As a Tibetan crafts expert, Chris Buckley's contributions to the book are without doubt focused on the arts side of the Lhasa guidebook.

"I think Tibet is a growing destination for not only foreigners, but also local Chinese travelers. And there is a lack, particularly for Beijing residents, of a guidebook that really does justice to the city, as well as the main sites. Everybody knows the Potala Palace and the Jokhang Temple. But not many books penetrate much further that those well-known sites."

Chris Buckley says the new guide book on Lhasa does. The reason, only those who can enjoy are able to let others enjoy. The book was published by China-based True Run Media. Its publications include such English language lifestyle magazine that's Beijing. Immersion Guides is a division of True Run Media. It has produced a range of publications including the Insider's Guide to Beijing, which has been well received. Featuring gorgeous photographs, handy maps and a practical English-Tibetan-Mandarin glossary, Immersion Guides to Lhasa is a trove of useful information by the people who really knows.

"That's Beijing and the Immersion Guides people have been writing guidebooks for quite a while. One of the specialties is the insiders' view of the city. One of the things that made the Beijing guide so successful was the fact that it was written by people who are spending their lives in Beijing, and really know the place inside out. You get a different view of the place from people who live there and spend a lot of time. So I think the intention of the Lhasa guide was really to get that same kind of insiders' view of the city."

Connoisseurs are connoisseurs. Chris Buckley and other contributors to the book have all spent part of their lives in Tibet, especially in Lhasa. And they know where to eat, sleep, shop, hike and playand in Buckley's case, where to find genuine Tibetan handcrafts and artworks like that.

"From my point of view the things that excite me are the handicrafts and they really are some handicrafts that are being made in Lhasa today, paintingswonderful traditional paintings by very skilled artists, furnitureanother of my personal interests, and textiles. But to find the authentic pieces, you have to go looking in the backstreets, cause a lot of those sold in the big stores at the tourist attractions are items that are imported from other countries, from Nepal and India, that are of low quality. So another thing the book will help you do is go looking for those authentic top quality handicrafts. From my point of view, I want to see the artisans who make those things succeed and carry on doing it, so I think the book is fulfilling very important role for helping those artisans produce outstanding quality works."

To people like Chris Buckley, these art works truly reflect the far-reaching power of Tibetan culture. This Ridge of the World is attractive to people from around the world. It could be a difficult thing to explain sometimes, but a richness of culture and history might offer some clues.

"I first visited Tibet ten years ago. And it captivated me immediately the first time I went there. I've been going back ever since. These days, I spend about two months a year in Lhasa. But I still can't tell you exactly what it is that fascinates me. Part of it is the richness of the culture and history, part of it is the remoteness of the location. And I think particularly when you go to Lhasa, you somehow feel, the centuries-old culture comes through more strongly there than just anywhere else in China I've been to."

So what's exactly with the Tibetan culture that is so charming? Chris has this to say.

"There is one misconception that I would like to put straight about Tibet, which is that for centuries, it's been regarded as isolated like Shangri-la type of place, but in fact, Tibet has a very sophisticated culture that's been in contact with other great cultures around it for many hundreds or even thousands of years. And you see this reflected in the arts, in the painting, in the carving. This is never an isolated region. It's a very cosmopolitan culture that is in contact with and learns from exchange of ideas with people around them."

This fan of traditional Tibetan handcrafts also runs galleries in Beijing and Shanghai offering handmade carpets, antique Tibetan rugs and furniture. Chris Buckley has some advices to those who are also fascinated by the Tibetan culture.

"I hope visitors to Lhasa go looking for top quality items, top quality souvenirs, because it's much more rewarding to go and look for things which really reflect the culture, rather than things that are imported from outside. And you get much more satisfying souvenirs at the end of the day. To me, one of the fun parts of going to any new place is looking for the things that are made there and finding out about them."