So, this is from Tibet - we went to the summer palace for the big DL and they had a framed picture of the Potala. Across from the Potala was a beautiful lake and park. We were told that the holy lake has since been filled in and now a large Chinese monument and public square is standing where the lake had once been. A bit of the lake is still there, now just a little pond.
We were walking down by the Potala at night to get some night pictures of the place, when we saw all of the blue glow coming down from the lake. I though that it was horrible looking - all of those tacky blue lights framing what is left of the holy lake. Then I noticed the swirling orange disks and wanted to get closer. "Are those swastikas spinning around?" We got closer and to my horror, they were bright orange swastikas spinning in one direction and then slowing down to start spinning around in the other direction. Ugh.
The Potala is a kind of a transition point from the east and west side of the downtown area in Lhasa. The east side has more of a Tibetan feel and as you walk west you begin to see more and more colored rope lights, neon, tacky light fixtures and plastic palm trees. Anyhow, I can finally get back into my email in less than 20 minutes, so I probably shouldn't push my luck with adding more opinion to this post.
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