Tibet [西藏] is located along China's southwestern border. Since the Proterozoic era, the Tibetan people have lived, laboured and multiplied on the Qinghai - Tibet Plateau - "Roof of The World" In this long historic process, due to their industriousness and Wisdom, the Tibetan people have created a rich and colourful material civilization, as well as an advanced culture and ideology. As an important member of China’s 56 ethnic groups, the Tibetan nationality has maintained close relations in politics, economy and culture with the country’s other nationalities.

Locked way in its mountain fortress of the Himalaya, Tibet has long exercised a unique hold on the imagination of the West; "Shangri-La", "the Land of Snows", "the Roof-top of the World", Tibet is mysterious in a way that few other places are.

Most of Tibet is too arid and cold to support human life and the place is still very thinly populated. With a geographical area more than twice the size of France, Tibet manages a total population of only 2.3 million. However, there are thought to be some 4 million Tibetans spread out over Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan.

Most of Tibet is an immense plateau which lies at an altitude from 4000 to 5000 metres. The Qamdo region in the east is a somewhat lower section of plateau, drained by the head-waters of the Salween, Mekong and upper Yangzi rivers. It's an area of considerably greater rainfall than the rest of Tibet and the climate is less extreme. On the uplands surrounding these valleys, the inhabitants are mainly pastoralists who raise sheep, yaks and horses.

In ancient times, the Tibetans on the plateau cultivated a close relationship with the Han and with other ethnic groups from the Chinese interior. In the 7th century, this relationship reached its peak when Srong-btsan Sgam-po(Songtsan Gambol, the king of the Tubo kingdom who ruled the Tibetan Plateau at that time twice sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty emperor to propose to Princess Wen Cheng who he later married. The Tibetans and Hans had through the marriage of their royal families and various meetings, formed close economic and cultural relations laying the groundwork for the ultimate foundation of a unified nation.

In Lhasa the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, the statue of Princess Wen Cheng is still enshrined and worshipped in the Potala Palace. The Monument to the Alliance between the Tibetans and the Han erected in the 9th century still stands in the square in front of the Jokhang Temple.