Stores, Malls or Markets in Tibet

What to buy: Prayer wheels - of varying sizes - are another popular item available at souvenir and pilgrim stalls. They may contain up to a million of prayer lines, which are considered to have been said every time the wheel is rotated - it's one of the most popular ways of accumulating merit in Tibetan Buddhism.

Most common among those on sale are handheld ones, such as those rotated by pilgrims. While most of them are not particularly artistic, they - even if you're not a Buddhist - make a great rustic souvenir with their combination of wood, metal, and often turquoise and coral. Sizes vary from maybe 10cm to over half a meter.

A stroll around Barkhor will provide a fair estimate of the types and sizes on offer.

What to pay: From 50RMB upwards

What to buy: Traditional Tibetan prayer beads, known as the malla beads, are one of the items that instantly differentiate pilgrims from passers-by around Tibet's many shrines. Used to count prayers, each string of malla beads has exactly 108 beads (considered an auspicious number in Buddhism), with a 'stopper' bead to make sure you have correctly counted the full circle. There are also often two smaller strings attached to count completed circles.

In the 19th century, the malla beads were adapted by the pundits, native Indian surveyors often posing as pilgrims and working for the British to help them map undoscovered areas of Tibet (8 beads were taken out of the malla beads to make a round number and individual beads were used to count paces). Today, they make an excellent souvenir (which, together with many other religious items, can be purchased at most stalls in tourist- and pilgrim-frequented areas) to take home. Malla beads can range in price from a few EUR for a wooden string to about a thousand for one made of precious or semi-precious stones - though most of the malla bead strings you will find for sale in Tibet will be at the lower end of the price range.

Other popular materials include plant seeds (lotus and bodhi tree being most requested due to their religious significance), yak bone (often decorated), mother-of-pearl, etc.

What to pay: From a few EUR to over a thousand depending on material

What to buy: One of the most interesting souvenirs that can be brought from Tibet (and which is available from most stalls around the main tourist areas and monasteries) is a Tibetan singing bowl. Traditionally used as an aid to Buddhist meditation, these bowls are made from a blend of 7 metals (even though the technology has changed to produce them in quantities required for to supply the modern tourist industry) and produce a humming sound when a wooden stick is rotated around the outer edge of the bowl (while this may sound easy, it's not - it did take us some time to adapt to 'playing' the bowl).

The size of the bowls range from about 10cm to 30cm in diameter, and are often decorated with mantras (most prominent one being the 'om mani padme hum') and the eight auspicious symbols of Tibetan Buddhism. The sound produced will depend on the quality of the bowl, with the finer ones having a wider 'vocal range'.

What to pay: Prices start from about 15-20 EUR and can go up into the hundreds as quality and size increase.

What to buy: DZI beads are on sale at most stalls around major cities, and can be of varying sizes and designs. In Tibetan culture, the dZi beads are considered to bring good luck (and, maybe more importantly, keep away bad luck!), give longevity, etc.

Most of the dZi beads on sale are coloured glass, and are replicas of the original thing - they can be purchased quite cheaply (about 4-5 EUR a piece) and still make great souvenirs. The next rung on the dZi bead ladder - the modern agate beads with genuine inlays forming 'Buddha's eyes' patterns. Although they look much less 'glossy', they are rarer and thus are considerably more expensive. The most expensive variety is the ancient agate dZi beads, which - if well-preserved - can fetch tens of thousands of EUR apiece.

If buying the original agate ones, and especially the ancient beads, it's probably best to look in specialised stores. With ancient beads, buying broken ones is considered to bring bad luck as they've 'taken on' the bad luck coming the way of their previous owners (that's how the local tradition says the dZi beads break)

What to buy in Tibet? There are so many choices. For example, I bought a silver bracelet. The famous mantra “Om mani padme hum” is engraved on it in Tibetan Sanskrit letters. Corals, turquoise stones and many other gems of Tibet are very popular. There is a huge jewelry store on Barkor, selling a variation of corals. Jewels weren’t so cheap but there were very good designs.
We bought some pearls from a woman on Barkor streets. My friends had several colors but I only had a pink. My friend bought a rosary to her dad. Most famous ones were from yak bone. If you like amethyst, Tibet is perfect for you. Our Nepali guide gave a big one as a gift to our Turkish guide in Kambala. Several children were selling huge amethyst blocks here.
I expected to find the cure to all diseases in here. Many of the ancient stories have it, somebody gets very ill and a plant from Himalayas cures him. And I also saw a store selling natural medicines but English did not work for me in here.

The dizzling alleys of the Barkhor area are crowded with street stalls and shops selling everything a pilgrim dreams of (and a tourist wishes for souvenirs)!
You just cant get enough of the vivid Tibetan life in this part of the town!

What to buy: Art, local craft(sometimes imports from Nepal;), pilgrim equipment (prayer wheels, prayer flags), so called antiques.....

What to pay: Ohhhh, always keep in mind to bargain, bargain, bargain......
They expect you to bargain, it is not offending at all. As long as they sell it to you in the end, be sure they make a gooood profit!

Look for a old lady.

What to buy: Any pass you reach, locals are used to hang or to tied some praying flags.
A nice present indeed to your friend. You can purchase all sort of them ! short, long, colorful or plain, ......

What to pay: from 1 to 5 USD, never more !!!!!!

In Lhassa, there are many shops selling trekking equipment. If you did not shop in Kathmandu, Lhassa is the place. Large choice at decent price and for sure cheaper than Chengdu. (but more expensive than Kath).

What to buy: Shoesgloves, shirt, ......

What to pay: Bargain pls