Motorcyclists (L-R) Tang Yiping, Wu Gang and Zhu Xiaofeng meet at the Potala Square in Lhasa on Sunday after dozens of days of travel from Zhejiang, Hebei and Heilongjiang provinces. (Photo China Daily)

Three motorcycles stopped side by side at the Potala Palace Square on Sunday afternoon, as their drivers stood watching the towering Potala Palace, the sight of which they said was worth their dozen days of marathon driving.

By different routes - from Zhejiang, Heilongjiang and Hebei provinces - the three men in their mid-30s reached the same goal making their maiden excursion to the capital of Tibet at a time when the region is celebrating the 60th anniversary of its peaceful liberation.

Tang Yiping, who rolled from Jiaxing city of East China's Zhejiang on July 1, said the trio came to know each other only after they met near Tibet, and each had something in their heart that drew them to the roof of the world.

For Tang, who runs a store at taobao.com, a leading online shopping website, the Tibet trip was a virtual world made real.

I found it amazing to have dozens of customers from Tibet. They bought bags and fur products from my online store, Tang said. This has added to my curiosity, prompting me to see what their daily life is like.

Tibet is more prosperous than he thought, Tang observed, and the streets cleaner.

He said the journey helped him know more about Tibetans and their culture.

Tang's companion Zhu Xiaofeng, from Suihua city of Northeast China's Heilongjiang, said he had calculated making it to Lhasa in mid-July, when the autonomous region marks the peaceful liberation of 1951 with a series of spectacular celebrations.

In 1951, the Agreement of the Central People's Government and the Local Government of Tibet on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet - the “17-Article Agreement” for short - was signed in Beijing.

The Potala Palace is more grand and beautiful than I saw in pictures, Zhu said. Lhasa is neat and in good order, and oddly, you can see farm vehicles on streets.