China's Tibet

Tibet is not your ordinary Chinese province.

Since being claimed by the People's Liberation Army in 1950, Tibet has been held in check by the Chinese government, for the most part, through threat of military force.

Periodic sparks of protest or civil unrest have been put down swiftly and ruthlessly. Highly visible and highly armed soldiers are stationed throughout the city of Lhasa.

What's more, Tibet is now dealing with a sort of cultural imperialism.

In recent years, the Chinese government has been pushing a "develop the west" campaign, encouraging and providing economic incentive for Han Chinese to settle in Tibet. While this has brought modernization and greater economic opportunity, critics decry the erosion of traditional Tibetan culture. As more and more Han Chinese flood into Tibet each year, with their cell phone shops and convenience stores, the fear is that Tibetans will eventually be a minority in their own city and a repressed minority at that.

As a tourist arriving in Lhasa, it was eye opening visiting what is more or less a militarily occupied state for the first time. I was told that the Chinese military could lock down the city of Lhasa within an hour, and having been there I can believe it. Seeing armed soldiers being marched around the city or military snipers stationed on top of buildings, while tourists roam around down below snapping photos.

Snapping photos of the soldiers, by the way, is a no-no. After inadvertently taking a picture of one of the soldiers, my friend had her camera confiscated by a soldier and was forced to delete the picture.

I was also struck by the subtle forms of propaganda that permeate the city. During my tour of Potala Palace, after just having just read a book on Tibetan history, I listened to my Tibetan tour guide recount a very different version of historical events. Besides obviously omitting anything related to the currently exiled 14th Dalai Lama, the Chinese government is heavily invested in promoting the view that Tibet has continuously been a part of China since the Yuan dynasty of the 13th century.

Western historians recognize that Tibet has at different points been independent of the of any empire, and even while under the sway of the Mongol and Manchu empires was still unoccupied militarily and for the most part maintained autonomous rule.

I spoke frankly with my tour guide about it afterward, and he said that tour operators must recount the official Chinese governmental view of history or risk losing their jobs (or worse).

Bolder still is the monument in front of the Potala Palace commemorating the "liberation" of Tibet from foreign imperialists. This is how the Chinese government refers to military conquest of Tibet in 1950.

And even subtle everyday things like the English language tourist magazines that are explicitly titled "China's Tibet" rather than just being titled "Tibet".

The clash between Chinese and traditional Tibetan culture is interesting as well. A pattern I have seen throughout Tibet and Xinjiang over the past few weeks, is that the Han Chinese settle and develop on the outskirts of the original town, until eventually there is a Han Chinese side of of town and an "old town".

The Han Chinese part of Lhasa could just as well be any big city in China, filled with cookie cutter Chinese restaurants, convenience stores, and souvenir shops.

While the "old town" consists of traditional buildings, maybe a historical site or two, and locals going about their day-to-day business. Meanwhile mostly Chinese tourists stream through snapping photos and shopping for souvenirs.

So on one side of town I am able to walk the kora around Johkang Temple with Tibetan Buddhists, and half an hour later I can be shopping for new hiking shoes in a Chinese mall. Will the Han Chinese side of Lhasa continue to grow until it envelops the city completely and the aboriginal side of town is relegated to a historical curiosity for tourists?

I won't delve too much into politics. I will say that modernization is occurring all over the world in developing cities just as it is in Lhasa, as much a product of market forces as it is through any efforts of the Chinese government. And with the investment efforts pouring into Tibet come increased economic opportunity and a higher standard of living.

But while Lhasa was quite fascinating for me from a cultural and political point of view, it wasn't til I got out into rural Tibet that I really got a closer look at traditional Tibetan culture and the natural grandeur that Tibet is famous for...