There are also trade fairs and cultural shows.

However, the real crowds head for the Zhaihung Monastery away from the official celebration where the ritual remains true to the old tradition.

On one face of the steep rocks there, monks lovingly unveil the Buddha Thanka - a 20-metre long scroll painting of the Buddha - as incantations are sung and the faithful throw silk scarves and little printed squares of paper in homage.

Hundreds of the Tibetan worshippers started out from their homes around midnight, patiently trudging up the steep path beaten through rocks. Old men and women and mothers with young children tied to their backs undertake the arduous climb for the sake of a glimpse of the Buddha, who will be veiled again at the end of the day and taken inside the monastery where it will remain folded till the next Shoton Festival.

However, though opening up slightly for the festival, Beijing remains wary still.

The visas issued are mostly for a single entry, which will allow a foreigner to stay in Lhasa for just five days.

The exercise in controlled freedom is heightened by the absence of any bargain offers for tourists, which marks tourist-drawing festivals in other countries.

Most air passengers have to catch the flight to Lhasa from Nepal's Kathmandu. China's China Airlines charges a whopping $379 for a one-way flight though it takes only about 50 minutes.

In sharp contrast, the journey to Delhi from Kathmandu and back costs about $200.

There are no special hotel promotion packages or discounts on admission fees to special places.

The entry fee to the Potala Palace, for example, is 100 yuan - nearly Rs.800; Admission to the Jhokhang temple, one of the most sacred shrines in Lhasa, is 80 yuan.

Also, unlike the practice followed in many South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, there are also no concessions for tourists from regional bloc though China is now an observer there.

(Sudeshna Sarkar can be contacted at sudeshna.s@ians.in mailto:sudeshna.s@ians.in)