Hing Songtsen Gampo built Jokhang Monastery in Lhasa about 1,300 years ago. Numerous worshipers attended, and as time passed, they created a road around the monastery. It evolved into what has become Barkhor Bazaar.

Thirteen centuries have passed, and Lhasa has under-gone numerous reforms and opening-up programmes.

Despite modernization, the city retain much of its traditions-old residences still flank that street and smoke hovers overhead.

Barkhor Bazaar preceded Lhasa. The Jokhang and Ramoche monasteries were built near what is now the street.

There are also old residences that had been occupied by nobility, Living Buddhas and civilians.

Many people worry about the fate of these old buildings, that they might be lost to modernization. The central government has declared the traditional architecture centering on Jokhang Monastery must be preserved and protected.

The central government has provided funding three times since 1999 to repair the buildings, indicate records from the Lhasa Office of Cultural Relics.

Two giant incense pots stand in the square in front of Jokhang Monastery. Buddhist scriptures are recited nearby. Many people buy fragrant grass and mulberry tree leaves to place in the pots. They believe the auspicious smoke will bring them fortune.

Tourists walk alongside worshipers or bargain with peddlers.

"We experience changes day in and day out," said 54-year-old peddler Cering Zholgar.

"In the past, the street was muddy when it rained and dusty on fine days. Now, the street has stone slabs."

Zenala is a 50-year-old Nepalese woman. She came to Lhasa in the 1980. "We make 60,000 yuan (US$7,240) a year here by selling fashions, jewellery, handicrafts, perfumes and lotions," she said.

There were only 80 peddlers along the street in the early days of Tibet's peaceful liberation, said Dawa Puncog, director of the Barkhor Administration for Industry and Commerce.

"today, there are 2,000 businesses, offering about 8,000 kinds of merchandise. More than 150 business people come from Nepal," he said. 
 
Walking along the bustling Barkhor Bazaar, one can hear various languages being spoken.

In a Tibetan clothing shop, we met a woman who said her name was Deborah. She loved the hand-woven pulu woolen fabrics, but did not know how to explain this to the shop owner in Tibetan or putonghua (standard spoken Chinese).

To her surprise, the shop's owner began speaking in English, and she purchased the fabrics.

People here speak Tibetan, putonghua, English and Nepalese.

Galsang is a Nepalese businessman who purchases garments, shoes, hats and household electrical appliances to sell in Nepal.

"I ship rice and wheat flour from Nepal to Lhasa and Xigaze. I make good money," Galsang said.

He shuttles between Nepal, China's hinterland and the Tibet Autonomous Region.

"So, I can speak fluent putonghua and Tibetan," he said.

Given the number of foreign travellers, many of the locals have learnt to speak English.

"We have many foreign visitors As I speak English, it is easy for me to explain things about monasteries to them," Cering said, in perfect putonghua.

There are several small workshops at Barkhor Bazaar where traditional Tibetan tangka paintings are sold.

Xie Bing, a 24-year-old Harbin University engineering graduate moved to Barkhor Bazaar to study tangka painting.

Eight Tibetans were among Xie's classmates.

Weandui, who taught Xie and his classmates, said: "I am 62 years old, and have been painting tangka ever since childhood.

"Knowledge of tangka has entered ordinary families, and more people are studying the art." 
 
One of the best-selling items at Barkhor Bazaar is the "cowhead," an electric kettle that makes buttered tea.

"I am successful, due to cooperation with an inland company," said Ngasung, who developed the kettle.

"Tibetans used wooden kettles to make buttered tea. Given the differences in daily temperatures, wooden kettles cracked, and they were not sanitary."

Ngasung decided at the end of 1995 to manufacture electric kettles. He created a design, with the assistance of several university graduates, but could not find someone to create the mould.

He eventually asked the Jiafa Electrical Appliances Factory in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, for help. He initially produced 4,000 kettles.

They sold quickly, but people returned them. They were defective. Tests revealed the kettles couldn't withstand the daily temperature fluctuations.

Ngasung fixed the flaw, and the kettles again sold like hotcakes. He eventually applied for and received a patent for his kettle design.

"I didn't have funding, but the Bank of Agriculture gave me a loan. I have received so much from the State, and I will do more for the State and society," Ngasung said.