A light autumn rain fell over a mountain valley on the northern outskirts of Lhasa, capital of the Xizang autonomous region. Inside the glass-walled rooms at A-Tso Manor, families and friends gathered around tables, sipping tea and coffee, sharing meals and enjoying a leisurely weekend.
Outside, children played in the courtyard as the smell of grilled meat drifted from a barbecue area. Clouds partly obscured the surrounding mountains, and the September air carried a distinct chill. Yet inside the heated rooms, the gatherings continued in warmth and comfort.
The scene captures how guo lingka, a long-standing Tibetan tradition of spending leisure time outdoors with family and friends, is finding new expressions beyond its customary summer season.
Grassy riverbanks and colorful tents remain hallmarks of summer outings. But venues offering heated indoor spaces, ready-made meals and modern recreational facilities are making the pastime possible throughout the year.
Dudul, manager of A-Tso Manor, said the venue combines outdoor recreation with year-round dining and leisure services that cater to visitors in every season.
"In summer, many guests prefer sitting outside on the grass, enjoying the sunshine and fresh air," Dudul says. "When the weather gets colder, they can move indoors, where heating keeps them comfortable."
The manor serves Chinese and Western dishes, along with coffee and other beverages. Guests can choose between outdoor canopies and indoor dining rooms without bringing their own cooking equipment, tents or food.
For Metok, a Lhasa resident who enjoys weekend outings with relatives and friends, these changes have turned what was once a carefully planned excursion into a more spontaneous affair.
"We used to bring everything ourselves, including meat, vegetables, gas cylinders, cooking utensils, tents and mats," she recalls. "Now we can simply come to a lingka venue and order whatever we want to eat."
Metok remembers a time when meals on such outings consisted mainly of beef, potatoes and flour-based dishes. Today, the options are far more varied, while activities at some venues extend from traditional singing and dancing to swimming, games and other recreational pursuits.
For older residents, the changes also bring back memories of how the tradition has evolved over generations.
Konchok, 58, first experienced lingka outings as a young man in his 20s, when leisure destinations were concentrated around the city's established gardens and parks.
"In those days, people mainly went to Norbulingka and the areas around Dzongyab Lukhang Park," he says. "Later, more people began visiting valleys around Lhasa, including Palding, Nyangral, and Dogde."
The growing choice of destinations has brought greater convenience and improved facilities. Tents now come in a variety of sizes and styles, often furnished with tables, seating and entertainment equipment.
Konchok says he and his friends went on lingka outings less frequently when they were young. Today, better facilities make it easier to arrange gatherings whenever time permits.
The Tibetan word lingka means garden or park, while guo lingka refers to the practice of spending leisure time in natural surroundings, often eating, drinking tea, singing, dancing and socializing.
Nyiten, an ethnology professor at Xizang University, says the custom has long been intertwined with local festivals and social traditions.
Although historical records offer relatively few detailed accounts of this everyday pastime, lingka gatherings have been closely associated with the Shoton Festival. During the festival, residents traditionally enjoy yogurt, watch Tibetan opera and spend time together in gardens.
The tradition also has links to gardens once used by Tibetan aristocratic families, and numerous place names containing the word lingka have survived in Lhasa.
