The Barkhor Street (Chinese:八廓街;pinyin:bākuòjiē), located in the center of old Lhasa, is the oldest street in a very traditional style in Tibet, where you can enjoy bargaining with the local Tibetan vendors for the handicrafts which are rarely seen elsewhere in the world. Barkhor Street is one of the most important religious paths along which pilgrims either walk or crawl around Jokhang Temple while turning prayer wheels in their hands. They have been doing this for countless centuries. Buddhist pilgrims walk or progress by body-lengths in a clockwise direction. This walk can continue all day and well into the night.

Barkhor Street emerged and developed with the construction of the Jokhang Monastery and the people of the pilgrims. Over 1,300 years have elapsed since the establishment of the Jokhang Monastery, during which time successive generations of Tibetans have prostrated and worshiped here.

In 7th century, King Songtsan Gambo ordered to built the Jokhang Temple in Wotang Lake and built four palaces around the lake at the same time. The four palaces are the earliest buildings on the Barkhor Street. After the completion of the Jokhang Temple, a large number of pilgrims came to worship, and gradually a path formed around the Jokhang Temple. That’s the original Barkhor Street. 18 family-buildings were constructed around the temple One after another, providing accommodation for the pilgrims and businessmen from afar.

Today even still many pilgrims hold the prayer wheels to walk clockwise there from dawn to dark. Also you can see some pilgrims walking or progressing body-lengths by body-lengths along the street. Even some of them are teenagers or have experienced thousands of miles' walk to reach this sacred place. The way they express their piety could make you understand the holiness of religion.

For tourists, Barkhor Street is a magical place showing the original outlook of Lhasa. The street was paved by hand-polished stone boards. Though it is not broad, it accommodates thousands of tourists every day. Varied shops stand on both sides of the street and thousands of floating stands are on every corner. Most of them offer the prayer wheels, long-sleeve 'chuba' (the Tibetan people's traditional clothes), Tibetan knives and some religious articles for sale. Furthermore, some shops sell 'Thangka’ (the Tibetan scroll painting), which is a unique art of Tibet with the themes of religion, history, literature, science and customs.

In addition to religious objects traditionally only used in monasteries or temples, Tibetan calendars are also available on Barkhor Street, compiled by the hospital of traditional Tibetan medicine in Lhasa. (The Tibetan year varies somewhat from the Chinese lunar year, thus the Tibetans have their own calendar.) Imported goods are also sold on Barkhor Street, for instance: Indian necklaces, colorful Nepalese cloth knapsacks, French perfumes and lipsticks, to list but a few items.
Barkhor Street not only boasts various sorts of Tibetan folk crafts catering to tourists, but also provides the necessities of Tibetan people's daily life as well, such as bold-colored aprons, hand-woven carpets and rugs, Tibetan boots, and wooden bowls for drinking buttered tea...