Barkhor market in Lhasa is the ideal spot for shopping in Tibet. The market has small shops and stalls selling fascinating religious and secular goods like prayer flags, Buddha statues, conch-shell trumpets, rosaries, amulets, fur hats, horse bells, bridles, copper teapots, wooden bowls, inlaid knives, inlaid jewelry, gems etc. While buying jewelry one should carefully examine though much jewelry is of high quality but some are coarsely done and of poor quality. Exotic Tibetan opera masks and costumes are interesting items. Likewise brightly colored, beautifully homespun rugs and khaddar are also popular souvenirs. At the Lhasa Carpet Factory you can buy Tibetan carpets. Lhasa Tent and Banner Factory sells Tibetan tents. One can bargain for lower price as in the traditional markets throughout the world. Barkhor is a busy place but not everyone there is shopping, you may encounter hundreds of prostrating pilgrim too. Lhasa has three Xinhua bookstores; Yuthok Lu, Beijing Zhong Lu and another is east of Barkhor. These stores sell maps of Lhasa, Tibetan primers, Tibetan-Chinese dictionaries, and Tibetan and Chinese books
Besides, if you are going out of Lhasa to remote towns for several days then be sure to buy necessary items beforehand in Lhasa. There are department stores, mostly on Yuthok Lu supplying your daily needs goods. Lhasa Department Store, a general department store, is located on the west end of Yuthok Lu. It is the largest and best known department store in Lhasa. There are also supermarkets in Lhasa.