i’m in lhasa, tibet. one of the highest cities in the world at over 3600m. my first 24 hours i couldn’t breath, so this is what it’s like to be 80.
I had always thought of Tibet as a beautiful and holy country hidden in the Himalayas, which it is, but I wasn’t aware of its recent history. In short, over the last two centuries, the people here have been a devoutly Buddhist nation, and Lhasa has been the home of the Dalai Lama.
In 1950, the Kingdom of Tibet was attacked, or “liberated,” as the Chinese put it, for strategic reasons. Over 1.2 million people died and Mao’s army destroyed much of Tibet’s cultural and religious history. You can feel indifferent about Chairman Mao for ruining his own country, but I wasn’t aware he had fucked Tibet too.
In 1959, unhappy with the fact that Tibetan people still worshipped the Dalai Lama, the Chinese tried to kidnap him on Buddha’s 2,500th birthday. He escaped. Violence ensued, and the day after, 15,000 Tibetans lay dead in the streets of Lhasa.
Not that it mattered. The Chinese forged the Dalai Lama’s seal and handed Tibet over to themselves, while Britain convinced the UN not to say anything.
“Shhh, they make very cheap shoes.”
Most of Lhasa now looks the same as the rest of China. Chinese banks, shops, and other atrocious architecture line the streets. Tibetan script has been replaced with Chinese characters. Travel agents bring in thousands of Chinese tourists to admire replicas of what the generation before them destroyed.
I wonder how the Chinese here live with themselves. It’s a credit to the Tibetan people that they’ve now learned Chinese and live alongside each other.
you must visit tibet, it’s almost gone.
