Norbulingka, meaning Jewel Park, was the Summer Palace of Dalai Lamas. Norbulingka is located in Lhasa and serves a purpose similar to that of the Summer Palace in Beijing; it is the Dalai Lama’s Summer Palace. Although not that far from the Potala, this was an entirely different  palace. It has a large garden, ponds with pavillions, and lots of flowers. Originally built by the Seventh Dalai Lama in the 18th century, it now covers an area of some 360,000 square meters (about 89 acres) after successive expansions by the Eighth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Dalai Lamas. Each summer, the Dalai Lama led his officials there to conduct government affairs and hold religious activities.

The gardens are a favourite picnic spot and provides a beautiful venue for theatre, dancing and festivals, particularly the Sho Dun or ’Yoghurt Festival’, at the beginning of August, with families camping in the grounds for days surrounded by colourful makeshift windbreaks of rugs and scarves and enjoying the height of summer weather. The palace is located three kilometers west of the Potala Palace which was the winter palace. Additional buildings were added to the park during the first half of the 20th century. In 2001, UNESCO inscribed Norbulingka on its World Heritage Site as part of the "Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace".There is also a zoo at Norbulingka, originally to keep the animals which were given to the Dalai Lama. Heinrich Harrer helped the 14th Dalai Lama build a small movie theatre there in the 1950s.

In the past, only Dalai Lama and the high officials were allowed to enter Norbulingka, but nowadays it becomes the beautiful civic park for both visitors and local people. The potrangs, pavilions, gardens, a zoo, lakes and woodland make it the perfect place for visitors to relax and enjoy the art of Tibetan gardening.