What’s in a Number?

Coming from Beijing, Tu Tu and Go Go opened the 5238 Bar atop the landing of a youth hostel on Duosenge Road. On the bar’s spacious balcony, the first thing that comes into view is the gorgeous Potala Palace. By word of mouth, the bar, with a panoramic view of the Potala Palace, soon became a hot spot in town. Thanks to the recommendations of regular customers and intrepid independent travelers, business at 5238 grows with each passing day.

The couple tells me that the abundance of snowcapped mountains around Lhasa was a primary reason they settled here and opened a business. In 2003, when they first visited Tibet as tourists, the couple fell in love with the place at first sight. From then on, visiting Tibet was an annual must-do. But they still wished to spend more time there. One day, Tu Tu blurted out what had been long on her mind: “Maybe we should move to Lhasa and work there!” Her husband was in total agreement. Soon enough, they were on the move.

After talking with friends in Beijing who also love mountain climbing and travel, Tu Tu and Go Go decided to set up a bar in Lhasa. In early 2007, to optimize their business debut, the couple put almost all their money and energy into the bar, while seeking the advice of friends. Now looking over the bar with a view, people can hardly imagine that it was once just a big Tibetan tent when it first opened. Back then, many decorations and even equipment came from the couple’s friends in Beijing. “Words cannot express our gratitude towards those who has lent us a hand,” says the couple.

In the past, when there was a strong wind, the small tent seemed to be faltering. However, customers were not affected in the slightest. “The ventilation in the tent is great,” some joked. Some international guests were quite fascinated by the tent, and there were always groups of foreigners, holding guitars and singing on the balcony of the bar. “It is the real Tibetan style,” they said with good humor. After the first summer, by the end of 2007, on the site of the huge tent the bar was renovated into what it is now. Comfortable swings, Tibetan-style tatami, a small room where movies are shown, and a space for surfing the Internet are all here.

The Spinn Spin

Tourists can easily see the signboard for the Spinn Café in a small alley near Lhasa’s Beijing East Road. About 200 meters into the alley, you may bump into the owners. While A Ping is enjoying his bicycle stunt riding, A Gang often just sits in front of the café and stretches a bit.

From Hong Kong, A Gang is a die-hard travel enthusiast. Before he was 30 years of age, he had left his footprints in nearly 30 countries and regions. In 2001, when A Gang first visited Tibet, he fell crazy in love with the place and remained for three months. “To me, Tibet is like a cozy yet a little unfamiliar home. I wanted to know everything about it. Why people make full-body prostrations in prayer? Why they drink buttered tea and have tsamba? In brief, I am interested in all the things about Tibet,” says A Gang. Compared with other cities he had visited, A Gang said that there was no place like Lhasa, as far as he was concerned. Thus, in 2006, together with his Thai friend A Ping, A Gang rode a bike to Lhasa from Thailand. During their six-month journey, A Gang and A Ping encountered many difficulties. But finally, they made it to their paradise.

In April 2007, the Spinn Café opened in Lhasa featuring a melding of Han, Tibetan, and Thai styles. With a total area of only 39 square meters, the café serves as a cozy and warm home for many first-time Lhasa visitors and touring cyclists.

Moreover, the owners have a romantic date with Lhasa. “We plan to run the shop for 11 years until 2020,” they tell me. When I ask what they are going to do after that, I get no certain answers. “Eleven years is a long time. We’ll worry about that question in 2020,” says A Gang. Some friends once half-jokingly suggested that A Gang must have been a Tibetan in his previous life. The somewhat introverted A Gang neither accepted nor objected to this idea. However, for a man planning to devote his best 11 years to Lhasa, this might be a poetical explanation.

What’s in a Name?

Phuntsok Khasang International Youth Hostel, located at Qingnian Road in Lhasa, is a small world of its own. In the Tibetan language, Phuntsok Khasang means a new house with everything in it. Gao Yuan, one of the hostel owners, is filled with happiness when he recalls why he named the hostel Phuntsok Khasang. A family with Phuntsok as their last name rent Gao the house, which was later renovated into the hostel. To Gao, Phuntsok, a very common Tibetan name, means sincerity and simplicity. Thus, he and his partners took just a few minutes to settle on Phuntsok Khasang as the name of their youth hostel.

In 2004, along with several friends, the then white-collar worker Gao traveled to Tibet from Beijing. Before departing Beijing, he could not have predicted that this relatively short trip would change his life. But when he returned to Beijing, he found he could no longer bear life in a big city. Every night in his dreams, he went back to Tibet. Soon enough, the young lad decided to put an end to his lovesickness and moved to Lhasa. In 2005, in a shop run by friends, Gao met the young woman who would later become his wife. “I am a Beijing native while my wife is from Fujian Province. But we met each other, fell in love, and got married in Lhasa,” says Gao. No wonder he refers to the city as his place of blessing.

In 2006, several of Gao’s friends traveled to Lhasa. Gao, serving as their local guide, explored the city with them. Not long after his friends returned to Beijing, they decided to “build” a home in the fantastic city which could serve as their base in Lhasa and as a home for all visitors. That’s how Phuntsok Khasang came into being.

Now in operation for almost four years, Phuntsok Khasang has become a Lhasa home for numerous lovers of travel. Hospitable Tibetan attendants, various notes left on the messages board looking for travel partners, a cozy open yard with plenty of sunshine, parties on the roof and in the bar — all are here in the hostel. Every day, a bustling and busy scene takes place in Phuntsok Khasang. The scene is like Gao’s love for Lhasa, which he says will never waver or cease.

Lhasa, the holy city on the roof the world, has attracted numerous travelers with its charm. These bars, cafés, pubs, hostels, with all their charm and vitality, are a symbol of people’s unchangeable love for the city.