It can be said that the Potala Palace is the symbol of Lhasa, the regional capital of Tibet. Situated on Red Hill in northwest of the city, the Potala Palace was originally built as the house for the marriage of Emperor Songtsen Gampo and Princess Wenchang in the Tang Dynasty. The palace was destroyed twice in its history. In 1645, it was rebuilt and expanded by Dalai Lama V. The project took about half a century to complete.

It is a sacred place for Tibetan Buddhism, the hall and corridors inside are decorated with master paintings, which are concerning Buddhist teachings and stories. The Red Palace displays the artistic statues of Songtsen Gampo and Princess Wenchang, as well as 1000 Buddhist images. In 1994, the Potala Palace has been listed by UNESCO as the World Cultural Heritage. Nowadays, the palace attracts Buddhist worshippers at home and abroad to visit during religious festivals.

The main architecture of the Potala Palace is composed of the two parts: Places used by the Dalai Lama as his living chambers and for political activities; and holy stupas of the successive generations of Dalai Lamas and various Buddhist halls.

The first part is concentrated in the White Palace, built in 1645-1653. This part fans out from the original Hall of the Goddess of Mercy towards the east and west, encompassing groups of monastic halls with white walls hence the name the White Palace. The White Palace has seven stories. The fourth story, the Coqenxag or the Eastern Hall, covers an area of 717 square meters and is propped up by 38 large pillars. This is the most important Buddhist hall in the Potala Palace, and has witnessed many major religious and political activities, including the enthronement ceremony for the reincarnated soul boy of the Dalai Lama and the ceremony held when the Dalai Lama begins his reign at the age of 18. The fifth and sixth stories were used as the offices and living chambers of the Prince Regent. The seventh story was the Winter Palace of the Dalai Lama. It is called the Sunlight Hall simply because the hall enjoys boundless sunlight through its spacious windows. The hall is furnished with gold basins, jade bowls, Buddhist paintings and many other treasures, accentuating the high position of the occupant. Outside the Sunlight Hall is a spacious balcony offering a bird's-eye view of the whole of Lhasa. In the distance are undulating mountain ranges, the beautiful Lhasa River, tracts of fields, tree-shaded villages and the glistening Jokhang Monastery.

The second part is concentrated in the Red Palace, occupies an area of 10,000 square meters, where the statues of Songtsan Gambor, Princess Wencheng and some thousands of Buddhist figures are placed for worshipping. When the Red Palace was built in 1690, the Qing Dynasty Emperor Kangxi sent some 100 artisans of the Han, Manchu and Mongolian nationalities to take part in the construction. The majority of the Red Palace is taken up with various Buddhist halls and eight holy stupas containing the remains of the Dalai Lamas. The holy stupa for the 5th Dalai Lama is wrapped inside 110,000 taels of gold sheet (approximately equal to 143,000 ounces) and inlaid with 18,677 pearls and pieces of gems, coral, amber and agate. Sixipuncog, or the Western hall, is the largest hall in the Red Palace. The hall covers 725 square meters, and holds a plaque bearing an inscription by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. Inside the hall is the holy throne of the Dalai Lama and a pair of colored silk curtains granted by Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. The Three-World Hall, which is the highest in the Red Palace, holds the Beijing-edition Dangyur which Emperor Yongzhen of the Qing Dynasty presented to the 7th Lalai Lama. The westernmost section of the Red Palace is the Hall of the Holy Stupa for the 13th Dalai Lama, built in 1933-1935. The hall, 14 meters high, contains a Mandala said to be made of 200,000 pearls. The Potala Palace is a treasure house of Tibetan art, the opulence of which reflects the enormous differences that existed between the nobles and the serfs and slaves, who made up 95 percent of the Tibetan population, in the old days. While the Red Palace is composed of the religious center and the Holy Stupa Memorial Hall, the White Palace features the living chambers and political center of the Dalai Lama. Both palaces indicate the social character of temporal and religious activities in old Tibet. The 5th Dalai Lama moved into the White Palace from the Zhaibung Monastery as soon as the former was built. He stayed there until his death. From then on all the successors of the Dalai Lama resided in the Potala Palace, from where they exercised political and religious power. This is why lamas and Tibetan Buddhists worship the Potala Palace and regard it as the holy land.

It belongs on the World Heritage List because, like the Great Wall or the Taj Mahal, it was meant to stir wonder and affection and gratitude in the viewer. It was also home of Buddha. And wherever you sit in Potala Palace, its 1,000 windows look over you in what can seem a kind of protection. When you look at the Potala Palace, you see not only one of the most stirring structures on the planet -- "the most extraordinary building in the world," according to the great British traveler Peter Fleming -- but also a culture that is still strongly influential today.