"Re-Telling the Story of Chengde" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on June 6, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on June 15, 2011.

This blogpost serves as a follow up to Woeser's previous post "Encountering 'Tibetan Lamas' in Chengde", posted on High Peaks Pure Earth on June 29, 2011.

"Little Potala Palace" developed for tourism

"Please Stop the “Development” of Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar for Profit" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated an appeal letter by Tibetan writer, poet and blogger, Woeser, that was published on her blog on July 10, 2011. The urgent appeal letter relates to planned developments for tourism at Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar in western Tibet.

Woeser's blogpost has already generated mainstream media interest and US based Tibetologist Elliot Sperling has also issued a similar appeal. In the appeal letter, Woeser mentions the Dalai Lama's meeting with Chinese scholars in the US. This is a reference to the Dalai Lama's current Kalachakra teachings in Washington DC where, on July 11, 2011, he addressed a conference on "Democratic China and the Future of Tibet".

"Encountering 'Tibetan Lamas' in Chengde" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on May 25, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on June 3, 2011.

In this blogpost Woeser recounts a trip to Chengde, a city in Hebei province that is a popular destination for tourists, especially on day trips from Beijing. As Woeser mentions in her post, Chengde has had a long association with Tibetan Buddhism and the main Putuo Zongcheng Temple was built to resemble Lhasa's Potala Palace.

A quick translation note, the Chinese word Woeser has used 师傅 (shifu) is a general term to describe anyone skilled at a particular craft and in English is usually rendered as "Master". Seeing as the intention is to fool tourists into thinking these people are Buddhist Masters or somehow highly trained in Buddhist practices, even noting how they are dressed in Buddhist robes, High Peaks Pure Earth has opted for the phrase "Tibetan Lamas" in English, strictly speaking this is not an accurate translation.

Chengde's "Little Potala Palace", built in the Emperor Qianlong era, has become a commercialised place and moreover there is political propaganda everywhere.

The Media Hype About "Lhasa’s Romance Wall” By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on May 9, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on May 27, 2011.

In this blogpost, Woeser criticises a TV programme shown on Tibet TV that glorifies a place that has come to be known as Lhasa's "Romance Wall". The "Romance Wall" may be an unfamiliar term to us but the spot is increasingly becoming a tourist attraction for Chinese tourists to Tibet. For readers who understand Chinese, the TV programme "Travel Tibet" that goes on the search for this "Romance Wall" can be viewed here on YouTube.

This is not the first time that Woeser has written about Chinese tourists and travellers in Tibet, there are similar themes in last years's blogpost "Who Is Really Safeguarding Lhasa"? For other Tibetan bloggers' views on Chinese tourists in Tibet, re-visit our two translations in the blogpost "Fish Speaking Back to Ichthyologists".

Finally, for those readers who feel compelled to rush to Lhasa to experience the "Romance Wall", there is bad news, Tibet is closed to foreign travellers until the end of July.

"Fish Speaking Back to Ichthyologists": Two Blogposts on Chinese Tourists in Tibet

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated two blogposts written by young Tibetan netizens on similar topics, Chinese tourists in Tibet and their attitudes to Tibetans. 

The number of Chinese tourists to Tibet has dramatically increased over the past years and this looks set to continue with a number of luxury hotels either just opened or set to open over the next months. This article from UK's The Independent newspaper of November 3, 2010, centres on the opening of the St. Regis Hotel in Lhasa. The article says:

The surge of tourists to the Himalayan region has seen visitor numbers jump during the first nine months of 2010 to 5.8 million, up 23 per cent on the same period a year earlier.

And newly wealthy Chinese want luxury accommodation. "The St Regis Lhasa Resort offers refined luxury and superlative service in a storied city," gushes the breathless blurb on the St Regis website. "Discover Potala Palace and Norbulingka, UNESCO World Heritage Sites and Jokhang Temple, all minutes from our resort."