On the Moburi Mountain towering over the Lhasa valley in Northwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, the Potala Palace occupies an area of 360,000 square meters. A serpentine stairway up the mountainside leads to the palace buildings on a height of 3,700 meters above sea level, which makes it the highest palace in altitude in the world. The mammoth and solemn looking Palace is composed of the White Palace and Red Palace. Altogether there are 999 chambers.

Though a typical Tibetan style building, the Potala Palace also has some touch of the Han culture in it, such as its painted beams and pillars. They tell of the influence of the Han culture brought by the royal marriage between Tibet, then Tubo and the Tang Dynasty some 1300 years ago.

The construction of the Potala Palace was initiated in the 7th century by Tubo King Songtsan Gambo for his bride, the Tang Dynasty Princess Wencheng. When the Tubo Kingdom was at its height, Songtsan Gambo asked for the hand of Princess Wencheng in a bid to build stronger ties between the Tibetan and the Han nationalities, and to introduce some Han culture into his Kingdom.

He sent his Prime Minister Lu Tongtsan to Chang'an, present day Xi'an, capital of the Tang Dynasty to officially propose the matrimonial relationship to Emperor Taizong. There were also a dozen envoys from other countries, all of whom had come for the same purpose, so the emperor decided to have a competition.

The first round involved ten logs. All the logs were equal in diameters on both ends. The contestants were supposed to tell which end of the logs used to be the root and which end, the top. Lu Tongtsan had all the logs pushed into a pond. As the root end was heavier than the top, the root ends sank deeper into the water. He then solved the puzzle with ease.

In the second round, the contestants were given a pearl with a hole in it.  The catch was that the hole didn't go straight through, it was zigzagged. They were asked to pass a thread through the tiny and crooked hole. Nobody knew what to do except Lu Tongtsan. Dabbing a little honey at one opening, he tied a thread to the waist of an ant and sent it into the hole through the other opening. He then blew into the hole gently. Urged by the gentle breath and lured by the honey, the ant went through the crooked hole dragging the thread.

In the third contest, the emperor ordered that a hundred mares and another hundred ponies be put together and asked the contestants to match the mares with their babies. Everyone was at a loss except Lu Tongtsan. He first penned the animals with the mares separated from the ponies. Then he fed the ponies only with fodder without letting them drink a single drop of water for a day. The following day, when he let all the animals out, each pony rushed to its mother for milk. The clever Lu Tongtsan thus won the third round.

The last puzzle seemed to be the most difficult. The contestants were asked to single out Princess Wencheng from among three hundred maids of honor dressed in similar looking gowns. Lu Tongtsan learned that the princess was fond of a special fragrance and he took with him a few bees. When the contest began, he set free the bees and they all flew to the princess with her special fragrance. Lu Tongtsan won again.

The Emperor was amazed at Lu Tongtsan's intelligence and agreed to let his daughter marry Songtsan Gambo.

The story of Princess Wencheng and Songtsan Gambo has been cherished by the Tibetans and the rest of the Chinese people ever since. Statues of the royal couple are still worshiped in the Potala Palace today and the legend of Lu Tongtsan's is also painted vividly on the walls of the palace.