Norbulingka which located at the western suburb of Lhasa is one of the National Keyed Conservation Units. Established in the 40s of 18th century, it used to be a summer residence of Dalai Lama since the reign of the Eighth Dalai Lama. After the numerous expansions over 200 years of development history, the whole garden has covered 360000 square meters of area with 374 rooms in between. It is the largest manmade garden as well as the garden with the most attractive sceneries and historical leftovers throughout Tibet. In fact, the name of Norbulingka stands for “Garden of Treasury” in Tibetan language. Thus, in name of the garden has on the other hand telling the visitors that a lot of treasures can be discovered from this piece of land.
Norbulingka is a huge complex that consists of several palace complexes such as Kelsang Potrang, Tsokyil Potrang, Golden Linka and Takten Migyur Potrang. Each of the palace complexes is basically divided into three main sections, which are the palace section, front courtyard and the wood. Kelsang Potrang is a three-storey palace which named after the Seventh Dalai Lama. The hall is designed with halls for worshipping, bedrooms, study rooms and sanctuaries. On the other hand, Tsokyil Potrang was the most attractive site throughout Norbulingka especially within the reign of the Eighth Dalai Lama. Khamsum Zilnon, a place where Dalai Lama enjoyed Tibetan opera was a striking pavilion is Han architectural style. Golden Linka and Chensel Potrang were constructed within the period of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama in year 1922 while the Takten Migyur Potrang was constructed in year 1954.