Loading...
Shigatse is Tibet’s second city but gets 10% of Lhasa’s tourists. Tashilhunpo has a 26-meter golden Buddha and a 3km kora path with local pilgrims. Samdruptse Old Market sells dried yak meat and medicinal herbs — zero English signs.
TibetGo Team
Travel Expert
Shigatse is Tibet's second-largest city and the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama — the second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama. While Lhasa gets all the attention, Shigatse offers a more authentic, less touristy experience.
Founded in 1447, Tashilhunpo is one of the six great Gelug monasteries. The complex is massive — you could spend half a day here.
Skip the tourist shops. The Samdruptse Old Market is where locals shop — dried yak meat, Tibetan incense, handmade boots, prayer beads, and mysterious medicinal herbs. It's chaotic, colorful, and completely authentic.
Two routes connect Lhasa and Shigatse:
Cross Gangbala Pass, see Yamdrok Lake and Karola Glacier, pass through Gyantse. Longer but infinitely more scenic.
Faster and flatter, following the Brahmaputra River valley. Good for the return trip.
A small town between Lhasa and Shigatse with a dramatic hilltop fortress (Dzong) and the unique Kumbum Stupa at Pelkor Chode Monastery — a multi-story stupa containing 77 chapels with over 100,000 images.
