local spirit. Some of the more traditional acts were not bad, but the rubbish everywhere and the dorky crowds spoiled any hint of atmosphere that might have developed. The ever present spiffy Chinese guards didn’t help matters. Overall, the entire thing resembled any dumb neighborhood block party where no one really likes anyone else.
The only interesting thing we saw was the Dala Lama’s palace (named officially “The New Summer Palace”), a beautifully maintained (restored?) set of modest rooms with lots of sunlight. The rooms still looked lived in, with the occasional thermos and baskets of fruit and candy.
The 14th Dalai Lama’s house, only named the “New Summer Palace,” was very nice. We could imagine he liked being there instead of in the Potala.
But even here, someone displayed a sure sense of tackiness: Instead of properly landscaping the beautiful but neglected gardens, “the park people” had placed garrisons of little flower potties on the palace stairs -- flowerpots looking like an “end of summer sale” from the Home Depot, with the blossoms already wilting. The same potties sit on the stairs of the Potala palace, by the way. 
