My agent tells us that we may not be able to get into Tibet from China on June 14th and is suggesting Lijiang and Gyalthang as substitutes for 5 days. Will this work as a substitute for Lhasa?

There is no substitute for Lhasa, so it depends on what you want to see. Gyalthang (mostly known as Shangri-La or Zhongdian) is a Tibetan town, so you will see their community, some small monasteries; and the scenery is great, though totally different from Lhasa.

But if what you're interested in is Tibetan Buddhism, and want to see its biggest monasteries, there are big ones in Southern Gansu and western Sichuan, and one of the main ones is just outside Xining in Qinghai. Or crazy as it sounds, in Chengde northeast of Beijing are a bunch of elaborate lama temples built by the Chinese emperors.

Or if you

Yes, no other places in China can be a substitute for Lhasa which is the holy city in the eyes of the Tibetan. It's where you can experience the real authentic Tibetan culture and customs as well as the yummy Tibetan food.

Of course there is only one Tibet but considering the restrictions now I guess you need to settle for the next best thing.

Probably too late for you but we gave up on planning Tibet and opted for Ladakh in India, Tibetan Buddhist religion and on the Tibetan plateau.

An article from the Daily Telegraph yesterday suggests borders are closed to foreigners:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/tr...-visitors.html

We understand from our travel company that China will (hopefully) be issuing permits again to foreigners to Tibet later in June. We are 2 Americans looking for travel companions to increase our group to the new requirements of 5 people from the same country. We have a 15 day itinerary planned and we would fly to Lhasa from KTM Sept 8th and returning overland via EBC. Are there any travelers interested in joining us? We can give you more details and prices as needed. We'll be in Nepal doing some treks anyway but if at all possible we'd like to visit Tibet during our stay in Nepal. ( We have some flexibility with the dates)
Thanks