While I was doing some research on China National Highway 219 ( Xinjiang to Tibet) for my second novel, I came across this website whose candid style I like a lot:

http://www.tibettravel.info/get-to-tibet/xinjiang-tibet-highway.html

It's a Tibet travel info guide and it does not pull any punches:

The Xinjiang-Tibet Highway will be blocked by snow in winter and spring and it’s impossible to travel. The best time to drive is from May to the middle of October. The climate in the trip is terrible and food and accommodation condition is not good, either. Clothes to guard against the coldness should be prepared. Medicines against ailments and illness (medicine to stop diarrhea, diminish inflammation, and to treat the cold) according to the physical conditions of the tourists themselves should also be prepared. All people will have altitude reaction on Jieshandaban Mountain, so tourists are advised to take some medicines and oxygen.

Room and board conditions are not good along the highway. So it’s advisable to take some solid food and sleeping bag. Vegetables are short along the road, so some vitamin pills should be taken.

I like the slightly puzzled tone taken by the writer regarding the holiness given to Mount Kailash and lake Manosarovar. Here's an excerpt regarding the latter:

In Burang County, the Holy Lake, Manasarova (Mapam Tso), enjoys equal popularity as the Holy Mountain. The lake covers 412square kilometers (159 square miles) and its altitude is 4,587 meters (15049 feet) and is 77 meters deep at the deepest point. Judging by the area, altitude and depth of the lake, Lake Manasarova doesn’t stand out. But because it is called the “Jasper Lake” on earth [Jasper Lake is a place mentioned in clinical Chinese mythologies as a lake in the Kunlun Mountains where a Goddess lives], it is considered the most venerated queen of the plateau lakes. Many Buddhists deem that as long as they can gaze upon the lake, they are sainted. If they circumambulate the lake, it was just like the circumambulation around the Holy Mountain, which can accumulate benevolence and at least excuse the pain of being sent to the hell after their death.

Most mainland Chinese don't quite get the point about sacredness, in general. Of course, there have been a great many religious movements in Chinese history, sometimes taking on millenarian tones ( the White Lotus, the Heavenly Kingdom), but I get the impression that the main thrust of Chinese culture is literary, not religious. The mandarin, well versed in poetry and history , is the central character of Chinese culture.

Conversely, the central character of Indian culture is the brahmin, versed in sacred texts and in philosophical speculation. Indians are fond of philosophy, and the Chinese of literature and history.

In the opening paragraph of that website, the writer talks of the "overwhelming charm of lake Manosarovar" . The use of the word "charm" is interesting, I have the impression that, out of habit, he is using it when speaking of a lake, having read so much Chinese poetry about the Western Lake ( near Suzhou), and about the beauty of nature, in general. An Indian writer would have quoted text after text from the holy scriptures, about the sanctity of the lake.

When my son started talking, it was interesting to see that my mother's first concern was to make him learn prathna ( making Hindu prayers) while my wife was teaching him Tang Dynasty poetry -

Chuang qian ming yue guang

Yi Shi di shang shuang

Ju tou wang ming yue

Di tou si gu xiang

This is a website which gives three translations of this poem:

http://www.chinapage.org/libai014.html

It is probably the most beloved of Chinese poems.