Grand celebrations are brewing in Tibet. It’s nearly time for the Tibetan New Year. Also known as Losar, it’s the most important festival on the Tibetan calendar. We look now at some of the traditional customs, as well as the items people purchase for the new year.

Here in the Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China, residents are shopping for traditional goods for the Tibetan New year. The commodities include Tibetan couplets, colorful highland barely to invite a good harvest, and goat head figures.

All these and more are sold at the Bakuo market in the city of Lhasa.

It’s also customary to buy a new piece of Tibetan clothing for the new year. Shoppers are busy sifting through the stacks to find their favorite. Apart from the Bakuo market, supermarkets in the city are also packed. And it looks like people not only have an appetite for holiday goods, but also for common merchandise as well.

Another major attraction in Lhasa are the decorations on the square of Potala Palace. The installations are adorned with a variety of colors, and there are horse decorations to symbolize the new year. The staff are also putting up lantern decorations on Tibetan-styled pillars, so it looks like Tibet is all set for the big new year day on March 2nd.

                                                                                            Editor: Julia Qin