Getting to Tibet is easier than ever

LHASA, Tibet — At sunrise and sunset, the air is cool, the scent of burning juniper incense is strong, and a river of pilgrims flows in a sacred circle around Jokhang Temple. Every day, they walk the perimeter of Lhasa's holiest shrine to accrue blessings in the next life because, the precepts of Tibetan Buddhism say, their lot in this one is preordained when they come into it. About 2.6 million people visited Tibet last year, many of them newly affluent Chinese, their love of travel unleashed by boom times in their homeland. To them, Tibet is the Wild West, an inalienable part of the People's Republic of China, and in big Chinese cities, Tibetan style is suddenly chic.