During the seven-day Shoton Festival holiday, Lhasa's Potala Palace, Norbulingka, and Jokhang Temple received at least 220,000 visitors, according to the administration office of the three scenic spots.

File photo shows Tibetan opera performance held at Norbulingka in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet Autonomous Region, photo from CTIC. 

Qiangba, a staff worker of the administration office of Jokhang Temple, said the number of domestic and foreign tourists visiting the temple doubled in the Shoton Festival to about 3,000 per day. In the seven days at least 20,000 tourists visited the temple, not counting the pilgrims paying tribute to the Buddha.

Norbulingka received about 187,000 tourists, the most among the three attractions. Everyday during the festival Norbulingka would hold performances of Tibetan opera. The Beer Festival was also held at Norbulingka, so the park was always swarmed with people coming enjoying the "lingka" (meaning in Tibetan leisure time in woods).

People drinking beer at Norbulingka in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet Autonomous Region, photo from CTIC.

A staff worker of Norbnulingka said they received 30 percent more visitors compared to the same period last year.

Tickets to the Potala Palace were hard to get since the daily number of visitors to the palace was restricted to 2,300. This stopped many tourists at the gate, to their disappointment.