Drinking in Lhasa
Various beverages are an important part of the nourishing diets in Tibet, including salted butter tea, sweet milk tea, Highland Barley Wine, etc. salted butter tea can not only be eaten with staple food tsampa, but also is a beverage for everyday use. Salted butter tea, and sweet milk tea are both made from butter, milk or milk powder with tea, salt and sugar. Salted butter tea, and sweet milk tea both have the function of tea. In Tibet, it’s a custom to treat the guests with butter tea. At the herdsmen’s tents, farmers’ small clay houses or on a visit to relatives and friends, the hosts will treat you to delicious butter tea. When a Tibetan is going on a journey, his relatives will present him a hada and toast him with butter tea, wishing him a good trip. Another beverage is the Highland Barley Wine made from fermented barley. Tibetans, whether old or young, men or women, all enjoy the wine. Before festivals, Tibetans will make large quantities of Highland Barley Wine. From the 4th to the 8th months in Tibetan calendar, in all the traditional or non-traditional, religious or non- religious festivals, Tibetans will go to the grasses, put up colorful tents, and dance while enjoying the wine, which shows the charm of Tibetan wine culture.
The Deji Street in Lhasa is a center where you will find all kinds of Chinese delicious food, including Sichuan cuisine, hotpot, delicacy western food, bars, etc. Many visitors will go there and enjoy the Chinese, Tibetan or western food and delicacy. All the foreign-related hotels serve western food.