The Potala Palace in Tibet autonomous region has extended visiting hours from 7:30 a.m. to 6:40 p.m. amid this year’s summer travel rush. And the new schedule will last till the end of October.
Starting on July, the administration has limited the number of daily visitors to 4,000 to minimize potential damage to the ancient lumber-and-dirt structure. Visitors are requested to make reservations a day in advance and tours are restricted to an hour. About 100 visitors are admitted to the Potala every 20 minutes in order to minimize crowding.
With a history of 1300 years, the Potala Palace is perched on craggy hills in the heart of Tibet’s capital of Lhasa. It was inscribed on the UNESCO’s list of world cultural heritage sites in 1994.