An 18-year-old boy named Qi Yue from Canada wrote an article titled "Charming Tibet" carried in the People's Daily Monday.

The full text of his article is as follows:

Lying in your heart is a sacred place, in which your belief and ideal are reposed, and hopes as well as disappointment are carried.

It is not necessarily your hometown, the place where you were born and grew-up, or a bustling city full of material tempts. In your eyes, it must be the cleanest and the most sacred.

For me, Tibet is exactly such a place.

Probably influenced by my mother who is a tour guide, my family all love traveling. I began to go traveling with my family every summer from three years old.

Of course, I have been impressed by all the places I have visited, such as the Great Wall in Beijing, the West Lake in Hangzhou, the spectacular Three Gorges and skyscrapers in Shenzhen. Yet, what has impressed me the most is the recent trip to Tibet.

Southwest China's Tibet lies at a high altitude with little environmental pollution. Having no grand Palace Museum or the Great Wall like Beijing, or picturesque West Lake and primitive bridges in Hangzhou, though, Tibet boasts vast grasslands, devout and kind-hearted herders, and the mysterious Potala Palace.

Aboard the train bounded for Tibet, I enjoyed a perfect peace of mind. Unlike boisterous metropolises with bright lights, everything along the way was relaxed and serene. An endless expansion of grasslands, Tibetan antelopes bowing their heads to drink water, a vast glistening crystal lake reflecting a blue sky -- the view all along the way is beyond all the praises, let alone Tibet.

In Tibet, no other things are better known than the Potala Palace in downtown Lhasa. Towering at an altitude of 3,000 m above sea level, the palace looks grand and awesome. As it has been in service till now, Tibetan lamas can be seen studying Buddhist scriptures hard everywhere. Tourists have to visit the palace within limited time, so as not to disturb these lamas practicing Buddhism.

History has left its mark in every corner of the Potala Palace, including frescoes on the walls and cordierite plates.

During the visit, one may come up with some aged lamas sitting cross-legged and reciting scriptures in a low voice. At the sight of such a scene, visitors could not help keeping quiet and might try to probe the profound theory of Buddhist sutras with their hearts.

The palace has no electrical lights but butter lamps instead. These lamps, donated by devout Tibetans, make light in the palace as ever-lasting as the belief of those Buddhist believers.

Tibet's charm lies in its landscape and culture, as well as its people and their belief. It is in Tibet that your soul is purified because everything there is holy including the blue sky, hovering eagles, vast grasslands and lakes.

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