The 1,300-year-old Potala Palace in Tibetan has been given a bright new look.
Over 300 workers and volunteers painted the massive religious site using 92 tonnes of paint during an annual renovation process last week.
An aerial video has been released showing the World Heritage site dazzling under the sun with white, red and yellow hues after the nine-day revamp.
Aerial footage shows Potala Palace in north-west China has just finished new paintwork
Over 300 workers and volunteers queued to fill up their barrels with pigments to paint
Situated at an altitude of 3,700 metres (12,139 feet) above sea level on the Red Mountain in the centre of Lhasa Valley, the Potala Palace crowns to be the world’s highest heritage site.
In 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, fled from Tibet to India due to the Tibetan Uprising.
Since then, Potala Palace no longer held the function of political affairs but retained its religious activities.
The complex, occupying 360,000 square metres (89 acres), consists of the Red Palace, White Palace as well as accommodation for monks.
According to UNESCO, The Potala Palace was listed as a world heritage site in 1994 for its symbolism of Buddhism and its centre role in the traditional administration of Tibet.
The annual re-painting of the palace is said to be a tradition that started about 300 years ago.
CGTN reported that the tradition was aimed to protect the walls from rain in the summer. It is also meant to protect the ancient structure during the low temperatures in winter.
The paintwork began from October 27 and finished on November 4.
Workers can be seen carrying an airbrush and spraying the paint onto the wall while hanging in midair secured by a harness.
A worker can be seen spraying the white pigment onto the wall while hanging in midair
The whole painting process took about nine days to finish, according to CGTN
A total of 92 tonnes of pigments were used by over 300 workers and volunteers in the nine-day project.
They carried barrels of pigments on their back and sprayed it onto the palace’s walls.
Potala Palace is painted in three vibrant colours – red, white and yellow.
The Red Palace, with five chapels and three galleries, is the resting place of the previous Dalai Lamas.
The vibrant red colour is painted to symbolise life force and preservation.
The White Palace was once served as a ceremonial hall with the throne of the Dalai Lama and his private rooms.
The new paint was said to protect the 1,300-year-old complex from the rain in summer
Potala Palace in Lhasa city, was listed on UNESCO’s list of world heritage sites in 1994
It also serves as the office to manage political and Buddhist affairs, thus the section was painted in white colour in a representation of learning and knowledge.
Yellow colour represents prosperity of the city.
A close-up shot of the video also shows the windows are painted in a black frame, which is believed to drive evils away.
A report in Central China Television stated that the pigment formula was different from previous years.
An animal glue was added in the pigment to increase the viscosity of the paint that would be similar to the traditional formula.