Ancient Lhasa Metamorphoses Into Modern Metropolis

LHASA, CHINA - AUGUST 6: A Chinese girl waits while her sister checks her email at a internet cafe on August 6, 2006 in Lhasa of Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Lhasa's face is ever changing as it continues to expand into a modern Chinese city. Chinese tourists are flooding into the city this summer especially with the recent completion of the $4.2 billion Tibet-Qinghai railway which brings an extra 3,000 people a day into the Tibetan capital. The Chinese government also raised the entry quota of the Potala Palace, spending over 6 million to give it a face lift which is still underway. Expensive hotels and shops have opened in the new section Lhasa while the Tibetan quarter fights to hold onto its cultural image. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)