Tibetan people are are a people living in Tibetan plateau, the roof of the world and last pure land on the earth, stretching from Central Asia in the West to Burma and China in the East. In the People's Republic of China (PRC) they are one of the largest among the fifty-six ethnicities officially recognized to constitute the Zhonghua Minzu ,Chinese nation.

Divisions

The Tibetan nation can be divided into several groups. These include the Changri, Nachan, and Hor, who are further divided into fifty-one sub-tribes, each of them maintaining a distinct yet related cultural identity.

The Tibetans in Kham, which is mostly situated in Garze and Aba of the western Sichuan, are also known as the Khampa, while those in the Central Tibet are known as the bodpa.

Culture

Tibet boasts a rich culture. Tibetan festivals such as Losar, Shoton, Linka, and the Bathing Festival are deeply rooted in indigenous religion and also contain foreign influences. Each person takes part in the Bathing Festival three times: at birth, at marriage, and at death. It is traditionally believed that people should not bathe casually, but only on the most important occasions.

Art

Tibetan art is deeply religious in nature, from the exquisitely detailed statues found in Gompas to wooden carvings and the intricate designs of the Thangka paintings. Tibetan art can be found in almost every object and every aspect of daily life. Thangka paintings, a syncretism of Indian scroll-painting with Nepalese and Kashmiri painting, appeared in Tibet around the 8th century. Rectangular and painted on cotton or linen, they usually depict traditional motifs including religious, astrological, and theological subjects, and sometimes the Mandala. To ensure that the image will not fade, organic and mineral pigments are added, and the painting is framed in colorful silk broadcades.

Architecture

The most unusual feature of Tibetan architecture is that many of the houses and monasteries are built on elevated, sunny sites facing the south. They are often made out a mixture of rocks, wood, cement and earth. Little fuel is available for heating or lighting, so flat roofs are built to conserve heat, and multiple windows are constructed to let in sunlight. Walls are usually sloped inwards at 10 degrees as a precaution against frequent earthquakes in the mountainous area. Tibetan homes and buildings are white-washed on the outside, and beautifully decorated inside.

Clothing

Most Tibetans wear their hair long, although in recent times some men do crop their hair short. The women plait their hair into two queues, the girls into a single queue. Men who keep their hair long coil it on top of their heads, often wrapped in a red cloth that serves as a turban.

Because of Tibet's cold weather, women wear skirts and silk or cloth jackets. The men wear long, loose trousers, accompanied by a loose and sometimes sleeveless gown, with a band at the top tied on the right, and woolen or leather boots. One or both sleeves on a garment are generally let off and tied around the waist. Herders sometimes wear sheepskin robes in place of the jacket. In addition, men wear long waistbands, and women wear colorful aprons.

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