New Buildings
east side of the kora

Both the center and right hand buildings were completed in the summer of 1994, replacing older, lower, smaller buildings. The building on the left, while painted traditional white, is not that old, evidenced by its straight (not inward sloping) walls, and use of cinder block. Fewer and fewer of the new buildings in Lhasa are being painted traditional white, and embellishes and woodwork around the windows diminishing. As well, the seemingly small increase from two or three stories to four stories is transforming the narrow back alleys (and rooms on lower floors) from bright open spaces, to dark, cavernous ones.