International Campaign for Tibet

Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

A report by the International Campaign for Tibet

Washington, DC | Amsterdam | Berlin | Brussels
www.savetibet.org
Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

July 2008

Dear Reader:

Since March, a tidal wave of protests against Chinese mis-rule in Tibet has swept across the entire Ti-
betan plateau – the most significant uprising in more than 40 years. These developments transformed
the political landscape and the consequences remain uncertain. The Chinese authorities responded to
the protests with a brutal crackdown and, in an unprecedented move, sealed off almost the entire pla-
teau to tourists and visitors. Although the first foreign tourists were admitted to the Tibet Autonomous
Region on June 25, there are stringent restrictions in place, more than ever before.

Our travel guide to Tibet was published before the unrest and crackdown occurred, but its findings
are still relevant to our understanding of Tibet today, and we hope it will be useful as tourists begin to
return to Tibet.

What began on March 10 with a group of monks from Drepung monastery peacefully marching to
the center of Lhasa to mark the anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising has resulted in untold num-
bers of deaths and disappearances and a near police state throughout the Tibetan plateau. Over 100
protests followed the initial March 10th demonstration, the result of long simmering tensions and
Chinese mis-rule in Tibet. Chinese government officials cite “security concerns” for closing the region
to foreigners; however, protests following the unrest in Lhasa on March 14th have been peaceful or
targeted at symbols of state control, such as government buildings and police vehicles. Monks, nuns,
students, farmers, and nomads have demonstrated for the Dalai Lama’s return and basic rights and
freedoms for Tibetans.

Despite the Chinese government’s best efforts to minimize the magnitude of these demonstrations,
reporting only 28 fatalities and closing off the area to foreign media, their reaction belies a new inter-
national perception of the gravity of Tibet’s situation. Protests continue, largely in reaction to the heavy
handed government response and the enforced “patriotic education” campaign. This campaign often
forces monks and nuns to denounce the Dalai Lama, dispatches security forces to destroy images of the
Dalai Lama, and in many instances places monasteries under lockdown. Disappearances and arbitrary
arrests continue in Tibet while Beijing finishes preparations for the 2008 summer Olympics.

PUBLISHED BY ICT 2007

Cover Photo
Contemporary Lhasa - juxtaposition of the ancient and modern, with the Potala Palace, former
home of the Dalai Lama in Tibet. Chinese language signboards, with the Tibetan language either
absent or in small type, are increasingly predominant. Photo: ICT
 International Campaign for Tibet

Contents
Introduction

1. Why go to Tibet
Should You go to Tibet?......................................................................... 10
Buy from Tibetans.................................................................................. 10
Avoid Buying Antiques........................................................................... 11
Help Protect Tibet’s Wildlife.................................................................. 11
Avoid Putting Tibetans at Risk............................................................... 12
Avoid Putting Yourself at Risk................................................................ 13
Why Does the Chinese Government Want You to go to Tibet?............. 14
“To Ardently Love Tibet’s Tourism Industry” –
the Politicization of Tourism and Tour Guides................................15

2. The train to Lhasa

Why the Railroad was Built.................................................................... 18

3. tibetan buddhism as a tourist attraction

Religion and Politics . ............................................................................ 25
What are You Looking at? ..................................................................... 28
China’s Lost Battle for Tibetan Hearts and Minds ................................ 30

4. Hidden Past and Present

The Tourism Industry in Tibet.............................................................. 38
Religion and Tourism............................................................................. 39
What Can You Do for Tibet?................................................................. 41

Appendices
1. Chinaspeak............................................................................ 42
2. Website Resources.................................................................. 43
3. Religious Repression.............................................................. 43
4. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway................................................... 44
5. History.................................................................................... 44
6. Travel..................................................................................... 44
Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

XINJIANG UYGHUR
AUTONOMOUS REGION

GOLMUD
Gansu
Qinghai

TIBET AUTONOMOUS REGION

Sichuan
CHENGDU

LHASA
SHIGATSE er
Yarl Riv
u ng Zanabo

Nepal GYANTSE

KATHMANDU
Bhutan
India
Yunnan KUNMING

India Myanmar
BANGLADESH

TIBET TIBET AS DEFINED BY CHINA AFTER 1965

Note on geographical terms

Tibet was traditionally comprised of three main areas: Amdo (north-eastern Tibet), Kham (eastern Tibet)
and U-Tsang (central and western Tibet). The Tibet Autonomous Region (Chinese: Xizang Zizhiqu) was
set up by the Chinese government in 1965 and covers the area of Tibet west of the Yangste River, including
part of Kham, although it is often referred to now as ‘central Tibet’ in English. The rest of Amdo and
Kham have been incorporated into Chinese provinces, and where Tibetan communities were said to have
‘compact inhabitancy’ in these provinces they were designated Tibetan autonomous prefectures and counties.
As a result most of Qinghai and parts of Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces are acknowledged by the
Chinese authorities to be ‘Tibetan’. The term ‘Tibet’ in this report is used to refer to all these Tibetan areas
currently under the jurisdiction of the People’s Republic of China.

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 International Campaign for Tibet

Introduction
Tibet, once known as a ‘forbidden kingdom’, rapid economic development in Tibet with tourists
a remote Shangri-la in the clouds, is now more coming from mainland China and from abroad.
accessible to travelers than ever before. No
longer do tourists have to endure the long and The Chinese People’s Liberation Army invaded
arduous journey along treacherous mountain Tibet in 1949-50 and China formally assumed
roads – a journey made even harder by Chinese military and administrative control in 1951. Since
officialdom trying to control or simply prevent then, China’s position has remained unchanged;
the outside world from seeing any evidence of that Tibet has been and always will be part of
the destruction visited upon Tibet under China’s China, despite overwhelming evidence to the
rule. Now tourists can enter Tibet from Chengdu contrary. Tibet was recognized as an independent
in Sichuan, Xining in Qinghai, or Kathmandu in state from 1911 to 1950 under international law,
Nepal by air – and the Qinghai-Lhasa train that and had its own flag, its own currency, and its own
opened in July 2006 has made the plateau even system of government amongst other trappings of
more accessible. a modern independent state.

This report explores the ethical questions of visiting In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled into exile. The
Tibet, a country under Chinese occupation, and Chinese authorities attempted to fill the void
offers a perspective for the traveler to Tibet who in Tibet with extremist political dogma and
wants to be informed about the reality of their Chairman Mao’s ‘cult of personality’. While
destination, as opposed to the propaganda and China has remained politically intransigent on
the mythology. the question of Tibet’s past status, it has been
acknowledged that ‘mistakes’ were made in the
The main reason a campaign to discourage people Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976. During
from traveling to Tibet has not taken hold – as that time thousands of Tibetan monasteries and
happened with South Africa during the apartheid nunneries were destroyed, monks and nuns
years, for example – is because the Dalai Lama, the disrobed, imprisoned or worse, and Tibetan
religious and temporal leader of Tibet, encourages culture was derided as ‘backwards’ and ‘primitive’
tourists to bear witness to what was happening to and in need of ‘modernization’ by China.
Tibet, Tibetan culture and the Tibetan people.
Today, Beijing has designated tourism as a ‘pillar The few intrepid travelers who made it to Tibet
industry’ in Tibet, one which it is hoped will spur in the 1980s were generally aware of the situation

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Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

Tibetan prayer flags near Ganden Monastery. Photo: Eva Bartlett

there before they set out on their journey – at least, resentment with anything other than armed force.
as aware as they could be in light of the authorities’ In this way, foreigners became involved in bearing
attempts to block information flow on Tibet. It is witness to Tibet’s political struggles.
notable that there are very few accounts of travel
to Tibet by non-Chinese writers in the last 50 The situation today is entirely different. In
years and more which do not dwell on the Chinese contemporary Lhasa, it is now entirely conceivable
state’s oppression of the Tibetan people and the that a tourist who is not informed about the
destruction of Tibetan culture. political realities may be unaware of any oppression
at all. They will note the Tibetans arriving on
Foreigners traveling in Tibet in the late 1980s pilgrimage, making prostrations before shrines,
returned home with news of brutal tactics to lighting incense and visiting the temples. They
disperse peaceful demonstrations by monks and will observe the broad boulevards, the apparently
nuns in Lhasa and sometimes with photographs thriving commercial enterprises and the gleaming
and film of the demonstrations – incontrovertible new office buildings.
evidence of the Tibetan people’s deep-seated
resentment of China’s rule of Tibet, as well of Tourists may understand that the devotional
the Chinese authorities’ inability to address that element of Tibetan Buddhist religion is still

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 International Campaign for Tibet

thriving in Tibet, but may fail to grasp that the

survival of the Buddhist culture, so critical to
Tibetan identity, is facing its most severe crisis. It
may also not be apparent that behind the modern
urban façade, a growing underclass of Tibetans
are increasingly marginalized and impoverished,
without access to even basic healthcare and
education. China’s economic policies, imposed
from the top-down, are resulting in a dramatic
and irreversible change to Tibetan people’s lives
with little or no consideration for the differences
between Tibetan and Chinese culture and
traditions. Characterizing this problem, a recent
traveler to Tibet commented that they “stayed in a
hotel that has fake Tibetan architecture, something Lhasa is fast becoming a modern Chinese city, at the expense
of local Tibetans. Photo: ICT
that the Chinese have gotten very good at, taking
the elements of Tibetan buildings, such as the
roof border, and painted on the wooden beams,
That strange vertical monument you will see in the
and painted on the black window surrounds...this
Potala Palace Square, opposite the Dalai Lama’s
fools [many others] on the tour.”
former home, is meant to be a representation of
the “peaceful liberation” of Tibet. The location of
In Lhasa, travelers prepared to observe more closely
this structure, just opposite the Dalai Lama’s home,
will see the beggars on the streets, the pervasive
is intended to send a political message. Similarly,
presence of the Chinese military, and note too that
it is no coincidence that the tower block that
most of the traders are actually Chinese rather than
dominates the skyline over the Jokhang Temple
Tibetan. A harmless looking radio transmitter is
in central Lhasa is the headquarters of the Public
actually there to jam Tibetan language broadcasts
Security Bureau, symbolizing the state’s ever
from foreign radio stations such as Voice of
watchful presence over Tibetan lives.
America, Voice of Tibet and Radio Free Asia.
The ornate curlicues on the façade of a building
This alternative guide to Tibet will hopefully
may be in the Tibetan style, but they cannot
enable you, the traveler, to understand more of
hide the absence of genuine Tibetan architecture
the reality of Tibet today and to decrypt China’s
– less than three per cent of the ‘Tibetan quarter’
representations.
of Lhasa remains following the demolition and
transformation of Lhasa into a Chinese city.
The disappearance from Lhasa of its distinctive
Tibetan character has been accompanied by
relentless official propaganda, which for many

4
Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

March 2007 that the Communist Party is the “real

Buddha” for Tibetans.

One of the largest statues of Chairman Mao in the

entire People’s Republic of China presides over a
small town close to Lhasa airport in Tibet. Standing
more than 21 feet (7 meters) high on a pedestal, the
message to the tourist is an unequivocal “Welcome
to China”; to the Tibetan, the message is an equally
unequivocal “This is China”.

The statue was built using money supplied by a

Chinese province under the rubric of the ‘Western
Statue of King Gesar, a legendary warrior famous throughout
Central Asia, remains a cultural icon in modern Tibet. This Development Strategy’, a development plan begun
statue is in the Tibetan area of Jyekundo, capital of Yushu in 2000 which the central Chinese government
Prefecture. Photo: ICT
claims is intended to raise the living standards
Tibetans has uncomfortable similarities with of people living in the impoverished areas of the
the inflammatory language of the Cultural western People’s Republic of China, including
Revolution. (It should be noted that the word Tibet. The statue is a prime example of the main
‘propaganda’, which has negative and almost motivation for encouraging ‘development’ in
Stalinist connotations in English and other Tibet: by asserting that Tibet is China’s domain,
languages, is largely synonymous with the term justification of enormous resource extraction
‘marketing’ in Chinese and is widely used.) and the orchestrated migration of hundreds of
thousands of Chinese migrants into Tibet is made
Tibetan people are constantly told in the papers, that much easier.
on television and radio and on posters in
monasteries and temples of the official Chinese As a foreign tourist, you are also the target of
assertion that Tibet is part of the ‘motherland’ propaganda when you go to Tibet, although the
and has been for centuries; they are informed messaging is generally far more subtle than that
that the Chinese Communist Party – precisely endured by Tibetans. In official publications
the same organization which devastated Tibet and material for foreign tourists, Tibet is almost
before and during the Cultural Revolution and invariably referred to as ‘China’s Tibet’ (the very
which continues to venerate the political leaders assertion indicates Beijing’s insecurity on this point:
who inspired that destruction – is the savior and Shanghai is not referred to as ‘China’s Shanghai’,
liberator of Tibet. The top Chinese government after all); emphasis is placed on the “unity of the
official in Tibet, Zhang Qingli, even claimed in nationalities”, meaning Tibetans and Chinese in

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 International Campaign for Tibet

this context, although as a tourist to Lhasa you will analogous to the central Tibetan region of U-Tsang.
immediately notice that Tibetans are second-class The Chinese authorities are so determined to wipe
citizens and that there is practically no social or out all vestiges of loyalty to the Dalai Lama among
even economic interaction between Tibetans and Tibetans that it is forbidden to even display his
Chinese. It really is a divided city. photograph in public. Even so, you are still likely
to see his picture on display, if you look carefully.
You will undoubtedly hear and read on many Tibetans express their feelings in careful and subtle
occasions that Tibet was “peacefully liberated” by acts of dissent.
the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. Actually,
thousands of Tibetan soldiers died trying to resist Tibetans live in a climate of fear. Sophisticated
the People’s Liberation Army’s advance through and comprehensive security policies ensure
eastern Tibet towards Lhasa in 1950. Chinese control over every aspect of their everyday lives.
historians have noted that Tibetan peasants Even with the best of intentions, tourists can
applauded Chinese troops who entered their sometimes put Tibetans into situations of danger
villages, but the historians apparently didn’t realize and vulnerability.
that in parts of Tibet people customarily clap their
hands to ward off evil spirits. This guide will urge you not to be taken in by one of
the largest and best-funded propaganda machines
Foreign travelers to Tibet should bear in mind that the world has ever seen, the Chinese Communist
they have the right to question, analyze and agree Party. It will attempt to supply you with the tools
or disagree with the propaganda they see and hear. to make up your own mind about what you see
Ordinary Tibetans do not. when you go to Tibet, and how to ensure that
your presence in Tibet is not detrimental to the
Bear in mind too when you see and hear political Tibetan people, and that the Tibetan people may
propaganda that over the years in Tibet, untold even derive some direct benefit. n
thousands upon thousands of Tibetans have been
through prisons and labor camps because they
chose to question or reject official propaganda;
countless others died in incarceration or in
resistance against the Chinese.

The Tibetan people have a deep and profound

sense of loyalty to the Dalai Lama. However,
under Chinese rule any public sign of devotion
by Tibetans to the Dalai Lama has in effect
been criminalized – particularly in the Tibet
Autonomous Region (TAR) which is roughly

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Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

Why go to Tibet?
Tibet has been a source of deep fascination for Tibet is a vast and thinly populated plateau roughly
travelers ever since foreigners started to travel the size of western Europe. It is surrounded
there from the 16th century onwards. Its sheer and criss-crossed by towering mountain ranges
remoteness from the rest of the world has proved which include many of the world’s highest and
to be an irresistible draw for intrepid explorers most formidable peaks. The plateau itself largely
hoping to make their mark on the last expanses of consists of vast rolling plains speckled with lakes
uncharted territory on earth. The same attraction and rivers. Lhasa, Tibet’s capital city at 11,800 feet
has been felt by travelers in more recent decades (3600 meters), stands at a higher elevation than
too, for whom a journey to ‘the roof of the world’ the summit of Mount Hood in the United States
was a physical and mental challenge of endurance. – 11,250 feet (3429 meters) – and at about the same
The reward of seeing some of the most spectacular elevation as the summit of the highest mountain
scenery on the planet infused with Tibet’s rich and in the Glarus Alps in Switzerland, Mount Tödi at
profound Buddhist culture made the challenge 11,857 feet (3614 meters).
more than worthwhile to the traveler.
Mythology, folklore and fiction have contributed
to building an image of Tibet which is deeply

Tibetan prayer wheels and flags, believed to carry blessings in Nomads on motor-bikes in an area of Amdo, eastern Tibet,
the wind. Photo: Eva Bartlett now incorporated into Qinghai province. Under Chinese
policies of urbanization, more and more Tibetan nomads are
required to settle in towns. Photo: ICT

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 International Campaign for Tibet

appealing to tourists from all over the world.

‘Shangri-la’ is a term coined by the British writer
James Hilton, writing in the disillusioned post-
World War I period, to describe a remote mountain
land ruled by lamas who knew the secret of eternal
youth. Its association with Tibet continues even
today; and China has even appropriated the term
to describe a large Tibetan area of Yunnan province
in order to attract more tourists.

However, as most tourists to Tibet will see – and

especially those who only take the train to Lhasa
– this romanticized image is not, and has never
been, an accurate reflection of the reality, much
as Tibetan culture is undeniably precious and of A religious encampment in the eastern Tibetan area of Kham,
value. now incorporated into China’s Sichuan province. Given the
increased restrictions and control of religious practice in
monasteries and nunneries, more Tibetans are attempting to
Once in Lhasa and away from the newer, more connect directly with religious teachers and their practice in
modernized parts of the city – which resemble encampments outside more established monastic institutions.
Photo: ICT
any other city in mainland China – there is much
for tourists to see. The Potala Palace, probably enormous strain on tourism amenities such as
the most recognizable building in Tibet and the hotels, restaurants and transport facilities.
traditional home of the Dalai Lamas, dominates
the Lhasa skyline; the Dalai Lamas’ winter In the May Day holiday in 2007 – a national one
palace, the Norbulinka; and Ganden, Sera and week vacation – 340,000 tourists went to Tibet
Drepung monasteries, three of the most important between May 1 and 7 alone, which represented
monasteries in the Gelugpa tradition of Tibetan a 32% increase on the previous year according to
Buddhism, a tradition commonly known as the official statistics, a dramatic increase which is almost
‘yellow hat’ school, to which the Dalai Lama entirely attributable to the railway.
belongs.
Official sources claim that around 93% of these
According to China’s official statistics 2.5 million tourists are from mainland China, while a small
tourists (mostly Chinese) went to Tibet in 2006, fraction – just over 10,000 in 2006 – are people
which was an increase of over 40% on the previous the press describe as “compatriots” from Hong
year. Official estimates claim as many as 4 million Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and the rest are
tourists will visit Tibet in 2007, a figure which foreigners. Tourists are flocking to Lhasa in such
Tibet’s tourism bureau concedes is likely to put numbers that daily quotas are in place for the
number of tourists permitted to visit the Potala

8
Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

an important source of independent revenue for

“I think you must go [to Tibet] yourself, the TAR for whom 90% of its annual expenditure
and spend some time, not only in towns but comes from central government subsidies.
in the countryside. Go to the countryside,
and with a translator, if possible one who There are obvious things for tourists to see when
speaks Tibetan, if not, then one who speaks they go to Lhasa. However, less obvious to the
Chinese. Go there. Study on the spot. Then tourist is what is missing from Tibet – and not just
I think you will get a real answer. the thousands of destroyed monasteries, nunneries
and temples and the traditional society they served:
“But information which I am receiving, the absence of the Dalai Lama is palpable. When
from time to time, from Tibet, from a you visit places like the Potala Palace and the
variety of Tibetans – some are Chinese Jokhang Temple, not to mention the monasteries
officials, party members – several thousand and temples in Lhasa and beyond, the essential
now I have met in the last 20 years… ingredient in these institutions, the motivation
all expressing sad, sadness, complaint, for many of them to be built in the first place
resentment. Also some Chinese who know – the Dalai Lama – is gone from Tibet. The head
about Tibet are also very critical about of the entire institution of Tibetan Buddhism to
their own government policy. which these palaces, monasteries and temples are
dedicated is in exile, and the Chinese authorities
“But the best answer is that you should go have basically decreed it is illegal to publicly express
there, and study.” devotion to him.

The Dalai Lama in response to a With the enforced and continued absence of the
question by Vancouver’s Mayor Sam Dalai Lama, the traditional Tibetan culture being
Sullivan on repression in Tibet. marketed to you, the traveler to Tibet, may still
have a certain mystique and be rich in picturesque
— Vancouver Sun, Friday, September 8, 2006.
and evocative imagery and iconography. But you
should be under no illusion when you go to Tibet
that the trappings of Tibetan Buddhism you see
Palace and the Jokhang Temple, two of the most around you are being controlled to the extent that
important religious sites in all of Tibet. An official they are becoming less and less relevant to the
report claimed in March 2007 that there are plans people for whom they should mean the most – the
to build a miniature version of the Potala Palace in Tibetan people. You are witnessing one of the great
Lhasa to try and satisfy tourist demand. religions of the world in drastic decline, and with
it the culture of the Tibetan people.
Tourism is indeed proving to be a ‘pillar industry’
as planned by the Chinese authorities. In 2006, Should you go to Tibet?
tourism accounted for 9.5% of the TAR’s GDP,

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 International Campaign for Tibet

Chinese flag flying outside the Potala Palace; former home of the Dalai Lama in Lhasa. Photo: ICT

Over the years, ICT has been repeatedly asked by organized travel boycott of Tibet as there is with
independent travelers whether or not they should Burma and as there used to be with South Africa
go to Tibet. The main concern is that by spending during apartheid. ICT believes instead that the
money in Tibet, tourists are worried they are decision to travel to Tibet or not must be made by
supporting the regime which has been the cause the travelers themselves. This guide aims to help
of so much damage to Tibetan culture. make this decision easier.

The Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government- Buy from Tibetans
in-exile based in Dharamsala, India, are not
To support Tibetans, Tibetan culture and the
opposed to tourism in Tibet on the basis that it
Tibetan economy, buy from Tibetan-owned
allows an “opportunity for foreigners to see the
shops and stalls as consistently as you can. There
real conditions in Tibet.” There has never been an
are increasing numbers of non-Tibetan traders in

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Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

Tibetan-owned establishments.
Yulu Dawa Tsering
Yulu Dawa Tsering (1930-2002) was a Avoid Buying antiques
reincarnated lama from Lhasa who prior
Much of Tibet’s artistic treasures have already
to the Chinese occupation of Tibet in
1951 devoted his life to Buddhist study. been destroyed or plundered and there continues
He was sentenced to life imprisonment for to be systematic theft of Tibet’s artistic heritage.
participating in the Lhasa Uprising in 1959, Please leave antiques in Tibet. Since it is difficult
and spent 20 years in Lhasa’s notorious to tell what is antique and what is not, a useful
Drapchi prison before being released in rule of thumb is that if someone tries to sell you
1979. By 1982 he was teaching Buddhist something secretly, don’t buy it. Stick to the public
philosophy at Tibet University and had been stores and stalls.
co-opted onto a Chinese government political
advisory body. Help protect Tibet’s wildlife
In 1987, Yulu Dawa Tsering spoke on camera Do not buy wild animal products, especially
to an Italian tourist, explaining the human anything from an endangered species – if you
rights situation and describing poverty in see leopard skins, tiger skins or antelope horns
Tibet. Yulu Dawa Tsering and another monk on sale, please take a photograph and send the
who spoke on camera were later accused of image to ICT when you get home (ICT’s contact
having “viciously vilified the policies adopted information is listed at the back of this guide).
by the Chinese Communist Party and the The trade in rare pelts is illegal under Chinese
People’s government” and “spreading counter- and international law, but Beijing’s enforcement
revolutionary propaganda”. Yulu Dawa has been inadequate at best. Animal pelts used to
Tsering was sentenced to another 10 years be a traditional decoration on Tibetan costumes.
imprisonment, also served in Drapchi. However, during a religious teaching ceremony
held in India in January 2006, the Dalai Lama
He was finally released in 1994 but was stressed the importance of wildlife protection and
kept under almost constant supervision compassion towards animals. He condemned the
until his death in 2002. His last years were Tibetan tradition of wearing fur and its effect on
plagued with poor physical and mental health
Tibet’s dwindling wildlife as well as on India’s
resulting from his many years in incarceration
already severely endangered tiger population, as
and the abuse he suffered there.
‘shameful’. Almost overnight, people all over Tibet
stopped wearing fur and burnt what pelts they
Lhasa selling Tibetan-style goods which were had in individual or group ceremonies, carried
actually made in mainland China. Many of these out peacefully and without a political agenda.
shops and stalls can be seen around the Barkhor Their actions were praised by conservationists
in central Lhasa. As you’ll see however, it will be worldwide.
next to impossible to only spend your money at Avoid putting Tibetans at risk
11
 International Campaign for Tibet

Tourists in Tibetan dress at Kumbum monastery in Amdo, now part of Qinghai province. Chinese tourists are more and more
attracted to Tibet’s exotic culture and frequently dress in Tibetan outfits on visits to monasteries. Photo: ICT

The behavior of foreigners has on occasion been in Tibet with you, or give you information which
the cause of Tibetans being detained, formally is politically sensitive and which they want you to
arrested and imprisoned. Remember, you will take out of Tibet, be as sure as you can that your
be traveling in what is effectively a police state interaction is private. It is vital that you protect that
with a tense political climate. While tour guides person’s identity: if you need to note down what
can expect – and are trained – to field all sorts of was said to aid your memory, do not note down
difficult political questions, you are urged to use the person’s name and what they said except in a
common sense and to simply not raise any sensitive way that only you can understand. If you want
topics with ordinary Tibetans, particularly if your to pass the information on when you get home,
conversation can be overheard. please contact ICT in strictest confidence using the
contact details at the back of this guide.
If a Tibetan seeks to talk about the political situation

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Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

The movements of foreign tourists are monitored

Suggested gifts for Tibetans in Tibet not only through administrative methods
such as permits and hotel registrations, but also by
It is customary for Tibetans to give small numerous plain-clothed officials, both Chinese
denominations to beggars, pilgrims, and Tibetan. It is best to avoid showing curiosity
or at temples, which is a practice you about the status of the Dalai Lama in Tibet, or
can choose to follow or not. Consider
indeed the status of Tibet in the People’s Republic
donating to a charitable organization,
of China simply for the safety of Tibetans you
school, or monastery, or perhaps give to
may talk to.
parents and not directly to children. The
following are items that would be useful
and appreciated. Avoid putting yourself at risk
As a foreigner, there is little political risk for you
For adults: in traveling in Tibet. China is acutely concerned
- Vitamins; about its international reputation, and tourism is a
- Donate non-prescription medicines pillar industry of great importance to the economy
(such as aspirin or an antacid) to a in Tibet. However, that is only if you ‘play by the
clinic; rules’ when you’re there. If you, as a foreigner, stage
- Basic first aid items (plasters, bandages, a political protest against any aspect of China’s rule
antiseptic preparations); of Tibet, then there is always the risk that you will
- UV protection sun glasses; be dealt with harshly and with the full weight of
- Shoes, boots and other protective the Chinese law.
clothing you may have bought for
Tibet but might not use again; The risk, of course, is substantially greater for
any Tibetans who have been employed as your
For children: driver, or guide, or even someone you spoke to
(be sure to give things to the parents) in a tea shop. While the likelihood for a foreigner
- Children’s multivitamins; is that they would be deported following several
- Toothbrushes; uncomfortable nights in detention, the Chinese
- Pens, pencils and paper; authorities are known to relentlessly pursue
- Elementary Tibetan language books people suspected of having been in touch in
(available in Europe and the US any way with foreigners who have transgressed
through specialist publishers such as China’s sensitive laws on political protest. If the
Snow Lion, or with the advice of the Chinese security apparatus considers that a Tibetan
Latse Library in New York);
withheld information for any reason which may
- Elementary English-language books;
have stopped you from making your protest, then
- Games, toys;
that Tibetan is guilty of a serious crime under
- Shoes, hats, gloves, warm clothes.
Chinese law.

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 International Campaign for Tibet

In cases where people are under even the slightest Why does the Chinese government
suspicion – someone who you asked to take your want you to go to Tibet?
picture posing in front of the Potala Palace days
The Chinese authorities are attempting to
before your actual protest, for example – those
maximize the economic potential for tourism in
suspicions are entered onto the file that police
Tibet at the same time as trying to control what
keep for everyone in the PRC, and will be taken
tourists see there, and how tourists understand
into account if that person ever falls foul of the
what they allowed or encouraged to see.
law again.
This is relatively easily achieved with the large and
The PRC also has many military bases throughout
growing numbers of tourists from the Chinese
Tibet, and the new railroad will make troop
mainland. Chinese tourists to Tibet have been
deployment to the border areas easier. Tourists
brought up on the officially approved versions of
will often see large convoys of military vehicles
China’s history, which barely feature Tibet at all
– sometimes as many as between 100-200
in the mainland’s school curricula. The average
trucks, and sometimes even including tanks with
Chinese tourist to Tibet would not necessarily be
caterpillar tracks – underlining China’s strong
aware of the Tibetan people’s legacy of resistance
military presence in the occupied region. You
and opposition to Chinese government policies
should exercise caution with regard to taking
and practice in Tibet, although they are possibly
photographs of any military convoys; this would be
aware of the official propaganda that the Dalai
regarded as highly sensitive and could potentially
Lama is a “splittist” in league with “anti-China
lead to temporary detention, questioning or at
hostile forces abroad”.
least the seizure of the camera. Sometimes in Tibet,
tourists have experienced difficulties even when
Foreign tourists to Tibet usually have more
taking pictures of buildings or areas that they may
money to spend than Chinese tourists, and are an
not know to be politically sensitive. For instance,
important demographic for the tourism industry
one foreign tourist was challenged by security
in Tibet. A five-star hotel, the St Regis, is due to
personnel while taking photographs of the new
open in Lhasa in 2008 with rooms starting at
Lhasa railway station soon after it was constructed
$400 a night, catering almost exclusively to foreign
and before the railway’s opening.
guests. Such amenities are a far cry from the days
when almost the only foreign tourists in Tibet were
Security is comprehensive and often invisible on
back-packers on a budget for whom the rigors of
every level. For instance, you should assume that
travel were half the fun if not an actual badge of
everything you send by e-mail and everything you
honor. The luxury end of the tourist market is to
say over a phone line is being monitored.
be further catered for with the future introduction
of luxury carriages on a train service running all
the way from Shanghai.

14
Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

But while foreign tourists may have more money tourism workers in Tibet” and around 160 tour
– and the Chinese authorities may have the goods guides were dismissed in early 2003 when they
and services to reap that money – foreign tourists were unable to produce confirmation from their
to Tibet have generally, although by no means local home governments that they had never been
universally, heard and sympathized with Tibetan to India.
nationalist versions of history which the Chinese
government would dismiss as “reactionary”. The dismissed tour guides were replaced with
people drafted from various Chinese provinces.
One way in which the Chinese authorities try The tourism bureau in the TAR explained that
to make sure that you, the tourist to Tibet, Chinese tour guides “speak a foreign language
understand their version of the situation is by and Tibet has a shortage of tour guides who speak
strictly vetting who can and who cannot work as a foreign language” – without acknowledging,
a tour guide in Tibet. of course, that many of the Tibetans who had
spent time in India went home with a degree of
“To ardently love Tibet’s tourism proficiency in English. Tour guides recruited in
industry” – the politicization of mainland China are required to speak “minor
tourism and tour guides languages” such as Japanese, French, German
and Hindi.
Working as a tour guide for foreign tourists in
Tibet used to be a good source of income for
There was a commitment in 2003 that the TAR
many Tibetans. Both foreign tourists and tourists
would receive as many as 100 tour guides from
from mainland China generally prefer to have a
China each year. Seventy tour guides arrived in
Tibetan person showing them the sights of Lhasa
Lhasa in April 2007, and were told by a Party
and elsewhere because they naturally speak with
representative at the tourism bureau that they
a degree of authority that Chinese guides may
had to “ceaselessly raise their political qualities, to
not have. However, starting in 2002 there were
maintain political awareness, to quickly enter their
mounting official suspicions that Tibetan tour
role, be a good foreign ambassador for the people
guides taken on by foreign tourists in particular
and to perform well their duties of introducing
were straying from the officially sanctioned version
Tibet and propagandizing Tibet.”
of Tibet’s history, particularly those Tibetans who
had spent any time in Dharamsala, India where
If you choose to hire a tour guide when you go
the Tibetan government in exile and the Dalai
to Tibet, there is a strong chance that they will be
Lama are based.
Chinese and – as with Tibetan tour guides too
– trained to provide you with a very proscribed
Chinese president Hu Jintao, himself a former Party
version of what you see. Foreign tourists have
secretary in the TAR, reportedly issued “important
been known to engage in debate with their guides
instructions on developing the contingent of
about Tibetan history or about the Dalai Lama;

15
 International Campaign for Tibet

good advice might be to expect to hear political

propaganda but not to hope that you alone can
convince a tour guide to abandon their views
on Tibet – even if they might privately dismiss
the view they are required by the authorities to
present.

A Chinese writer who has spent a great deal of time

in Tibet has concluded: “The authorities should
understand that when travelers come to Tibet, they
don’t come to listen to the Chinese government’s
political propaganda, they come to see Tibet with
their own eyes. If the authorities use tour guides
as a political tool to force-feed tourists, it will not
go down too well.”

If you insist on being assigned a Tibetan tour guide,

be aware of the additional political pressure they
are under; be aware that what for you might be a
friendly conversation might for them be straying
into difficult areas where they are extremely prone
to saying something “wrong” within earshot of
someone willing to report them; and be aware
too that by hiring – and tipping! – a Tibetan tour
guide, your money is more likely to better serve
Tibetan interests in Tibet. If you are travelling with
a tour operator from outside of China, tell them
you want a Tibetan guide - and you could also give
your tour operator a copy of this report. n

16
Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

The Train to Lhasa

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 International Campaign for Tibet

The views seen from the window of the train as that found at sea level – means that three diesel
it runs from Golmud in Qinghai to Lhasa in the locomotives are needed to provide enough power
TAR will be one of the most memorable features to pull the carriages. The carriages themselves are
of a visit to Tibet. The city of Golmud itself is not constructed much like the body of an aircraft,
particularly picturesque, but as the train pulls out sealed off from the thin air outside with oxygen
it begins a steep ascent up into the spectacular available inside, and windows treated to block the
snow-capped Kunlun Mountains of Qinghai. After fierce ultra-violet rays.
crossing through a mountain pass 5072 meters
(16,640 feet) above sea level on the boundary No one would deny the monumental technological
between Qinghai Province and the TAR, the train achievement of building the line through some
then descends through rolling grasslands and mile- of the most challenging terrain and conditions
long tunnels and on past lakes and rivers and into imaginable. However, less than a month into its
Lhasa itself. The bus from Golmud to Lhasa takes operation, Chinese engineers reported that cracks
about four days, weather permitting and barring were appearing in concrete footings on some of
mudslides, rock falls or avalanches blocking the the bridges; less than a year into its operation and
road; the train takes 13 hours. Chinese engineers were saying that global warming
could melt the permafrost upon which much of
The railroad is an astonishing feat of engineering. the track is built, rendering it unsafe within just
Built at an estimated cost of $4.1 billion, more a decade.
than half of its 1142 km (710 miles) length
stands on ground which is sometimes frozen and Why was the railroad built?
sometimes not. Engineers therefore had to design
The Chinese government describes the Qinghai-
the rail bed to tolerate the ground sinking and
Tibet railway as the ‘center piece’ of the Western
rising as much as a foot in places with the winter
Development Strategy, a development blueprint
freeze and summer thaw. In some stretches, liquid
which Beijing claims is designed to bring economic
nitrogen is pumped around the foundations to
development in the impoverished western areas
keep them stable. Much of the route passes though
of the PRC to levels comparable with those along
areas prone to seismic activity, such as the 8.1
China’s wealthy eastern seaboard.
earthquake which shook the Kunlun Mountains in
2001. There are 675 bridges at a total length of 160
Like the large statue of Chairman Mao erected
km (100 miles) along the line – that is, almost one
close to Lhasa airport as part of the Western
in seven miles of the line is raised off the ground.
Development Strategy, the railroad to Lhasa is
Eighty percent of the line is at an elevation of
first and foremost a statement of China’s presence
more than 4000 meters above sea level, where the
in Tibet. As the then Chinese president Jiang
air gets so thin that the workers building it had
Zemin said in 2001: “Some people advised me
to take gulps of pressurized oxygen. The lack of
not to go ahead with this project because it is
oxygen at even higher elevations – only 35% of
not commercially viable. I said this is a political

18
Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

Chinese mobile phone store in Lhasa. Most new businesses are run by Chinese migrants looking for opportunities in Lhasa.
Photo: ICT

decision.” And as Wang Derong, a chief architect it crosses Shaanxi Province, more than 1000
of China’s transportation planning told Fortune miles from the source of the gas and the people
magazine in June 2006, a month before the line in Xinjiang who are supposed to have benefited
went into operation: “One of the most important from it.
reasons [for the railroad] is political stability.
They [government officials] don’t try to hide that It is worth noting that the Chinese term
purpose.” for the Western development strategy, ‘xibu
da kaifa’, – is more accurately and more
Another ‘success’ of the Western Development commonly translated as ‘exploitation’ of
Strategy often touted by Beijing is a natural gas the West.
pipeline which runs from Xinjiang in the far
west of the PRC 4000 km (2485 miles) all the As a traveler to Tibet, you will see for yourself
way to Shanghai on the east coast. Natural gas that the Western Development Strategy is
is reportedly not taken from the pipeline until patently not aimed at developing the western

19
 International Campaign for Tibet

regions of the PRC – including Tibet – for the

benefit of the people who live there. Rather, A Tibetan former government worker
the Western Development Strategy first and was extremely pessimistic about the
foremost is aimed at further enriching China’s prospects for Tibet as a result of the
wealthy eastern seaboard and inner hinterland railroad into Lhasa, and even as a
by using the western PRC’s mineral and former government official, extremely
energy resources. cynical about the government’s
motives for building it:
Before the Western Development Strategy was
“I would say that the railway is made
implemented, the TAR and other parts of Tibet
for more Chinese people moving to
had some of the lowest indicators in the entire PRC
Tibet and also to create a better way for
for health and education, and scored badly too in
taking more Tibetan minerals to China.
other areas such as average incomes and longevity.
The railway is like a tsunami engulfing
The railroad has already been the harbinger of what
Tibet; the railway, like a tsunami, will
the regional government calls “leap-over style”
wash away Tibetan traditions, culture
economic development in the TAR and in Lhasa
and minerals.”
in particular, where modern supermarkets and five-
star hotels are already appearing. But beneath that the unemployed and prostitutes arriving in
façade, the same levels of poverty among Tibetan Lhasa from mainland China, further eroding
people are set to remain. the character of the city and marginalizing its
Tibetan residents. Members of the Tibetan exile
As a visitor to Tibet, you will also see that community in India describe the new influx of
the secondary beneficiaries of the Western people as ‘the second invasion of Tibet’.
Development Strategy are the migrant workers
and temporary residents there, whose numbers A frequent traveler in Tibet who is also a tour
are set to increase exponentially with the line guide commented that it is important for tourists
in full operation. More and more people are in Tibet to maintain a balanced approach towards
going to Tibet from mainland China to stay for Chinese migrant workers. “Many of them come
a few months or years to make what money they from Sichuan Province, one of the most populated
can before returning to their home areas in the province in China, and are only trying to escape
Chinese mainland. Like the railroad, they too poverty for themselves and their families,” said the
leave no lasting benefit for the Tibetan people tour guide. “They’re not told by the government
themselves. to go to Tibet, but neither are they discouraged.
Tibet is needed as a pressure valve for all the
Some six months after the railroad went into unemployed and under-employed people in
operation, the Dalai Lama expressed serious Sichuan and elsewhere. Tibet may be paying the
concerns about the number of homeless people, price for China’s problems, but those problems

20
Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

aren’t the fault of the people going to Tibet to try are plans to extend the line south from Lhasa into
to make a living.” Shigatse Prefecture (Ch: Rikaze diqu) close to one
of the of the largest copper deposits in the PRC
The immense cost of building and maintaining in Shetongmon County (Chinese: Xietongmen
the railroad is obviously not for the benefit xian).
of tourism alone. Tourism in Tibet is a “pillar
industry”, a term used by the Chinese authorities Preliminary results of a mineral survey of the
when identifying industries to provide a spur to Qinghai-Tibet plateau were released in early
economic development. Other so-called pillar 2007, showing for example that there were
industries are traditional Tibetan handicrafts with verified reserves of 14 million tons of copper on
an “ethnic flavor” – Tibetan daggers, costumes the plateau with the possibility of as much as 30
and jewelry, for instance, which is closely to 40 million tons more in a long belt running
associated with the tourism industry; Tibetan west to east across the TAR from Ngari Prefecture
medicinal products, in particular certain medicinal (Ch: Ali diqu) close to Mount Kailash – one of
plants which only grow in the plateau’s rarified the holiest sites in Tibetan Buddhism – all the
conditions; and of course, mining. way over to traditionally Tibetan parts of northern
Yunnan Province.
Tibet’s vast mineral wealth was one of the reasons
the Chinese government decided to build the Article Nine of the Chinese Constitution rules that
railroad in the first place. For instance, the line all natural resources – from tress to coal to water
passes close to important gold reserves in Nagchu and gold – are all the inalienable property of the
(Chinese: Naqu) in the TAR, to copper reserves state. China desperately needs all the natural and
in Kyegudo (Ch: Yushu) in Qinghai, and there mineral resources it can exploit given its size and

A Tibetan early in the laying of tracks for the world’s highest altitude railway, running to Tibet from China. Most workers on the
railraod were Chinese, with Tibetans doing largely unskilled manual labor. Photo: ICT

21
 International Campaign for Tibet

A woman stands on the platform of the new Lhasa railway station. The arrival of the railway to Lhasa has changed the face of
tourism in Tibet. Each platform is more than eight meters wide - approximately the width of three trucks parked next to each
other. Photo: ICT

rate of development, and Tibet is an important for instance, whether it’s Tibetan people owning
part of that bigger picture. souvenir stalls or Tibetan people owning and
running tourist agencies. You could even start on
The Tibetan people see little or no benefit from the train to Lhasa: how many staff on the train are
mining activities in Tibet – or indeed from any Tibetan? How many passengers are Tibetan?
of the “pillar industries” in Tibet, nor are they
adequately involved in decision-making on You should also be able to see this in the other
development of their land. In Tibet, observe how “pillar industry” of Tibetan handicrafts on sale
many Tibetan people are getting any kind of in Lhasa and elsewhere in Tibet: most of it is
benefit – direct or indirect – just from tourism being sold by Chinese traders who according

22
Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

to some reports seen by ICT, obtain their stock lowest possible value and added value generated
from factories in mainland China. Another by Tibet’s “pillar industry” of mining actually
“pillar industry” in Tibet, collecting plants stays in Tibet.
used in Tibetan medicine, can be lucrative. But
increasingly, Chinese companies are involved And then there is also the environmental destruction
in the production and promotion of Tibetan wrought upon Tibet’s extremely fragile high-
medicine, providing further competition to local plateau ecology. While some of the major mining
Tibetans. projects in Tibet are state run and at least claim
(accurately or otherwise) to implement measures
As a tourist, you are unlikely to see – or probably to cause as little environmental destruction as
even want to see – a working mine. But be aware possible, other projects are small private enterprises
that the majority of people working Tibet’s either with no license at all, or with a license
mines are from mainland China. By the Chinese obtained through corruption or through low-
government’s own admission, even the people who level officials. Illegal mining wreaks havoc on the
built the railroad were nearly all from mainland environment; mountainsides are dug up, trees
China – you may have noticed a clue above: a uprooted and rivers polluted.
Tibetan worker, genetically adapted to living
at altitude, would be unlikely to need to gulp A major reason why the Tibetan people benefit so
oxygen. little from development strategies in Tibet is because
they are not involved in any meaningful way in the
Tibetan construction workers on the railroad were planning processes for those development plans.
generally paid less than the Chinese workers, and
carried out the manual labor that required little The nature of the ‘political decision’ to build the
skill. A nomad whose family raised livestock close railroad was underscored when the terminus station
to the railroad in Nagchu Prefecture (Ch: Naqu in Lhasa was planned and built. In a deeply potent
diqu) in the TAR told ICT, “Tibetan workers were symbol of how secondary the Tibetan people
not paid as good a salary as the Chinese workers and their welfare was in the railroad’s planning,
even though the Tibetan workers had to do all the an entire Tibetan village of approximately 100
hard jobs such as work with stone and the earth. families was demolished and the inhabitants
Therefore not many people from our place would moved out wholesale to a settlement around 2.5
go to the railway construction site.” km away. They had no choice about the relocation
area, and they lost all of their family land and
There isn’t even employment for Tibetans to farming plots. Only a few families received small
process all of the minerals and ores loaded onto amounts of compensation.
the trains in Tibet. It is nearly all freighted out and
distributed for processing – grading, smelting – at Similarly, a nomad from an area of central Tibet
installations in mainland China. Therefore, the near to one of the main railway stations along the

23
 International Campaign for Tibet

line said that construction work for the railroad the resettlement of nomadic herders. While the
had damaged the grasslands, leaving many without stated official intention is to prevent degradation
a livelihood, and with no compensation: “There is of the grasslands and to lift nomads out of poverty,
a mountain in our county which was bought by the the reality is that this is, in most cases, achieving
Chinese railway authorities who paid 80,000 yuan the opposite. n
($10,400) to our county government. The Chinese
railway workers dug out rocks from the mountain
and used them for the railway construction. But
before they dug out the mountain, they made
proper roads on our grassland which is worse. After
they made the roads they brought a lot of vehicles
to carry the rocks and because so many vehicles
went on the roads all the time, the earth became
very hard and compacted; and after they’d used all
the rocks and stopped coming in vehicles over the
grasslands, local people in our place tried to replant
grass on the roads, but the grass never grew because
the earth is too hard. We lost huge areas of our
grassland and nobody was compensated.”

In some areas of Tibet, you may see new housing

complexes by roadsides, or near to mining
sites or other development projects. While the
housing often looks modern and pleasant, it is
worth bearing in mind that these might be the
new homes of herders or villagers who have been
settled here and removed from the traditional
rural homes or tents on the nomad pastures, from
livelihoods that have sustained them for centuries.
Sometimes, while the homes look brand new,
they may not have electricity, and there may be
no amenities nearby. What you are witnessing is
part of China’s long-term strategy of control (it is
easier to manage a population with fixed addresses)
and to absorb Tibet into the People’s Republic
of China – urbanization (both in the creation of
new towns and expansion of existing ones) and

24
Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

Tibetan
Buddhism
as a tourist
attraction
The Chinese Communists are deeply mistrustful
of religion, seeing the Dalai Lama’s leadership
as another pole of authority that threatens their
exercise of power in Tibet. Soon after the revolution
in China in 1949 they moved to ‘liberate’ Tibet
from what they regarded as the repressive and
exploitative oppressors in Tibetan society: the
monastic system and the aristocracy. There is little
doubt that actually, Tibet was indeed a desperately
poor and deeply unequal society, but reform was
underway, pioneered by the 13th Dalai Lama
and others. There were also Tibetans who initially
saw promise and hope for a more egalitarian and
humane society in China’s plans for Tibet, but even
the most ardent Tibetan communists were soon
disillusioned and despairing of Tibet’s fate under
Chinese rule.

Religion and politics

In Lhasa, the major tourist attractions are the
many monasteries and temples, the Potala
Palace, the traditional home of the Dalai Lama,
and the Norbulinka, the Dalai Lama’s summer
palace. When you visit these places in Lhasa – or
Buddhist sites anywhere else in Tibet – remember
that Chinese Communist Party members and

25
 International Campaign for Tibet

Photo of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on an offering table in eastern Tibet. Photos of the Dalai Lama, along with the 10th and
11th Panchen Lamas, can still be seen in Tibet despite the risks. Photo: Eva Bartlett

government workers are supposed to be atheists. The Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in 1959,
If they show any sign of practicing Buddhism is revered and worshipped by the vast majority
– carrying rosary beads, for example, or wearing a of Tibetans as the living embodiment of the
religious talisman even under their clothes – they bodhisattva of compassion. As accounts and
are liable to be dismissed from their job. They evidence of China’s destruction of Tibet emerged
cannot even go into a temple or a monastery “for over the ensuing years and decades, the exiled
religious purposes” because as communists they Dalai Lama became the figurehead for all Tibetans,
are expected to promote atheism. Officials in Tibet and international concerns for the fate of Tibet
actively discourage lay-people from expressing and Tibetan Buddhism. A leader respected
their faith. In one instance officials explained to worldwide for his integrity and moral and religious
US government officials visiting Tibet that “fervent authority, the Dalai Lama continues to command
religious practice” is “an impediment to economic undiminished loyalty among Tibetans both in exile
modernization”. and in Tibet, despite consistent Chinese attempts
to undermine his influence.

26
Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

a ploy to gain Tibet’s independence. A key element

“I have never understood why a person of the Chinese government’s policy in Tibet is to
like the Dalai Lama was honored with undermine his influence both in the wider society
[the Nobel Peace Prize]. What has he and in religious institutions.
done for peace? How much guilt does he
bear toward the Tibetan people! How Anyone who expresses any support or devotion to
damaging is he for Tibet and China! the Dalai Lama is also described by the Chinese
I cannot understand why so many authorities as “splittist” (someone who wants to
countries are interested in him.” separate Tibet from China) and part of the “Dalai
clique” which is supported by “foreign hostile anti-
“The current Dalai Lama is the 14th. China forces”.
We do not know how much longer he
Ordinary Tibetans are therefore faced with a
will live. We believe that good people
dangerous dilemma: the Dalai Lama, who is held
live longer while bad people live shorter in the highest possible awe by the vast majority
lives.” of Tibetans, is vilified and condemned in the
— Zhang Qingli, TAR Chinese Communist Party strongest terms by the Chinese authorities; if a
Secretary, age 55, August 16, 2006. Tibetan Buddhist – a monk, nun or a lay-person
– publicly expresses any kind of devotion or
loyalty to him, they are potentially committing
The Dalai Lama’s criticisms of China’s actions in a crime under Chinese law. China’s courts are
Tibet continue to be invariably tempered with empowered to pass anything up to a life sentence
his insistence that opposition to China’s actions against people who “plot or carry out the scheme
in Tibet must first and foremost be non-violent. of splitting the state” – which can also include a
The success of his insistence on peaceful opposition simple act of loyalty to the Dalai Lama.
has been remarkable given the levels of oppression
in Tibet, and the fact that Tibet has remained Monks and nuns can serve prison sentences for
overwhelmingly free of political violence is directly expressing loyalty to the Dalai Lama. Most of those
attributable to his influence upon the Tibetan held in central Tibet used to be held in the notorious
people. The Dalai Lama’s insistence that the Drapchi Prison in a Lhasa suburb, but now political
Tibetan struggle should be peaceful contributed to prisoners are most often held in Chushur Prison
his winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. on the main road south from Lhasa towards
Shigatse.
However, Beijing describes the Dalai Lama as the
“chief splittist”, and a “wolf in lama’s clothing”, Zhang Qingli, the most senior Chinese politician
dismissing his calls for genuine autonomy, in in the TAR, has referred to a “life or death” struggle
which Tibetans would exercise greater control over against the “Dalai clique”, and has described the
everyday affairs while remaining part of China, as

27
 International Campaign for Tibet

Dalai Lama as “the biggest obstacle hindering

Tibetan Buddhism from establishing normal
order.” This intense political suspicion of religion
in Tibet and the hostility towards the Dalai Lama
shown by the Chinese authorities permeates almost
all aspects of institutionalized Buddhism in Tibet.
If indeed the Chinese authorities are involved
in a “life or death” struggle for the loyalties of
the Tibetan people, then the front line is in the
monasteries, nunneries and temples of Tibet.

What are you looking at?

All of the above is just to tell you that when you,
the tourist, visit a monastery, nunnery or temple
in Tibet, the monks and nuns and even the lay-
people you will see there are under extraordinary A secret image of the Dalai Lama on a shrine in eastern Tibet.
Photo: ICT
political pressure.

Under no circumstances should you attempt However, as mentioned above, having to criticize
to engage anyone at a monastic institution in a or denounce the Dalai Lama breaks one of the
conversation about religious freedom, the Dalai most solemn vows a Tibetan monk or nun ever
Lama, or Tibet’s political status. If you do, you makes; putting someone in the position of having
could put that person in an extremely awkward and to do so for the benefit of a tourist or for a plain-
dangerous position. Some of the monks and nuns clothed police officer in earshot – you will see
spoken to by ICT claim to be adept at deflecting them – would be an enormous and unnecessary
political questions asked by their institution’s burden on them.
management committee, by feigning ignorance
or giving simple and evasive answers. Even if a monk or nun voluntarily says to you that
the Dalai Lama is a “splittist” for example, and tells
you that the Tibetan people renounce him, there is
“You can see [religious freedom] in Tibet, the possibility that this monk or nun will have been
where people make pilgrimages to the assigned to the role of talking to foreign tourists
temples, turn their prayer wheels and by the institution’s management committee. If
pray to Buddha.” you try to argue with them, you could be forcing
them to debate a point they cannot defend, and
— Zhang Qingli, TAR Chinese Communist Party
Secretary, August 16, 2006. they could get into trouble if they are seen to fail
to defend it adequately.

28
Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

elderly ladies circumambulating the Jokhang,

“Every nation on earth teaches its people to monks and nuns lighting butter-lamps. But as we
love their motherland. We are organizing have seen, this cannot be interpreted as indicators
that the Tibetan people enjoy religious freedom.
patriotic education everywhere, not just
in the monasteries. Those who do not
Let’s start with the pilgrims you’ll see in Lhasa, the
love their country are not qualified to be people who travel sometimes hundreds of miles on
human beings. This is a matter of common foot to pray at the Jokhang Temple in the center
sense.” of Lhasa – the holiest shrine in Tibetan Buddhism
— Zhang Qingli, TAR Chinese Communist Party
(and a very popular tourist attraction).
Secretary, August 16, 2006.
According to ICT’s sources, as of 2006 there
actually appeared to be more people taking the
Many of the 2500 to 3500 Tibetans who make pilgrimage to Lhasa than at any other time in
the dangerous journey across the Himalayas from recent history. However, this apparent relaxation
Tibet into exile are monks and nuns. If you take on one aspect of religious devotion in Tibet
the train to Lhasa, or if you fly into Lhasa or needs to be understood in the broader context of
another city in Tibet, spare a moment’s thought the Chinese government and communist party’s
for the thousands of Tibetans who every year cross practices and policies.
the Himalayas on foot to India – over some of the
most inhospitable terrain on the planet – to leave
the very same Tibet that you are entering. They are
leaving to have an audience with the Dalai Lama
in India, or to pursue their religious studies, or
to go on pilgrimage, many with every intention
of returning to their homes and families in Tibet
when they are finished – repeating the journey in
the opposite direction. They cannot legally do any
of these things while in Tibet under Chinese law,
so instead they choose to leave at great personal
risk to themselves to pursue the religious freedoms
denied to them at home.

Despite the crisis facing the survival of Tibetan

Buddhism in Tibet, the devotional element of
religious practice is evident all over Tibet; in the
Tibetan herders move yaks across the Nangpa Pass, a
prayer flags fluttering on mountain passes, the route well traveled by Tibetan refugees heading across the
Himalayas to Nepal. Photo: ICT

29
 International Campaign for Tibet

authorities shortly after he was identified by the

Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the 10th
Panchen Lama. His whereabouts have not been
made public since then. In 1996, the Chinese
government confirmed to a meeting of the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child that it
was holding the boy and his family in “protective
custody”. In November 2002, a senior official
in the TAR government reported that Gedun
Choekyi Nyima was “living a very happy life,
is now 5 feet and 3 inches tall and weighs
143 pounds, studies well at school, and his
parents and entire family are happy.” Beijing
has allowed no independent confirmation of
his or his family’s well-being or whereabouts.
The Panchen Lama Having been missing for 12 years, Gedun
Gedun Choekyi Nyima was taken with his Choekyi Nyima turned 18-years old on April
family from their home in Tibet by the Chinese 25, 2007.

The careful observer will note telling details: a as a monk or nun, as was the tradition for young
police station near the entrance of the major children in traditional Tibet. By the time a young
monasteries in Lhasa, Drepung for instance, man becomes a monk therefore, he is already
from where plain-clothed officers circulate in the many crucial years behind in his religious studies.
monastery posing as tourists but searching for signs You will often see monks in monasteries who look
of dissent. And then there’s the focus on tourism – and probably are – under 18, but they are not
as a part of monastic duties, taking Tibetans legally registered, which means they cannot take
away from their religious practice. And, most part in certain activities and studies, and are at
importantly, the absence of obvious images of the constant risk of being expelled.
leader of Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama.
The authorities have also all but stopped senior
China’s lost battle for Tibetan hearts religious teachers at monasteries being promoted
and minds or replaced, meaning that there is no one to
pass on knowledge of Buddhism to a younger
The Chinese authorities have banned anyone
generation. This is partly achieved by weeding out
under the age of 18 from receiving a religious
anyone with religious standing who is perceived
education – not to mention becoming ordained

30
Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

to have any loyalty to the Dalai Lama. To help of monks that can join a monastery. Traditionally,
achieve this, there is a system of rewards and Sera Monastery was a major seat of Buddhist
punishments where monasteries and their lamas learning and home to more than a thousand monks.
who demonstrate a commitment to the official See how many monks or nuns you can see if you
anti-Dalai Lama policies are given privileges such go to Sera or any of the other major institutions
as being permitted to admit more monks to the in Tibet. There are monasteries and nunneries in
monastery. Tibet once home to hundreds of monks or nuns
at the center of a thriving community where now,
If you go to Sera Monastery in Lhasa, you might as few as 15 clergy or less are permitted to live
be invited to attend (upon paying an entrance and study.
fee) a religious debate among a group of monks.
Debating philosophies expounded in Tibetan One of the most contentious aspects of the Chinese
religious texts has traditionally been a key element authorities’ attempts to control religion in Tibet
of scholarly Buddhist learning, and the dramatic – as far as monks and nuns are concerned – is the
claps to accentuate a point make the debates quite system of “patriotic education” in monasteries
a spectacle. and nunneries. In Tibetan, the system is officially
known as “Love the Country, Love Religion”.
As a tourist, you should be aware of three things if In every monastic institution in Tibet, there is
you see a debate taking place at Sera Monastery or a ‘Democratic Management Committee’, which
anywhere else: first, because the monks have had in effect is a branch of the Chinese Communist
barely any formal religious education (through Party. It runs the institution and it implements
no fault of their own of course), the content of “patriotic education”.
the debates is not as advanced as it should be
in most cases – impressive though it may be The first demand made of every monk and nun in
to watch. Tibet – who all undergo regular and compulsory
“patriotic education” – is to denounce the Dalai
Second, some of those dressed in monks’ robes may Lama. ICT has received numerous accounts of
not have received official permission to attend the monks and nuns having to read aloud a prepared
monastery, and so their status is uncertain. These statement renouncing any loyalty to him,
monks (they would consider themselves to be which they then have to sign and apply a finger
monks because of their vows, not the permission print before giving it back to the Democratic
of the state) are allowed to stay at the monastery Management Committee to put in their personal
at their own expense, but they are not permitted file.
to take part in religious activity (the debates are a
tourist attraction, not a religious activity). This is a devastating requirement for any monk or
nun. The very first vow a monk or nun makes, their
And third, the authorities strictly limit the number very first step in their ordained lives to which they

31
 International Campaign for Tibet

Tibetan pilgrims at the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa. Photo: Eva Bartlett

have committed themselves, is to vow to honor visited Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, seat
without the slightest reservation their religious of the Panchen Lama, which has been a center for
teacher – the Dalai Lama. Once that most solemn dissent and is now under strict political control,
vow is broken, Tibetans believe, it can never be was captivated by its exotic mystique saying: “...
repaired. Recognizing their anguish, the Dalai I was in a reverie taking photos and videos. The
Lama has advised that because of the dangers they place felt alive and authentic.”
face if they fail to denounce him, Tibetans should
simply do so and hold their loyalty to him in their As tourists to Tibet are probably aware before they
heart instead. go there, reincarnation is central to the continuation
and development of Tibetan Buddhism. However,
While it is a cause of great despair for so many the avowedly atheist Chinese state insists on
Tibetans in Tibet today, and for some, reason having control over the system, seeking to justify
enough to escape into exile, don’t be surprised this by saying that the Qing Dynasty in Beijing
if you fail to recognize this type of underlying was involved in recognizing reincarnations, and
oppression in the Tibetan monasteries you may therefore the Communist government should also
visit. Even one veteran reporter who recently be involved. They fail to point out that the Qing

32
Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

FESTIVALS AND MEMORIALS founded on

Dynasty and all other imperial dynasties were the Mandate of
When planning your trip to Tibet, note that travel Early May – the May Day holiday is a seven-day
restrictions can be imposed at different times due state holiday in the People’s Republic of China,
to factors the traveler may not be aware of, such as marked by a large demand on tourist facilities
sensitive political anniversaries, and the concerns of – transport and hotels in particular.
the authorities over tourism at a particular time.
May to June – the Saga Dawa festival,
For the Chinese government, security and political
commemorating the anniversary of the
‘stability’ will always be a higher priority than
enlightenment and death of Buddha, noted for
dollars from tourism. The list below is a selection
the number of pilgrims traveling to Lhasa.
of dates and holiday periods when travel can be
difficult, and when tourists may want to be vigilant July 6 – Birthday of the14th Dalai Lama.
for increased police and/or military presence and Celebrations of this occasion are banned in
possible - although highly unlikely - expressions of Tibet.
resistance or protest from Tibetans.
September 1 – the anniversary of the
February – the Chinese New Year, which falls establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region
on a different date in the western calendar in 1965. The actual anniversary is September 9,
each year. Chinese people traditionally make but this also happens to be the date of Chairman
the journey back to their homes at the Chinese Mao’s death in 1976, and is regarded therefore
New Year, so travel can be difficult in China at as an inappropriate date for celebrations.
this time of year.
September 27 – the anniversary of major street
February – Losar, the Tibetan New Year. The demonstrations in Lhasa in 1987.
date on the western calendar of Losar changes
each year. October 1 – the anniversary of a major street
demonstration also in 1987 when police fired
March 5 – the anniversary of major street upon unarmed demonstrators. More than 21
protests in Lhasa in 1988 and 1989, during protests ensued over the following year and
which hundreds of Tibetans were killed and a half with more than 2000 people believed
thousands arrested. arrested and 100 killed by police gunfire.
March 10 – Tibetan National Uprising Day, October 1 – National Day in the PRC, marking
commemorating the 1959 uprising against the anniversary of the founding of the People’s
Chinese rule of Tibet, which led to the deaths Republic of China in 1949 and the conclusion
and imprisonment of thousands of Tibetans. of the revolution.
April 25 –birthday of Gedun Choekyi Nyima December 10 – anniversary of The Dalai Lama
the 11th Panchen Lama recognized by the being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989;
Dalai Lama in 1995 and who immediately also International Human Rights Day and the
disappeared into Chinese custody. He has not anniversary of a major street protest in Lhasa
been seen since. in 1988.

33
 International Campaign for Tibet

Chinese soldiers in Lhasa, 2006. Photo: ICT

Dynasty and all other imperial dynasties were reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, a position
founded on the Mandate of Heaven – that the central to the institution of Tibetan Buddhism.
emperor of China was heaven-ordained – and The boy disappeared into Chinese custody three
even that some Qing emperors in Beijing days later and has never been publicly seen since.
revered the Dalai Lamas in distant Tibet. Nor The atheist Chinese government conducted its own
do they stress the fact in this context that ‘religious’ ritual, and chose a boy called Gyaltsen
the Chinese government advocates atheism Norbu, who is the son of Party members.
and dismisses many religious practices
as “superstition”. Gyaltsen Norbu is described by people in Tibet as
the “Gya Panchen”, meaning “Chinese Panchen”,
Tibetans are deeply resentful that an atheist state or by some, even, as “fake Panchen”. He is being
should seek to control reincarnation, a belief groomed by the Chinese state to be a “patriotic
system that is fundamental to Tibetan Buddhist lama” and the speeches he makes during his
culture. rare public appearances in Beijing and Tibet
focus heavily on the importance of patriotism
In 1995 a six-year old boy, Gedun Choekyi Nyima in Buddhist practice. Few Tibetans take him
was recognized by the Dalai Lama as the 11th seriously; their loyalty is to Gedun Choekyi

34
Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

Group of Tibetans on the dangerous journey into exile across the Nangpa Pass into Nepal. Photo: ICT

Nyima, who turned 18 on April 25, 2007, after of symmetry and balance when giving a portrait
more than a decade in custody. prominence. If you see a portrait of the Dalai
Lama on a shrine in Tibet, do not bring any
The controversy around China’s installation of a attention to it. Instead, be aware that you are
“patriotic” Panchen Lama over the Dalai Lama’s witnessing a subtle form of Tibetan dissent against
choice of reincarnation has for many Tibetans Chinese religious policies, and a courageous
come to epitomize China’s political domination expression of undiminished loyalty despite
– and even desecration – of Tibetan Buddhism. political pressure. n

In monasteries and nunneries in Tibet, generally

the more revered a person is, the higher their
portrait is hung compared to other portraits on
the shrine, although there are other considerations

35
 International Campaign for Tibet

Hidden Past
and Present
The picture depicts a Chinese worker,
who had worked at the Lhasa railway
station during its construction, posing
in Tibetan dress for a souvenir photo
in front of the monument ‘Tribute to
the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet’ which
dominates the Potala Square. Photo: ICT

Beijing that nearly all of the traditional fabric and

religious atmosphere of Lhasa – which actually
means ‘holy city’ in Tibetan – is gone.
Lhasa has changed dramatically in the past 20
years. The Potala Palace, which in living memory An important detail of Lhasa’s skyline is the modern
had a small village at the foot of the hill on which 13-floor building which is the headquarters of
it stands, now rises from a city of some 200,000 the TAR Public Security Bureau. Completed in
people with red light districts, sprawling residential February 2002, the building interrupts the Lhasa
neighborhoods practically indistinguishable from skyline, standing in direct opposition to the Potala
each other in their uniformity – almost exclusively Palace according to Tibetan geomancy. Whether
Chinese – and a small and dwindling traditional a deliberate move on the part of the Chinese
neighborhood in the center of the city around the authorities or not, the building can be seen – and
Jokhang Temple. is regarded by Tibetans in Lhasa – as a symbol of
Chinese control over the Tibetan capital and thus a
Tibetans in Tibet and in exile say that while some direct challenge to the authority of the Dalai
urban development in Lhasa has been welcome Lama.
– better amenities such as water and electricity
provision – the development of Lhasa has been Similarly, Lhasa railway station is a large brick-red
so rapid, and carried out from the top down in and white structure that is intended to resemble the

36
Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

architecture of the Potala Palace. Many Tibetans

in Lhasa are angered by this appropriation of one The Jokhang Temple is the holiest site in Tibetan
of their most important religious and cultural Buddhism. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-
symbols for a building that has led to such an 76), Chinese military were billeted there and pigs
upheaval in their lives and is symbolic of Beijing’s were slaughtered on the temple floor. Nearly all
concept of ‘progress’ and fast-track development of the statues and other items of devotion you
in Tibet. can see are replacements of the originals which
were damaged or destroyed before and during the
You will see a number of Chinese monuments Cultural Revolution.
in Lhasa, and none are more prominent
than the large concrete edifice standing in However, travelers should guard against viewing all
the Potala Square opposite the Potala Palace, expressions of Tibetan identity and opinion as signs
commemorating the ‘peaceful liberation of Tibet’, of resistance, especially in urban areas with large
the Chinese description of the invasion of Tibet Chinese populations. In his book, ‘Lhasa: Streets
from 1949-50, that led to the deaths of many With Memories’, Robert Barnett, a Tibetologist at
thousands of Tibetans and Chinese control over Columbia University and frequent visitor to Lhasa,
their land. notes that Lhasa “belongs to an older world, one
that is generally seen by outsiders in the way we
The Jokhang Temple in the center of Lhasa and the see many ancient things: as unitary, undivided, and
Barkhor around it – a winding cobbled walkway, homogeneous” and that “explanations other than
now heavily commercialized, which pilgrims those offered by visitors must be sought in order to
follow when ritually circling the temple – have explain the apparent anomalies and contradictions
been the focus of numerous public protests by in outsiders’ perceptions of Tibet.” (Columbia
Tibetans, particularly in the late 1980s. If you go University Press, 2006). While travelers often find
there, look up: the Barkhor and the streets around Tibet difficult to unravel, not even all Tibetans
it are dotted with numerous video surveillance agree on how to interpret things, demonstrating the
cameras. complexity of modern Tibet. For example, some
Tibetans claim that a monument to the founding
A large area in front of Jokhang Temple was cleared of the TAR – a statue of two golden yaks outside
and paved in 1985 to build a square – the Barkhor the Norbulinka, the Dalai Lama’s summer palace –
Square – to mark the 20th anniversary of the can be interpreted as a lament that the Dalai Lama
establishment of the TAR. This also facilitates easier is not in Tibet: one yak faces the Norbulinka, the
access to the Barkhor and the rest of the Tibetan other faces Dharamsala where the Dalai Lama is
neighborhood by police and military vehicles - the now based, interpreted as the yaks yearning for the
authorities are well aware that in the late 1980s, Dalai Lama to return to Tibet. Others have given
some Tibetans were able to escape arrest following the yaks the names of two Tibetan officials known
protests in the warren of streets in the Barkhor. to be loyal to the Communist Party, as a way of

37
 International Campaign for Tibet

The presence of security personnel at monasteries and nunneries is particularly visible during political and patriotic education
campaigns as in this photo taken at a Tibetan monastery in Sichuan province (a gun holder is visible on the belt of one of the
security officials). Photo: ICT

poking fun at these two individuals. and of course to some extent the Tibetan people too
– see an important opportunity to raise significant
amounts of revenue in Tibet from tourism. As a
tourist, you will be in a position to see for yourself
The tourism industry in Tibet what impact tourism is having on Tibetan culture
and the Tibetan people. The choices you make
As this report has shown, the Chinese authorities –
when you’re there should have some effect on

38
Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

how the industry in Tibet develops – at least, how government goes to extraordinary lengths to
the tourism industry caters to foreign tourists as control and undermine Tibetan religious belief.
opposed to the much larger number of Chinese
tourists in Tibet. Monastic institutions in Tibet – monasteries,
nunneries and temples – can no longer rely on
Tourists have the opportunity of a unique insight their local communities for support. The Chinese
into modern Tibet, if they so choose, an insight authorities have ordered that religious institutions
which allows them not only to bear witness to the have to “lessen the burden” on the communities
fate of the Tibetan people under Chinese rule, but who used to contribute voluntarily or through a
also to bear witness to how the Chinese government system of taxation to the institutions’ upkeep in
– a rising superpower on the world stage – chooses return for spiritual guidance. Tourism has been
to conduct itself in the treatment of some of the identified as a main stream of revenue for monastic
most vulnerable people within the borders of institutions, and as a tourist to Tibet you are likely
the PRC. to be keen to want to visit one or more monasteries
while you’re there.
At a very basic level, in Lhasa and elsewhere in
Tibet try to be aware of how involved Tibetan You may be more than a little surprised, however,
people are in the local economy, how many to observe the extent to which tourism has taken
restaurants, market stalls and shops are owned or hold of some monasteries, and how secondary the
run by Tibetans, and even how many taxi drivers monastery’s original function as a seat of learning
are Tibetan; try to see how much of the Tibetan and a focus for the community has become.
language you see on signs in Tibet, on storefronts
and on the banners bearing Party slogans. The For instance, Kumbum Monastery in northern
tourism industry in Tibet as you’ll see is largely Tibet – now in Qinghai Province – is a major
based on marketing Tibet’s “ethnic flavor” and the seat of Buddhist learning. However, religious life
mysticism it has in the imaginations of people the there is deeply affected by the large numbers of
world over, including China. It may be striking to Chinese tourists. A newly built settlement outside
you therefore how little of the trade is in the hands the gates of the monastery compound is home to
of the Tibetan people themselves. a large number of Chinese traders who make their
living selling souvenirs to the busloads of tourists
Religion and tourism who arrive on a regular basis. Trade outside the
monastery appears to be unregulated and does
One of the main tourist attractions in Tibet is
not appear to provide any obvious benefit to
the religious culture. There is a terrible irony in
the monastery itself. Most of the items on sale
the fact that the Chinese authorities are trying
have very little to do with Buddhism – such as
to market Tibet as a tourist destination based
electronic gadgets and toys – or if they are related
largely on the interest people have in traditional
to Buddhism they are from Chinese Buddhist
Tibetan Buddhism, at the same time as the Chinese

39
 International Campaign for Tibet

Tour group visiting Kumbum. With the resurgence of religion in China, Tibet has seen a dramatic increase in
Chinese tourists visitng monasteries and holy places . Photo: ICT

traditions. Tibet – in Sichuan Province – actually being

contracted out to Chinese tour companies. A
Inside the compound of the monastery, Tibetan writer in Lhasa said in an online posting
photographers have set up stands in an area of a of a monastery in Kham:
courtyard where scripture teachings used to take
place, offering to take pictures of tourists wearing “As soon as you enter the monastery you see
gaudy replicas of traditional Tibetan costumes. The company employees wearing all kinds of maroon
monastery’s tour guides are all Chinese, speaking uniforms looking not quite like monks; they look
Chinese to the overwhelmingly Chinese tourists, more like tour guides but they’re actually sales
but they too wear replicas of traditional Tibetan assistants. They first give a simple overview of the
costumes. monastery, and then turn on the sweet talk to try
and get tourists to buy katag [a white silk scarf
ICT has received reports of monasteries in eastern traditionally presented as a greeting to visiting

40
Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

guests] and incense, exaggerating what benefits into Tibetan areas now, and the results could be
the incense will bring and what disasters will befall disastrous.” n
[them]if they don’t buy and burn incense. Each
stick of incense is 200 yuan [$26], around a meter
long with the girth of a bowl. Incense like this was
never burnt in Tibetan monasteries and people What you can do for Tibet
think it is very strange. People are urged to buy Many people who have travelled to Tibet have
a statue of the Buddha, and more exaggerations contacted ICT on their return to ask what they
are made about where the statue came from and can personally do to help the Tibetan people. The
what good karma and fortune it can bring. The following are suggestions which you may want
most calculated bit of business though is getting to consider:
tourists to buy thangka [traditional Tibetan
religious paintings] – not to take them home but n Sign up for ICT’s action network to take
rather to leave them at the monastery as a kind online actions at www.savetibet.org.
of meritorious act. The thangka is then sold to
another tourist, and another and another and n Join a Tibet support group or set up your
another.” own to inform local people in your region
about the Tibetan issue;
The same writer goes on to describe what
effect tourism has on the religious life of the n Write to your government representatives
monastery: about Tibet and ask them to raise the
issue of Tibet in your national legislature
“The monastery has become very lax since being or parliament;
contracted out. The management used to be
very strict, and monks who didn’t take part in n Ask your government to actively support the
recitals were fined. But now none of the monks dialogue process between representatives
read scriptures, saying that seeing as the tulku of the Dalai Lama and the Chinese
[a reincarnate monk, often a monastery’s head government on the future statue of Tibet.
lama] contracted the monastery out for money,
where is the need to recite scriptures? It’s obvious In addition, you may want to contribute to ICT’s
therefore that even if some benefit can be obtained work or donate at www.savetibet.org. Or you may
over a short period of time, the price paid is want to consider donating time and/or money
an irrecoverable loss in comparison. There are to other organizations working on the Tibet
several monasteries in Chinese areas which have issue, all of which have differing views, differing
adopted this contracting out model, and it’s the approaches and differing needs from their staff,
main reason for the over-commercialization of volunteers, and donors. You are advised to research
monasteries in Chinese areas. It’s starting to spread each group before deciding which one you would

41
 International Campaign for Tibet

Appendices
like to actively support. You can find a group near status of information is ‘secret’ unless made
you through the International Tibet Support public by relevant Party, government and security
Network at www.tibetnetwork.org or check the officials, the Constitution ensures the criminality
other websites listed in this guide. of sharing “state secrets”. Now prisoners continue
Below is a list of terms and references that will help to be convicted under the charge “endangering
you understand the current situation in Tibet. If state security” by doing things such as owning a
you travel there armed with common phrases, a book by the Dalai Lama or the outlawed Tibetan
little historical understanding, and a willingness to national flag, or even singing songs of freedom
question what you see, you will be much more likely in a prison can be described as “plotting to split
to see beyond China’s representations and into the the nation”.
lives of real Tibetans.
The Dalai: an abbreviated term often used by
Chinese officials and news outlets when referring
1. Chinaspeak
to the Dalai Lama. The term is considered
(Adapted from Michael Buckley’s ‘Tibet: the Bradt
insulting by Tibetans because it deliberately omits
Travel Guide’ (Bradt Travel Guides, UK, 2006).
the recognition that the Dalai Lama is in fact a
Website: www.himmies.com)
lama. Followers of the Dalai Lama in Tibet and
China’s Tibet: to reinforce the idea that Tibet is in exile are called the ‘Dalai Clique’.
not a separate country, ‘China’ is almost invariably
Foreign hostile anti-China forces: a general
appended to ‘Tibet’ in official publications in
all-purpose term for anyone seen to assist or
some way or another. Look out for “China’s Tibet”
guide the “Dalai” in his “splittist” activities. The
as well as “Tibet, China”.
‘foreign forces’ are not always specified, but they’re
Counter-Revolutionary: anyone who opposes popularly thought to be the USA, the UK, and
official policies on religion and the status of Germany in particular. After the Dalai Lama
Tibet in particular and is therefore regarded as an received the Nobel Peace Prize, Norway was added
enemy of the state; the term also refers to a crime to the blacklist even though the Nobel Institute is
“committed with the goal of overthrowing the independent of the Norwegian government.
political power of the dictatorship of the proletariat
Internal affairs: Chinese shorthand for “back off,
and the socialist system”. Despite an official repeal
it’s a domestic problem”, which means “don’t
of this crime in 1997, those previously convicted
meddle in our affairs”.
of it still languish in prison. Because the default

42
Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

Minority nationality: refers to non-Han Chinese, Mongolia, and Taiwan.

including Tibetans. The term ‘minority nationality’
is being seen less and less in official translations
into English of government statements, probably
because it suggests the concept of a ‘nation’ other 2. Website Resources
than China. Instead, it is being replaced with the International Campaign for Tibet
term ‘ethnic minorities’. www.savetibet.org
The Motherland: refers to the entire territory International Tibet Support Network
controlled by the People’s Republic of China, www.tibetnetwork.org
including Tibet, Inner Mongolia, East Turkistan
The Dalai Lama
(Xinjiang), Taiwan, border areas in dispute with
www.dalailama.com
Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and India, and
various islands in the Sea of Japan.
Patriotic education: a political campaign aimed at Tibetan Government-In-Exile
undermining the influence of the Dalai Lama in Tibetan-Government-In-Exile
monasteries, nunneries and the wider community. www.tibet.com
It is known in Tibetan as rgayl khces ring lugs bsam
Central Tibetan Administration
blo’I slob gso, literally meaning ‘love your country,
www.tibet.net
love religion’. This underlines the basic message
of the campaign - that loyalty to the state is a pre-
3. Religious Repression
requisite to being a good monk or nun. Sometimes
“The Communist Party as Living Buddha: The
monasteries are closed to tourists while a patriotic
Crisis Facing Tibetan Religion under Chinese
education campaign is in progress.
Control”
Peaceful liberation: a reference to the entry International Campaign for Tibet
of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) into April 26, 2007
Tibet in 1950 – thousands of Tibetans died in http://savetibet.org/documents/document.
armed battles with the PLA during the course php?id=226
of the ‘peaceful’ liberation; a common refrain by
“When the Sky Fell to Earth: the New Crackdown
Tibetans is “liberated us from who, from what,
on Buddhism in Tibet”
for what?”
International Campaign for Tibet
Splittists: a common Chinese term, along July 8, 2004
with ‘separatist’, for those advocating genuine http://www.savetibet.org/news/publications/
autonomy or independence for Tibet, in other religionreport2004.php
words, ‘splitting’ it from the Motherland. Other
well-known ‘splittists’ are active in Xinjiang, Inner

43
 International Campaign for Tibet

4. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway 6. Travel

“Political repression intensifies as Tibet railway “Tibet: the Bradt Travel Guide”, by Michael
opens” Buckley, (Bradt Travel Guides, UK, 2006)
International Campaign for Tibet
“Tibet Handbook: A Pilgrimage Guide”, by Victor
June 30, 2006
Chan (Moon Publications 1994)
http://www.savetibet.org/documents/document.
php?id=180 “Tibet Handbook: With Bhutan” by Gyurme
Dorje (2nd edition, Footprint Handbooks, June
“Crossing the Line: China’s Controversial Railway
1999)
in Tibet”
International Campaign for Tibet “Lonely Planet: Tibet” by Michael Khon and
September 2, 2003 Bradley Mayhew (6th edition, Hawthorn, May
http://www.savetibet.org/documents/document. 2005)
php?id=34
“Lonely Planet Tibetan Phrasebook” by Melvyn C
Goldstein (2nd edition, Hawthorne, June 1996)
5. History
“Freedom in Exile” by the Dalai Lama (Abacus, “On This Spot: Lhasa” by the
1998). International Campaign for Tibet (2001)
www.savetibet.org/store
“The Dragon in the Land of Snows” by Tsering
Shakya (Columbia University Press, 1999).

“In Exile From the Land of Snows” by John

Avedon (Harper Perennial, 1997).

“ The Str uggle for Modern Tibet: The

Autobiography of Tashi Tsering” by Tashi Tsering,
Melvyn Goldstein and William Siebenschuh (East
Gate Books, January 2000).

“Lhasa: Streets With Memories” by Robert Barnett

(Columbia University Press, 2006)

44
Interpreting Tibet: A political guide to traveling in Tibet

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www.savetibet.org

The International Campaign for Tibet works to promote human rights and democratic freedoms for the people
of TIbet. ICT was founded in 1988 and has offices in Washington DC, Amsterdam, Berlin and Brussels.