High Peaks Pure Earth Winter 2010 Reading List

High Peaks Pure Earth has updated the Summer holiday reading list to create the Winter 2010 reading list! We first started this reading list last year and have received positive feedback and also some suggestions.

With these reading lists, High Peaks Pure Earth recommends books for those interested in Tibet and particularly in Tibetan literature in translation. Click on the links below 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!

"Returning to Lhasa to Witness the Current Situation" By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser that was originally written for broadcast on Radio Free Asia on November 17, 2010 and posted on her blog on November 25, 2010.

In this blogpost, Woeser reflects on her stay in Lhasa and paints a vivid picture of the military presence and the changes to the face of the city.

This blogpost was the first to be uploaded onto Woeser's blog following a coordinated cyber attack on her blog, Twitter, Facebook and GMail on November 23, 2010. At the time of writing, all accounts, except the GMail account, have been restored.

Harry Potter Returns to Tibet!

Back in October 2008, we here at High Peaks Pure Earth wrote a blogpost about the first Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone" that had been translated into Tibetan (via Chinese) by Norkyil Buchung Gyal (ནོར་དཀྱིལ་བུཆུངརྒྱལ་ Nor dkyil Bu chung rgyal).

It's been over two years since we wrote that blogpost but we have constantly received emails enquiring after the book and how to get hold of it outside of Tibet and China. It has also remained a popular blogpost of ours, despite not being that new.

"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."

"When Tibetan Students Fight for the Tibetan Language " By Woeser

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Woeser that was originally written for broadcast on Radio Free Asia on October 28, 2010 in Lhasa and posted on her blog on November 4, 2010.

In this blogpost, Woeser writes on the protests by Tibetan students in October 2010 against proposals to restrict the use of Tibetan language in classrooms in Qinghai province. The protests from Amdo also reached Beijing, see photos on our previous blogpost here.

A Blogpost and A Poem on Tibetan language

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost and a poem both on the topic of Tibetan language.

Since the student protests of last month, October 2010, against the proposals to restrict the use of Tibetan language in classrooms in Qinghai province, the serious issues facing Tibetan language have evidently been weighing on the minds of Tibetan netizens.

Interestingly, the Tibetan language blog sites have been very quiet and prefer not to directly talk about the issues the recent language protests have raised, whilst on the Chinese language blog sites frequented by Tibetans, there is much chatter about the issue. Perhaps the language issues are felt more acutely and painfully by those who have lost their language. 

Another Song About Tibetan Unity: "Telephone Rang" By Lhakyi

Screen Title of the music video for "Telephone Rang"

Following on from our earlier blogpost featuring two music videos about Tibetan unity, High Peaks Pure Earth has translated "Telephone Rang", another song on the same topic, this time by a Tibetan female singer called Lhakyi.

The singers of "Mentally Return" and "The Sound of Unity" sang about the unity of Tibetans from all three provinces of Tibet, U-Tsang, Kham and Amdo. In the song "Telephone Rang", Lhakyi imagines a day when Tibetans in Tibet are informed, through a phone call, of the return of His Holiness (also referred to in the song using various metaphors) and thus a day when Tibetans inside and outside Tibet are reunited.

Urgent Blogpost by Woeser; Lhasa Public Security Bureau Summon Her

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated an urgent blogpost by Woeser describing how she was summoned on the phone by the Lhasa Public Security Bureau. The blogpost was written approximately one hour ago.