Lhasa today is home to a rich variety of restaurants and bars operated to cope with incessantly increasing number of visitors to the very traditional city steeped in history.

With booming tourism in Tibet, hotels and restaurants, along with bars, have mushroomed.

From Donyiya Restaurant, east of the Chengguan Hotel, to Snowland Restaurant, covering a distance no longer than one km, there are four hotels of good scale, four restaurants/bars in various styles, and two sweetened Tibetan tea houses. None is government-owned, but are operated exclusively by collective units or individuals. During the tourist season, they enjoy good business.

Donyiya Restaurant

Beijing Road Central is a bustling thoroughfare in Lhasa. On a sunny morning, I visited a restaurant located in the east of Chengguan District. Called Donyiya Restaurant, it is a two-story building facing south that gives the impression of a Tibetan imperial palace.

A young Tibetan girl greeted me as I pushed open the door into the hall, and ushered me to a window table.



Putting my camera and notebook onto the chair by my side, I told her I was a reporter and was there to write about the restaurant.

The waitress wasted no time in introducing me to a foreign woman, identified as the deputy general manager.



Wearing a sweet smile, the foreign woman produced her name card marked with "Chris, Deputy General Manager of Donyiya Restaurant".

Chris didn't speak much Chinese, so conversation was difficult, and she soon had to leave to attend to business.

I chatted with the restaurant staff and examined the restaurant with my own eyes.

Gleams of sunlight flooded the dining hall through the windows. Spacious and bright as it is, the restaurant is a world of yellow colors: yellow walls, yellow ceilings and yellow chair cushions.

"Our general manager is a young Tibetan man," explained a waitress, adding that he had two foreign assistants.

"One is Chris whom you have met. She comes from the United States, and the other hails from the Netherlands."

"Our restaurant derives its name from an Indian movie song, entitled Song of Lhazi. The word, Donyiya is a theme of the song."

"Our general manager told us he intends to make the restaurant an epitome of the world."

"Actually, foreign visitors to the city love to gather here to dine and chat."

Gangla Medor Bar

Opposite Donyiya Restaurant is a zestfully decorated bar, whose board is written in both Tibetan and Chinese: Gangla Medor Bar.



In Tibetan, Gangla Medor means snow lotus; and the bar owner is a fine artist of the Han ethnic group who works in Tibet.

A girl greeted me as I entered the bar. Dressed stylishly, she introduced herself: "My name is Shuangshuang. I am 24 and come from Dalian."

When I asked her why she comes to work in Lhasa, the girl answered that she loves Tibet and she is happy to work here though her wages are not high. Most important is that she is fascinated by Tibetan culture.

I walked around the bar and found it is partly a world of oil and watercolor paintings, all depicting themes unique to Tibet.

"They are left here to be exhibited by the artists," the manager explained.

"They are all amateur painters, and they hope their works will be sold. We retain a proportion of any income from the sales."



According to the manager, the bar plans to expand its business scope to cover tattooing and a Tangka Painting Studio.

Gyicun Lhaqu Bar



About some 20 meters southwest of Gangla Medor Bar is Gyicun Lhaqu Restaurant Bar. On the front wall is a Blue Tibetan opera mask by the side of which is the signboard inscribed with the name of the bar. Judging by the way the bar is decorated it is both Tibetan and modern.



In Tibetan, Gyicun means "rainbow" and Lhaqu "holy water." As I entered the bar, what I saw reminded me of the caves in the ruins of the Guge Kingdom: The walls and ceilings were treated with white clay and the corners, which usually should be at 90 degrees, were reformed in different shapes.

The food is no different from that available to visitors in other restaurants. It is composed of the Tibetan, Chinese and Nepalese food, plus beverages.

Some 30 meters away is the Snowland Restaurant, situated to the south of the Snowland Inn. It has been in operation for years and is famous among visitors for its Western food. However, I love its Nepalese food best. The restaurant is only a few meters away from Jokhang Monastery.

Source: China's Tibet
BY CEDOG