TRAVELLERS TO TIBET A Selection of Eyewitness Accounts by Tibetans and Others (From 1959 to 2004) Published by: The Department of Information and International Relations, DIIR Central Tibetan Administration Dharamsala-176215 H.P., India e-mail: [email protected] www.tibet.net/www.tibet.com © DIIR 2004 2000 Copies ISBN 81-86627-30-8 Printed at: Narthang Press, Gangchen Kyishong, Dharamsala - 176215 H.P. FOREWORD Communist China’s liberalization policy of the late 1970s opened the gateway of ‘The Forbidden Land’ to the outside world for the first time since it assumed full control over the whole of Tibet in 1959. This was a turning point in the history of the Tibetan people’s struggle for their basic human rights. In the political front, it opened a new chapter by establishing the first-ever direct contact with the Beijing leadership, while in the social front, it paved the way for the ordinary Tibetans—both inside and outside Tibet—to exchange visits and meet their relatives. It also afforded many foreigners the opportunity to travel to Tibet and see through their own eyes the ground realities, in contrast with the most-trumpeted slogan of the Chinese government: that earth-shaking changes or developments had taken place in Tibet since its ‘liberation’ from ‘feudal serfdom’. Prior to the liberalization era, and since China’s occupation of Tibet, there was only minimal information trickling out of the country, and written accounts were almost non-existent. The opening up of Tibet, however, resulted in many Tibetans and foreigners producing a large amount of literature in the form of articles and travelogues through their eyewitness accounts and first-hand experiences of Tibet. For a long time, we have felt the need to bring out a compilation of some of the most representa- tive of these articles. The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama has also advised many times that such a compilation would contribute immensely towards raising awareness about the plight of the Tibetan people, and also about the non-violent nature of the Tibetan movement for freedom from oppression. i The Department of Information and International Relations of the Central Tibetan Administration is, therefore, very happy to bring out this publication entitled Travellers to Tibet: A Selection of Eyewitness Accounts by Tibetans and Others at a time when there is a growing number of people across the globe taking keen interest in and being more sympathetic to the just cause and suffer- ing of the Tibetan people. This book is a compilation of 26 articles on a wide range of issues concerning life in Tibet from the late 1950s until 2004. They are reproduced from international as well as Tibetan periodicals, and arranged in chronological order of the events they describe. As the title of the book suggests, these are accounts of those who have articulated their true experiences using hard facts about Tibet after having lived there or made a personal journey into the country. We sincerely hope that this publication will help create greater awareness about the Tibetan situation, eventually leading to the fruition of the aspirations of six million Tibetans to enjoy genuine autonomy within the existing constitutional framework of the People’s Republic of China. Secretary Department of Information and International Relations March, 2004 ii CONTENTS IN SEARCH OF NEW TIBET Tsering Dorji Gashi ............1 ONE MONTH IN TIBET Tsultrim Choephel Tersey .............8 A SUMMER HOLIDAY IN TIBET Christina Jengen and Suzette Cook ..........55 TIBET AND CHINA’S POLICY OF LIBERALIZATION —SOME PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS Dawa Tsering ..........66 A VISIT TO MY HOMELAND Ngawang J. Topgyal, translated from the Tibetan by Trinley Nyandak ..........73 BETWEEN HOMELAND AND EXILE Kesang Tseten ..........81 THE YEAR OF PREACHING DANGEROUSLY Ngawang Chojor ..........87 OBSERVATIONS ON A FACT-FINDING VISIT TO TIBET Michael C. Van Walt ..........95 FROM LADAKH TO TIBET ACROSS 50 YEARS Prof. Robert Raof ........103 TRYING TO BE AN IDEAL TOURIST IN TIBET Laurie Hovell ........112 SOME REFLECTIONS ON CHINESE ATTITUDE TOWARDS TIBETANS Prof. Michael Futrell ........125 TIBET IN SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1987: A WESTERN SCHOLAR’S OBSERVATIONS Robert Mont ........129 EXPERIENCE OF AN ENGLISH TEACHER AT LHASA UNIVERSITY Julie Brittain ........145 iii THE LHASA RIOT AND AFTER: GENERAL IMPRESSION OF TWO WESTERN TOURISTS Robert Barnett and Nicholas Meysztowicz ........163 AN INFORMAL FACT-FINDING VISIT TO TIBET Lord Ennals & Fredrick Hyde-Chambers ........181 WHERE IS GENDUN RINCHEN? Melissa Mathison ........196 REFLECTIONS ON A VISIT TO TIBET Chime Dolker ........200 A JOURNEY TO MY FORBIDDEN HOMELAND Lhundup Dorji ........204 BUDDHIST SPIRIT RESISTS YAK-BURGER CULTURE Christopher Gunnes ........218 IMPRESSIONS FROM A RECENT VISIT TO TIBET Maura Moynihan ........222 A STRANGER IN MY NATIVE LAND Tenzin Sonam Part One: Around Kumbum ........227 Part Two: Lhasa ........246 AN EYEWITNESS IN LHASA Thomas Feeny ........270 A NEW THRESHOLD TO SAVE TIBET Chokey Tsering ........276 INSIDE CHINA’S TIBET Vijay Kranti Part I. China Opens Up its Tibet Zoo ........290 Part II. How Tibetans Make a Statement ........295 TOLERANCE AND TOTALISATION Matteo Pistono ........300 SEVEN DAYS IN TIBET Tom Cockrem ........311 iv Travellers to Tibet IN SEARCH OF NEW TIBET by Tsering Dorji Gashi from the book New Tibet, Department of Information and International Relations, also published in Tibetan Bulletin, December 1985–March 1986 [The experiences narrated in this article took place around the year 1960.] We had left Chengdu by train and arrived at the Liuyon railway station. The railway track had not yet been laid beyond Liuyon and from there onwards we travelled by bus. It was December and the weather was extremely cold. When we were negotiating the Thongo-la pass we wrapped ourselves with all the blankets we had. Still our hands, feet and backs pained as if pricked by thorns. We covered our heads and faces with scarves. Our breath froze and stuck beneath our chins and we looked like characters from a Chinese opera, with long, white beards. Since we had stayed for long in low altitude, the climb to Tibet made us feel dizzy and we were overcome by nausea. Our heartbeat became abnormal, some of those who were less strongly constituted even fainted on reaching the top of the pass. One of the main reasons for our physical discomfort in our own land was the poor diet we were given back in Peking. After six days we reached Nagchuka. Nagchuka seemed to be a town formed in the midst of an encircling chain of snow-mountains. Buried by mountains, wind and snow, the whole place was nothing but a scene of desolate whiteness, except for houses, tents and yaks. The tempera- ture was around 30C below zero. Even in such hard condi- tions, the Horpa nomads were stripped bare down to their waists and were loading the yaks with a nonchalance which roused my admiration for these hardy people who could so casually defy the harsh Tibetan weather. 1 DIIR, 2004 All the Chinese cadres in Nagchuka were armed. From the first glance we could see that the People’s Liberation Army out-numbered the inhabitants of the place. I concluded that this condition could result only from a failure at ‘suppression of the rebellion’. Our arrival at Nagchuka did not evince the slightest signs of welcome from its inhabitants. While we rested in the place for about four hours the only person who showed recognition and welcomed us was Wangdrak, who belonged to the second batch of Tibetan students to leave the Institute of Tibet. Wangdrak looked like a typical PLA soldier and was armed to the teeth. His formidable military appearance was in complete contrast to his civility and peaceable nature back at the Institute. Wangdrak was happy to meet us and told us all the news. He had been in several expeditions throughout the Great Northern Plains, or Jangthang, to eliminate ‘rebel bandits’. There were still remnants of Khampa guerrillas hiding in the mountains. Both soldiers and cadres when moving around the place and its vicinity, had to move in groups of ten and be fully armed; otherwise they felt endangered. Nagchuka prison held more than 600 inmates. Many who were imprisoned before were either transported to Tsa-la Karpo Lake or to Kongpo. Wangdrak told us of many people having committed suicide. While hearing these accounts of life in Tibet a big ques- tion at once arose in my mind. I concluded that conditions elsewhere in Tibet would be very much like the one pre- vailing in Nagchuka. This would mean that many of my acquaintances and relatives might have been branded ‘rebels’ and put into prison. While pondering thus I did not know how I should react if I were met by an acquaintance. Soon we continued with our journey. When we reached Jang Yangpachen some of the fellow travellers said that soon the Potala would come into sight and rushed for the bus windows. As for myself I thought that the sooner we reached 2 Travellers to Tibet Lhasa the better. After journeying for about four and half hours and while turning the corner of the hill where the Drepung Monastery was situated, suddenly the magnifi- cent spectacle of the Potala burst full before us. The eternal Red Palace, possessing the power to rob men’s minds, was there in its full splendour, an ornament of Lhasa city. The splendid, awe-inspiring Potala seemed a palace of the gods descended from the heavens down to the land of men. The golden roofs of the Potala glittered brilliantly in the rays of the morning sun and I felt as if the road leading to Lhasa were covered with drops of gold. Having a history of more than a thousand years, the Potala has turned into a symbol of Tibet.