High Peaks Pure Earth Winter 2011 Reading List

High Peaks Pure Earth has updated the Summer 2011 reading list to create the Winter 2011 reading list!

With these reading lists, High Peaks Pure Earth suggests books for those interested in Tibet and particularly in Tibetan literature in translation. Click on the links below the photos to see the books on Amazon.

If you have read any of these books, leave a comment or short review... if you have any of your own recommendations, please let us know!

"Lhasa? Lhasa!" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth presents the English translation of a blogpost by Woeser written on October 13, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on October 22, 2011.

This post continues a series making up Woeser's summer travels to Lhasa, through Amdo and Kham. Previous posts are "Impoverished Matö County", "Over One Year After the Earthquake, A Rushed Visit to Yushu", "Sershül Monastery In Recent Years" and "Magnificent Dzogchen Monastery".


This post has also been translated into French and is available here: http://woeser.wordpress.com/2011/10/29/lhassa-lhassa/

A picture of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Sera Monastery onto which a work group painted a mustache to try and stop pilgrims and tourists from recognising the Dalai Lama. However, this old Lhasa woman knows it’s the Dalai Lama in the painting, and despite police supervision close by, she still bows deeply ... (Photos taken by Woeser on March 30, 2010)

"Magnificent Dzogchen Monastery" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on September 4, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on September 11, 2011.

In a series of posts making up Woeser's summer travels to Lhasa, through Amdo and Kham, the post below is the follow up to "Sershül Monastery In Recent Years". In this post, Woeser touches on environmental destruction in Kham as well as describing all the things that make the restored Dzogchen Monastery "magnificent". The next post in this series will describe Woeser's impressions on arriving in Lhasa.

"Sershül Monastery In Recent Years" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on September 1, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on September 7, 2011.

The blogpost was written once Woeser arrived in Lhasa and is a continuation of Woeser's summer travels to Lhasa, through Amdo and Kham. The post below is the follow up to "Over One Year After the Earthquake, A Rushed Visit to Yushu". At this time, Woeser was also tweeting her impressions from the journey and the tweets contain some important information. Below are translations of three tweets from August 3, 2011.

I’ve been travelling through Eastern Tibet (modern-day Kardze prefecture in Sichuan Province). Where there are mountains, they’re digging mines; where there are rivers, they’re building hydroelectric stations; and where there are mountains and rivers, they’re digging mines and building hydroelectric stations. One of the locals told me that the officials, from high to low, are selling whatever there is in Kardze that can be sold: the development rights for the Zachu River have already been sold to the Huaneng [Power] Company.

2006 Appeal Letter Against Mining in Amdo, Tibet, Resurfaces Online

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost and open letter related to mining and environmental destruction in Tibet. The blogpost was posted on a Sina blog on August 28, 2011 but re-posts an open letter from 2006 by villagers in the Gepasumdo (Ch: Tongde) county which is located in Tsolho (Ch: Hainan) in Amdo, part of Qinghai province today. The post also includes 15 photos of the damage in the region.

The blog owner himself admits, "I don’t know how much influence it will have putting this letter and photos on the internet" but it is interesting that these issues of five years ago are re-surfacing online. It would seem that the issues of 2006 need still to be addressed. At the end of July 2011, High Peaks Pure Earth translated an appeal letter by locals affected by serious water contamination in the Kumbum area caused by mining activities.

Mining and subsequent environmental destruction as well as health concerns have also been the focus of blogposts by Woeser, see "Impoverished Matö County", "Please Stop the “Development” of Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar for Profit", "Avatar" in Tibet
 and "Songtsen Gampo’s Hometown Is About To Be Completely Excavated".

More Tibetan Students Will Be Educated in China

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated two posts about the recent announcements made in Amdo concerning a new policy on the education of Tibetan students. Amdo's Tsolho (Ch: Hainan) Prefecture is located in the northern part of Qinghai province.

In the early 1980s, the Chinese government introduced a new programme in the Tibet Autonomous Region called the "Inland (neidi) Tibet Schools", a preferential education policy that established schools and classes in cities outside of the TAR in the central and eastern part of China.

A "new and important initiative" was introduced during the "Fifth Tibet Work Forum" held in Beijing on January 18-20, 2010, which according to the summary of the Forum found on the site of Congressional Executive Commission on China is:

"The Fifth Forum introduced a new and important initiative: establishing the coordinated implementation of Party and government policies on Tibetan issues in an area that will include not just the Tibet Autonomous Region, but also Tibetan autonomous prefectures and counties located in Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, and Yunnan provinces. The expanded area is contiguous and approximately doubles the number of Tibetans who live within the forum policy area."

Having been confined to the TAR, the posts below are an indication that the policy is now being implemented outside the TAR as well. For readers interested in this topic of neidi schooling, the following publication is recommended: "State Schooling and Ethnic Identity: The Politics of a Tibetan Neidi Secondary School in China" by Zhiyong Zhu.

"Tibet is Burning" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on October 18, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on October 26, 2011.

Woeser writes and reflects on the recent series of self-immolations by Tibetans. Since the article was written, there has been one more self-immolation on November 3, 2011 by a Tibetan nun Palden Choetso, 35, of Geden Choeling Nunnery in Kardze, eastern Tibet.


This post is also available in French: http://woeser.wordpress.com/2011/10/31/55/

Poem: "The Truth of Flames on the Thorny Path"

Screenshot of the posting as it appeared on Rdrol.Net

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a poem written by an anonymous Tibetan blogger that is dedicated to detained Tibetan writer Choepa Lugyal. The poem was posted online on October 25, 2011. Three reactions to the poem have also been translated.

According to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, Choepa Lugyal was arrested in Lanzhou, capital of Gansu province, on October 19, 2011. Choepa Lugyal's penname is Me Che, which literally means "tongue of flames" but can also mean a small smoldering fire or amber. This poem has since been taken offline, perhaps due to the political sensitivities surrounding not only the detention of the writer but also the reference to fire and flames, evoking the images of the recent self-immolations in Tibet.

"Over One Year After the Earthquake, A Rushed Visit to Yushu" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on August 24, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on August 31, 2011.

In July, Woeser and her husband Wang Lixiong travelled by road to Lhasa and these posts were written about the places they visited on the way. Woeser's previous post was on the impoverished county of Matö while this post focuses on Yushu, the area in Kham that was hit by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake on April 14, 2010.

Woeser has previously written about the earthquake and described incidents that happened in the aftermath. On the anniversary of the earthquake, Woeser wrote about how a documentary film to commemorate the earthquake was banned.

"Mourning" - A Poem About the Self-Immolations

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a poem titled "Mourning" by a Tibetan blogger named Sengdor, the poem was posted online on October 11, 2011.

On October 7, 2011, two former monks from Kirti Monastery in eastern Tibet set fire to themselves in Ngaba county town and later died from their wounds. This string of self-immolations in Ngaba continue, with news of another self-immolation just yesterday, an emotionally distressing time for Tibetans inside and outside Tibet.

The poem "Mourning" is a response to these self-immolations and the post has received over 1000 views and 40 comments. To avoid repetition, High Peaks Pure Earth has translated just four of the comments below.

"Impoverished Matö County" By Woeser

The logo of the county seat, written in Chinese, not in Tibetan
(Today’s Matö County belongs to Qinghai Province, Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture)  

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on August 17, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on August 28, 2011.

In this blogpost, Woeser writes about the once prosperous county of Matö (Tib: རྨ་སྟོད། Ch: 玛多, Maduo) in eastern Tibet, located in today's Qinghai Province. Woeser questions the official rationale given for the impoverishment of Matö county and chooses to focus on environmental degradation brought on by mining, dam building and gold panning and the impact on the nomads. 

For High Peaks Pure Earth readers interested in the full China Dialogue article "Tibet's Disappearing Grasslands" mentioned by Woeser, follow this link: http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/3828-Tibet-s-disappearing-grasslands

Read a French translation of this post here: http://woeser.wordpress.com/2011/11/10/la-province-amdo-sombrant-dans-la-pauvrete/

"Does Tibet Need This Kind of Memorial Site?" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on June 15, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on July 13, 2011.

In this blogpost Woeser continues her ruminations on Ganden Monastery, originally started in the article posted earlier online titled "Who is Responsible for the Destruction of Ganden Monastery?" 

This is Ganden Monastery on October 7, 1991; Photo by Wang Lixiong

Poem: "Square"

High Peaks Pure Earth presents the English translation of a Tibetan blogger's haunting poem titled "Square". The poem was written on September 27, 2011 and posted online on his blog on the same day.

This translation was submitted to High Peaks Pure Earth by a reader, we very much appreciate your help and support!

A Message from Serthar, Tibet

Protest leaflet from Serthar, Kham.
The text says "Long Live the Dalai Lama"
The word inside the heart is "Tibet"

High Peaks Pure Earth has been following the news coming out of Serthar in Tibet's Kham region about protests on October 1, 2011 after a photo of the Dalai Lama and a large Tibetan flag were removed from a building in the town centre. Radio Free Asia has reported the protests by "several hundred people". October 1 is National Day, the anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Poem: "Tearful Morning"

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a poem titled "Tearful Morning" written by a Tibetan blogger whose online name is "Drink Blood" (Tibetan: Khrag 'thung ཁྲག་འཐུང་). The poem was written on the morning of September 23, 2011 and posted on his AmdoTibet blog on September 26, 2011 at 6:17 pm.

My New Book “Tibet: 2008” By Woeser

The creator of the Tibetan calligraphy is Lama Jigme Gyatso of Labrang Monastery, Amdo.

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on July 15, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on August 23, 2011.

In the blogpost, Woeser introduces her new book "Tibet: 2008", published in Taiwan earlier this year. As Woeser mentions, she documented 2008 in real time as it happened on her blog, the Tibet Updates can be read online here and were also later published in book form. 

For those interested reading the poem "The Fear in Lhasa" in its entirety, the translation used below is by Ragged Banner and can be read by following this link: http://www.raggedbanner.com/pTFIL.html

Finally, Lama Jigme Gyatso, mentioned in the post as creating the calligraphy for the book cover, was detained for the fourth time on August 20, 2011 and his whereabouts are still unknown. See Woeser's blogpost calling for international attention for his case: http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/2011/08/attention-lama-jigme-arrested-for.html

"The Hero Propagated by Nationalists" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written in July 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on August 4, 2011.

Woeser's article focuses on the historical figure of Zhao Erfeng, known as the last Qing Amban in Tibet. Although Woeser has mentioned Zhao Erfeng in previous blogposts, this is the first article to focus solely on him. Woeser also mentions Chinese scholar Wang Hui, High Peaks Pure Earth readers shouldn't miss Woeser's previous article about Chinese scholars on Tibet titled "Who Are The Real Orientalists?".

Photo of Zhao Erfeng facing execution

"Kumbum On A Journey" - A Poem About Kumbum Monastery

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a poem titled "Kumbum On A Journey" by a Tibetan blogger whose online name is "Madman". The poem was written on July 22, 2011 and posted on his TibetCul blog on August 17, 2011.

Kumbum Monastery featured here on High Peaks Pure Earth in July 2011, we translated an open letter written by the monks and local residents to the authorities appealing for action to be taken over the lack of clean drinking water in the area, brought on by intensive mining activities.

The poem conveys the rather sad thoughts and feelings of the blogger as he visits Kumbum Monastery, mourning what he sees as the loss of the greatness of past, both historic, Tsongkhapa, as well as more recent, Tenth Panchen Lama. Interestingly, this sense of Kumbum's decline was featured in a Wikileaks Cable from the US Embassy in Beijing in September 2009, read more by following this link: http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/09/09BEIJING2719.html

"Who Are the Real “Orientalists”?" By Woeser

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

In this blogpost, Woeser writes a searing criticism of Chinese scholars with regard to their stance on Tibet, in particular Wang Hui and Shen Weirong.

And in other news, High Peaks Pure Earth congratulates Woeser on receiving a Prince Claus Award from the Dutch Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development. In their press release, the Prince Claus Fund describes Woeser as "an audacious writer/blogger from Tibet, whose work provides a unique outlook on the complexity of present-day Tibet."


Read a French translation of this post: http://woeser.wordpress.com/2011/11/08/qui-sont-les-vrais-%C2%AB-orientalistes-%C2%BB/

"That Leader Who Sent Me to Lhasa...": A Satirical Poem About Corruption

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a satirical poem written by a Tibetan blogger and posted on their TibetCul blog on May 4, 2011.

This satirical poem appears to be a commentary on corruption, currently a very hot topic in both China and India. In fact, this news article suggests that netizens in China are being inspired by figures such as Anna Hazare in exposing corruption.

"Attention: Lama Jigme Arrested for the Fourth Time!" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser that was written and posted on her blog on August 24, 2011. In this blogpost, Woeser reports the re-arrest of Lama Jigme. 

Interestingly, the first news of the arrest emerged in a Tibetan blogpost hosted by Sangdhor.com on August 23, 2011, that has since been removed, see the screenshot below of the original post in Tibetan.

A reference is also made in Woeser's blogpost to the Chinese Panchen Lama's visit to Labrang Monastery, for more information on this visit, see this article from the New York Times.

"The Xinhai Revolution And Tibet" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written in July 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on July 30, 2011.

In this blogpost, Woeser casts her eye over the historical Xinhai Revolution of 1911, ruminates on the repercussions it had for Tibet and also compares the fate of Tibetans with Mongolians and Uyghurs. For our own ruminations on the concept of "nationalities" or "minorities", read our 2009 post "Going Minzu".

Read a French translation of this post here.

The “Republic of the Five Nationalities” that appeared in China after the Xinhai Revolution

Showing the 56 ethnic minorities that were identified after the establishment of the People’s Republic

"Who is Responsible for the Destruction of Ganden Monastery?" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on June 17, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on June 26, 2011.

In this blogpost, Woeser writes about the destruction of Ganden Monastery. The photos taken by her Father that Woeser refers to were compiled into an impressive book published in Taiwan by Locus Publishing in 2006 as "Forbidden Memory: Tibet During the Cultural Revolution". Although there is no English translation of the publication, it has been published in Japanese and Tibetan. 

This is Ganden Monastery on October 7, 1991. Photo by Wang Lixiong.

Tibetan Blogger Expresses Concern: "Before Long, Planes Will Fly in My Hometown"

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by a Tibetan blogger from Amdo who keeps a blog on the Tibetan-language blog-hosting site called "AmdoTibet". The blogpost was written on June 1, 2011 and posted online on June 12, 2011.

In the blogpost, the blogger expresses concern after hearing that an airport will be built in his hometown, particularly over an increased military presence, quality of housing and the beginning of the urbanisation of the area.

The previous post on High Peaks Pure Earth about contaminated drinking water around Kumbum Monastery also addresses the problems for locals that intense development can bring. This report by the International Campaign for Tibet, also about Amdo, expands on the issues and states that "more than 30,000 farmers had been moved off their land [...], in order to facilitate the expansion of Ganhetan Industrial District".

Screenshot of the Blog Hosted on AmdoTibet.cn

Contamination of Drinking Water Caused by Mining: An Appeal Letter from Kumbum Monastery

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated an appeal letter from Amdo, Tibet, that was written on June 30, 2011 and published on a TibetCul blog on July 13, 2011. The original post is no longer accessible: http://zongkawang.tibetcul.com/126315.html 

Located in today's Qinghai Province in the PRC, as the appeal letter states, Kumbum Monastery is a sacred, historic and very important site for Tibetan Buddhism. The letter appeals for action to be taken by governmental authorities over the lack of clean drinking water in the area, brought on by intensive mining activities by several big enterprises, causing environmental destruction and illness. 

On July 17, 2011, the following video was uploaded on a Chinese video-hosting site, showing clearly the polluted state of the water: http://www.56.com/u62/v_NjE4NTY1NzE.html The video description contained the text of the appeal letter.

Superficial Preparations for the “Great 60th Anniversary Celebrations” By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth is posting the translation of a blogpost originally written for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia by Woeser on July 7, 2011 and posted on her blog on July 14, 2011.

In this blogpost, Woeser writes about the extravagant preparations in Lhasa for the 60th Anniversary of the "Peaceful Liberation of Tibet", as the Chinese government likes to refer to it. The blogpost continues on the theme of "dressing Lhasa up" and covering it with "make-up", a theme Woeser first touched upon in the December 2010 blogpost, Can Lhasa's Image Be Formed by “Dressing Up”?

At the time of writing the below blogpost, it was unclear what the celebrations in Lhasa would look like or even when they would be held. In the end, the "celebrations" were held in Lhasa on July 19, 2011, with China's next top leader Xi Jinping presiding over events.

Woeser mentions the "Red Songs", readers may be interested in our earlier post about the "Laundry Song", including one version as performed by Xi Jinping's wife Peng Liyuan.

A worker with a card hung around his neck reading “Temporary Worker Permit,
60th Anniversary of the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet.”

The Potala Palace in 2011.
Temporary staging in front of the Potala Palace for “liberation” anniversary performances.

"Seeing Damaged Buddhist Statues at White Stupa Temple in Beijing" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on June 15, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on June 22, 2011.

Following on from Woeser's blogposts about her trip to Chengde and various observations, the following blogpost focuses on the White Stupa Temple in Beijing (Ch: 白塔寺 Baita Si, also known as Miaoying Temple), all places that have an historical connection with Tibetan Buddhism.

After reading this post, readers may be interested in this 2007 poem by Woeser titled "Remembering a Battered Buddha".

High Peaks Pure Earth Summer 2011 Reading List

High Peaks Pure Earth has updated the Winter 2010 reading list to create the Summer 2011 reading list!

With these reading lists, High Peaks Pure Earth suggests books for those interested in Tibet and particularly in Tibetan literature in translation. Click on the links below the photos to see the books on Amazon.

If you have read any of these books, leave a comment or short review... if you have any of your own recommendations, please let us know!

"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".

"Tibetan Writer Pema Rinchen Detained on July 5, Severely Beaten"

High Peaks Pure Earth has been following the news about the detention and mistreatment of young Tibetan writer Pema Rinchen that has been coming out via Woeser's blog and Twitter. The full translation of Woeser's blogpost of July 7, 2011 is below, a blogpost that was summarised by Beijing based American journalist Paul Mooney on his blog on July 8, 2011.

Young Tibetan writer Pema Rinchen

"No Matter Where I Am, You Appear Before Me": A Song And a Poem About An Absent Parent

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a Tibetan song and a poem by a Tibetan blogger, each about missing an absent parent.

The first translation is of the song, "Longing", a very popular old song by perhaps the most famous singer in Tibet today, Yadong. Regular High Peaks Pure Earth readers may also remember "Mentally Return" that had Yadong team up with three of his students to sing about Tibetan unity. The song is directed to an absent Mother. Missing a parent is a familiar trope in Tibetan popular songs and writings and is often interpreted as a veiled reference to the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama, who turns 76 today, is seen as a parent figure by Tibetans. Common allusions to nature such as the sun, clouds and stars can also be interpreted in this way. For a more recent song that can be interpreted in this way, follow this link to an English subtitled video of a rap by Dekyi Tsering titled "Father".

White Wednesday: "The Lhakar Pledge"

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by a Tibetan blogger that was originally posted online on June 9, 2010 on a blog hosted by the now defunct site Tibet123.com.

"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.

Tibetan "Red Songs" Series, Part 1: "Laundry Song"

1975 Performance of "Laundry Song" in Beijing

High Peaks Pure Earth has noticed a plethora of recent stories in the media focusing on the upcoming 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party on July 1st. This year also marks another anniversary, 60 years since China "liberated" Tibet. China is gearing up for huge celebrations and, in the usual way, has deemed it sensitive enough a time to close Tibet to foreign travellers completely.

Many of the media articles have highlighted a revival of "Red Culture" in China, with a particular spotlight on the city of Chongqing where the Party Secretary Bo Xilai launched a "Red Songs" campaign earlier this year. This informative piece in the mainland newspaper Southern Weekend and translated by the China Media Project tells us that:

Red songs are “red” [popular] once again. As for existing red songs, a program called “90 Years of Red Songs” will be aired on China Central Television Channel One before and around the 90th anniversary of the Party; as for newly-created red songs, 36 “Singing China” songs gathered, selected and produced over the past year or more have been rolled out on major television and radio stations across the country since May.

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.

"Documenting 10 Tibetan Writers and Teachers Arrested, Detained or Sentenced By Sichuan Local Authorities" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser that was posted on her blog on June 12, 2011. In the blogpost, Woeser lists and provides details about Tibetan writers and teachers targeted by the authorities in Sichuan province, who have been arrested or imprisoned since 2008 and appeals for international support.

For a comprehensive overview of the crackdown on intellectuals and cultural figures all over Tibet since 2008, see this report "A Raging Storm" published last year by International Campaign for Tibet.

The photo shows Tashi Rabten's Tibetan language publication "Written In Blood"
that documented the 2008 uprising in Tibet

"The Tears of Karma Samdrup’s Mother" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on May 31, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on June 5, 2011.

Woeser first started writing about the case of Tibetan businessman, philanthropist and environmentalist Karma Samdrup in July 2010, revisit her article "Remember the First Time I Met Karma Samdrup" here. On June 24, 2010, Karma Samdrup was sentenced to 15 years in prison and not long after, his brother, the environmentalist, Rinchen Samdrup was sentenced to 5 years in prison.

In the blogpost below, Woeser looks at the impact of the arrests on the rest of the family, particularly their mother, and also provides an update on the situation of Karma Samdrup's wife, Dolkar Tso, who played an important role in disseminating information on their cases through regular blogging.

"Same Tears, Same Lives, Same People…" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated an older article by Woeser that was written on July 7, 2009 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on July 20, 2009.

Although this article was written two years ago, many of the issues of ethnic tension and unrest within PRC still resonate today. Since 2008, protests have flared up in Tibet, Xinjiang and, most recently, in Inner Mongolia.

"The Embarrasing State of Modern Tibetan Art" By Kaka21

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by a Tibetan artist who calls himself Kaka21. The blogpost was uploaded onto his blog on November 13, 2010. Born in 1971 in Lhasa, Kaka21 had his work exhibited in last year's major modern Tibetan art exhibition in Beijing called "Scorching Sun of Tibet", see some photos of his works here on Woeser's blog.

Whilst modern Tibetan art may be becoming more visible on the international market, it is still fairly rare to find critical commentaries on modern Tibetan art written by Tibetans. Last year's commentary piece on "Scorching Sun of Tibet" by Woeser was a very popular post on High Peaks Pure Earth and below, Kaka21 offers a rather different perspective on modern Tibetan art. For readers interested in seeing more art, visit the Sweet Tea House website or Mechak Center for Contemporary Tibetan Art.

Do Tibetans Benefit from “Comfortable Housing”? By Woeser

Photo taken in July 2007 in Yushu, Qinghai Province.
Under construction is the village for "ecological migrants" but should be called a "new urban slum".

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on May 4, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on May 9, 2011.

"Jampel! Jampel!" Memorial Show in Lhasa for Late Tibetan Artist Jampel

A memorial show was held by the Gedun Choephel Artists' Guild in Lhasa on May 15, 2011 to commemorate the passing of young Tibetan artist Jampel (Full name, Choenyi Jampel).

 

"Is Migration to Tibet Unrelated to Government Policies?" By Woeser

 

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on April 27, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on May 3, 2011.

 

"Kirti Monastery Facing A Great Disaster" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on April 19, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on April 27, 2011.

The unrest in Ngaba, Eastern Tibet, the subject of this blogpost, has been ongoing since the self-immolation of young monk, Phuntsog, from Kirti Monastery - on whom Woeser wrote in a previous blogpost. Woeser also wrote a poem dedicated to another Kirti monk who was detained on March 25, 2011, in Beijing. In this blogpost, Woeser also remembers another monk from Amdo's Labrang Monastery, Jamyang Jinpa, who died on April 3, 2011, due to torture in detention following his protest in front of foreign journalists at his monastery in April 2008.

The most recent report from Ngaba was released two days ago by International Campaign for Tibet, to read, follow the link.

"Why Was the Documentary To Commemorate the Yushu Earthquake Banned?" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on April 7, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on April 14, 2011, the one year anniversary of the Yushu earthquake. 

"The Ten Greatest Tibetan Swindlers" By Penpa Tashi

High Peaks Pure Earth has been following a blogpost titled "The Ten Greatest Tibetan Swindlers" that was originally posted on Penpa Tashi's TibetCul blog on October 1, 2010. For unclear reasons, the original post on http://penpatashi.tibetcul.com/107391.html is no longer accessible (the rest of the blog is unaffected), it was either removed by the author or removed by the TibetCul administrators.

"Only This Useless Poem, Dedicated to Lobsang Tsepak" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a poem by Woeser that was posted on her blog on April 17, 2011. Woeser's poem is dedicated to Lobsang Tsepak, a monk of Kirti Monastery, Ngaba, who was studying at Beijing's Central University for Nationalities and was arrested on March 25, 2011 for unclear reasons.

Woeser has previously written poems dedicated to Tibetans who are missing or imprisoned, see these "Two Poems for the Panchen Lama" and also "Secret Tibet".

"Remembering The Young Monk, Phuntsog, Who Died from Self-Immolation" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on March 22, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on April 19, 2011. 

Woeser writes about the tragic self-immolation of young monk Phuntsog from Ngaba, Eastern Tibet, who self-immolated on March 16, 2011. As Woeser points, it is an incident reminiscent of the self-immolation of Tapey in February 2009.

Meanwhile the situation in Ngaba remains tense, see recent media reports such as this one from the BBC.

Blessings for Yushu

Popular photo on Tibetan blogs commemorating the earthquake of April 14, 2010

Replaying the Film “Serf” Won’t Brainwash Anyone! By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on March 30, 2011 for the Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and posted on her blog on April 10, 2011.

The Chinese government proclaimed in January 2009 that a festival called "Serf Liberation Day" was to be celebrated in Tibet on March 28 every year to commemorate the "liberation" of Tibetans by the People's Liberation Army. Woeser takes this festival as her starting point and in particular the replaying of the 1963 propaganda film "Serf" on Tibetan TV. Amongst Tibetans, the film is more commonly called "Jampa", the name of the protagonist.

A Tibetan Blogger Asks: "Can I Call 110?"

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated an anonymous blogpost titled "Can I Call 110" that was posted on February 28, 2011 on a Tibetan website Rangdrol.Net.

Rangdrol.Net is a relatively new Tibetan language website and is based in Xining, provincial capital of Qinghai Province. Interestingly it carries the same name as Dhondup Gyal's penname and, as we wrote before on High Peaks Pure Earth, Rangdrol means "self-liberated".

This bold blogpost describes the situation that Tibetans find themselves in today and cites, even though supposedly hypothetically, several concrete examples of injustice and inequality. The phone number for the police in China is 110 (Ch: yao-yao-ling) and is equivalent to 911 in USA or 999 in UK. A subtext to the blogpost is the general impression amongst Tibetans is that the police are overly concerned with splittism whilst criminal acts are rampant and go unpunished.

Two Poems Posted on March 10, 2011

Continuing with poetry for the month of March this week, High Peaks Pure Earth has translated two poems from TibetCul blogs that were both posted online on March 10, 2011. As reported previously, TibetCul was suddenly taken offline on March 16, 2011 and mysteriously came back online on March 25, 2011. Fortunately, these two poems are not back online for those who'd like to see the original posts.

The Year 2008 "Field of Experiments" - A Poem by Gade Tsering

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a poem by young Tibetan poet from Amdo, Gade Tsering, that was originally posted on his blog in two parts on June 28 and June 30, 2010. The posts were removed on July 15, 2010.

Gade Tsering

Now that the turbulent month of March is coming to a close, it seemed like an appropriate time to post this translation. Readers may remember two poems by Gade Tsering that we translated last summer, "My Tibetanness" and "I Am Tibetan", follow this link to read the poems and a short introduction to Gade Tsering: http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/2010/07/i-am-tibetan-and-my-tibetanness-two.html

Although Gade Tsering's blog appears to be unavailable at the time of writing, Gade Tsering is very active on his Sina Microblog: http://t.sina.com.cn/tibetpoem

"I Remember, Therefore We Are" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser written on January 16, 2011 for the Mandarin service of Radio Free Asia and published on their website on March 14, 2011. 

In this blogpost, Woeser reflects on the importance of collective memory for Tibetans and focuses on the autobiography of Naktsang Nulo which has been translated into Chinese and was published in Taiwan on March 10, 2011. 

Highlights from TibetCul on High Peaks Pure Earth

TibetCul's Logo

*UPDATE: March 30, 2011* High Peaks Pure Earth is happy to report that TibetCul is now back online. The founder of TibetCul, Wangchuk Tseten, wrote the following on his blog on March 29, 2011:

Interestingly, TibetCul mysteriously came back online on the afternoon of March 25. We still do not know the reason behind the authorities closing and re-opening the site. 

Below is the full text of our blogpost as uploaded on March 23, 2011.

"Should Tibetans Have Protested in 2008 or Not?" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser that was originally written for broadcast on Radio Free Asia's Tibetan service on March 14, 2011 and posted on her blog on March 20, 2011.

In the blogpost, Woeser presents several Tibetan views on the 2008 uprising. The song mentioned in the blogpost is "The Sound of Unity" by Sherten, translated last year by High Peaks Pure Earth. Follow this link to watch the video and read the lyrics.

Starting in Lhasa on March 10, 2008 in, protests spread throughout Tibet. The photos shows the protest in Labrang, Amdo of March 15, 2008, Tibetan monks took to the streets to protest against oppression.