Sogyal began his pilgrimage to the Jokhang Temple in downtown Lhasa at 8:00 AM, praying for peace and health for his family.

"I'm certainly not an early bird," said Sogyal, a 20-something Tibetan from southwest China's Sichuan Province. "Some people arrived at 5:00 AM."

Sogyal traveled to Lhasa with his parents, brothers and sisters and had made pilgrimages to all major monasteries in Lhasa in two weeks.

Sunday is the 29th day of the Tibetan New Year, not a particular occasion for mass pilgrimages -- which happen on the eighth, 15th and 30th days of every month. But pilgrims are constantly seen, walking clockwise around the Potala Palace and the Porgor Street outside the Jokhang Temple, two major pilgrim routes in the city center.

Exactly two years after the deadly riots, with charred shops refurbished and a new travel peak a few weeks away, many people say they cherish the peaceful life the holy city has regained.

In the square outside the 1,350-year-old Jokhang Temple, Pasang, 45, crawled on the ground and kowtowed to make long prayers.

Pasang, a Tibetan woman from Garze, a Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Sichuan, said she made at least 1,000 long prayers every day to express her gratitude for every happiness in life.

For more than a decade, Pasang and her husband have been running a curio business in Lhasa and made a fortune. They have three daughters, aged from eight to 18.

"My eldest daughter studies in Chengdu and will enter college this fall," she said. "She's a straight-A student."

Lhasa is sunny as usual on Sunday but the early spring chills are stinging when one stands in the shade.

But Pasang and hundreds of other pilgrims kowtowing in the shadow of the temple did not feel the chill. "I feel hot and have take off my heavy coat," she said.

Within 1 km from the Jokhang Temple, about half of the stores on Lhasa's major commercial street, the Porgor had opened before 10:00 AM.

"Business is good," said Phurjung, a woman from Gyangze County in Xigaze who sells tsampa, Tibetans' major staple food. Her turnover averages 3,000 to 4,000 yuan a day even on the quiet days. "In the buying spree before the Tibetan New Year in mid February, it hit 10,000 yuan a day."

At the Drepung Monastery 5 km from Lhasa's city center, at least 60 Tibetans were tamping the floor of the Coqen Hall, the centerpiece structure that is undergoing year-long repairs.

They sang as they worked, phrasing new lyrics to describe the scenes and matching the rhythm with their actions.

"A grand Buddhist ritual is scheduled for tomorrow," said Wangmo, a 20-something woman as she carried debris of stones out of the hall. "We try to finish as much as possible today in order to avoid blocking the pilgrims' way, and to attend the ritual ourselves."

(Xinhua News Agency March 14, 2010)