As the first beam of morning sunlight hits the tops of the flagpoles in front of Lhasa's Jokhang Temple, Drolma Lhamo begins her daily ritual walk along Barkhor Street.

Strolling clockwise along the street, which encircles the temple in the heart of historic Lhasa, has long been a regular religious practice by Tibetan Buddhists.

For Drolma Lhamo, the street has changed considerably since the 79-year-old first began walking there with her mother as a child.

Stone pavement has covered a previously barren earth road, and street lamps now light the street's dark and narrow side alleys. Signs hanging in front of stores are written in a mix of Tibetan, Chinese and English.

However, in front of the 1,300-year-old Jokhang Temple, pilgrims are kneeling to the ground and praying in much the same way they did centuries ago.

Among them were grandmothers in traditional robes, middle-aged men coiling their plaits on top of their heads and teenagers wearing jeans. Some of them live just five minutes away, while others have traveled all the way from neighboring provinces. Many of them have been standing in line to enter the temple since before dawn.

Drolma Lhamo was born and raised in a traditional-style courtyard located on one of the 35 labyrinthine lanes leading to Barkhor Street. This area used to be a major residential district in old Lhasa.

"When I was a child, the courtyard was larger, but the buildings were also much more shabby, with mud walls and rough wood pillars. There was no electricity and we shared a well in the yard," she recalls."I remember the courtyard was owned by a temple and the families living here rented rooms from them."

Today, the three-floor buildings enclosing the courtyard are gleaming with windows framed by black and yellow trim. Some families have grown brightly-colored flowers on the balconies facing the yard.

In 1994, every home in the courtyard was equipped with electricity and tap water access. Although there used to be just one public bathroom for the entire courtyard, there is now a bathroom on every floor of every building. Many of the courtyards around Barkhor Street have undergone similar renovations since 1979.

Last year, the local government decided to restore and rebuild 56 of the most well-known courtyards. However, even these refurbished homes cannot compete with the newly-built modern apartments in the city's younger areas.

"Most of my old neighbors have moved out. At least half of the neighbors now are small-business owners and migrant workers," Drolma Lhamo says.

She doesn't want to leave the area, even though her children keep asking her about it. "I'm used to the life here. It's really convenient for me to do my ritual walk," she says.

Returning in another way

As the sun rises higher and early birds like Drolma Lhamo head for a cup of tea at a nearby teahouse, more Lhasa residents flood onto Barkhor Street for the ritual walk.

Losang Tashi, taking a wood rosary in his hand, joins the walking crowd. He has just driven his son to school. Like Drolma Lhamo, Losang Tashi grew up near Barkhor Street, but he and his family have moved to a new house in the suburbs.

"When you get more money, you want a better life, with a private bathroom and a parking place," he says. "But I only feel at home on Barkhor Street."

He has returned to the area, in a sense, by operating a boutique hotel built into one of the courtyards, just 500 meters away from his childhood home.

The 300-year-old courtyard was owned by Ling Rinpoche, a monk and teacher of the 13th Dalai Lama. The courtyard is now government property, but Losang Tashi has leased it from the government for ten years.

"We invited artisans from the Trashihunpo Monastery in Xigaze to restore the courtyard to its original look. It took us a year, based on a blueprint from the 1930s. Every change must be approved by the cultural heritage department," he says.

All of the building's stone walls remain intact, and the position and number of the building's windows and doors have not changed. One room was slightly modified to make it suitable for serving drinks.

"As an old Barkhor resident, I would like to see the street maintain its original appearance. Changes cannot be avoided, but in what ways can we change?" he says. He regards running the small hotel as his own way of protecting the old courtyards.