BEIJING DIARY: A taste of Tibet with Chinese characteristics

BEIJING — I can not go to Tibet whereas I am in China working on the Beijing Winter Olympics. However China can present me its personal model of the distant area.

China’s “closed loop” system for the Video games means it is virtually unimaginable for any of the 1000’s of athletes, sports activities officers, journalists and media staff who’ve arrived from abroad to get out and see the nation.

Video games attendees are staying at dozens of accommodations, all fenced off from the remainder of Beijing and accessible solely by bus or taxi to the press middle, competitors venues or the airport.

By probability, half of The Related Press’ Olympics crew has been assigned to the Beijing Tibet Lodge, which has been constructed and outfitted to evoke the distant area on China’s western edge.

I’ve traveled broadly in China however have by no means been to Tibet, a long-isolated place that is all the time been onerous for foreigners, particularly journalists, to achieve, properly earlier than pandemic journey restrictions. Overseas correspondents can solely go to on government-organized excursions. So I used to be curious to see what the resort could be like.

For foreigners, Tibet brings to thoughts snowcapped peaks, crimson-robed monks and prayer flags snapping within the Himalayan wind.

China’s Communist Social gathering took full management of the huge Himalayan area in 1951, when troops overran Tibet’s feeble defenses. An rebellion eight years later led to more and more harsh Chinese rule over the area. Rights teams accuse China of political repression and tightening management over conventional Buddhist tradition within the area, dwelling to Tibetans and different ethnic minorities.

China denies the allegations. The federal government says its modernization efforts have introduced Tibet out of isolation, however critics say Tibetans have much less say on constructing their future than Han Chinese migrants.

On the 2008 Summer time Olympics in Beijing, Tibet was a flashpoint. Protesters disrupted the flame lighting ceremony and elements of the relay route.

I puzzled what connection the resort needed to Tibet. A waitress on the resort restaurant advised me it was owned by the Tibet regional authorities. The resort web site revealed it was linked to a Tibetan government-owned firm that additionally sells Tibetan medication, meals and handicrafts.

It is commonplace for Chinese regional or provincial governments to function accommodations within the capital. Different Olympic guests are being put up on the Guizhou and Fujian accommodations — provinces within the southwest and on the coast throughout from Taiwan.

The resort’s exterior partitions gently slant inwards as they rise to the roof, an architectural function reminiscent of the Potala Palace within the capital, Lhasa, the house of Tibet’s conventional Buddhist leaders. Elevator video screens play scenes of Tibetan landscapes on an countless loop.

Some of the Chinese writing, just like the gold lettering for the espresso store and banquet rooms, mimics the distinct angular type of Tibetan script.

Had been these design touches a tasteful appreciation of Tibetan tradition? Or Chinese-style cultural appropriation? It in all probability depends upon whom you ask.

One of the resort’s two eating places, Shambhala — a reference from Tibetan Buddhism to a legendary kingdom hidden within the Himalayas — is embellished with prayers wheels alongside one wall. It is closed in the course of the Olympics as a result of there aren’t sufficient diners. The opposite restaurant options dishes with yak meat, a staple meals on the Tibetan plateau, the place yaks are native. At dinner one night, I selected the yak stew. Tasted lots like beef.

Lacking from the menu had been yak butter tea or tsampa (cereal comprised of barley flour), additionally Tibetan signature delicacies.

Up to now, it largely appeared like a regular and pretty innocuous showcase of native tradition. However there have been indicators of the Chinese Communist Social gathering’s grip on historical past.

Within the unused convention room, I got here throughout a portrait of Chinese chief Xi Jinping, with his identify and celebration secretary title beneath in each Chinese and Tibetan.

And down one hallway, there’s an in depth exhibition of Tibetan life beneath Chinese rule, explaining how Xi’s technique for Tibet will assist the area “enter a New Era of socialism with Chinese characteristics.”

Photos of Tibet’s gorgeous surroundings and other people and shows of conventional garb are blended with commentary on the Communist Social gathering’s function in modernization.

“The previous Tibet was the purgatory for tens of millions of serfs, who lived a depressing life,” one section read. “The new Tibet is a happy paradise for the people.”

Conspicuously absent are pictures of the Dalai Lama, the exiled religious determine that many Tibetans declare allegiance to, however who’s a goal of scorn by Beijing. Neither are there photographs of the Panchen Lama, Tibetan Buddhism’s second-highest determine. He went lacking 25 years in the past on the age of 6 after being picked by the Dalai Lama, after which China named one other bo y to the place.

As an alternative, there are pictures of Xi and historic photographs of Communist Social gathering bosses signing an settlement with Tibetan leaders in 1951. The unstated message: It is Beijing who calls the photographs.

Xi’s go to to Tibet final yr, the primary by a Chinese chief in 30 years, bolstered that message.

However what did actual Tibetans must say? Had been any really working right here? In earlier Olympics, the shortage of restrictions no less than gave guests extra alternative to satisfy and speak to native individuals.

I began asking round. A cleansing attendant was from neighboring Hebei province. The restaurant supervisor was a Beijinger. The foyer comfort store attendant was from Gansu, a province subsequent to Tibet.

Finally, I discovered some Tibetans working within the resort restaurant. One stated that they had been despatched from their faculty in Tibet to work on the resort for a number of months as they studied hospitality.

I requested one other what Lhasa was like.

“Good,” she stated, giving me a thumbs up.

Then the restaurant supervisor appeared with a message: If I had any questions, I ought to ask him.

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Kelvin Chan coated Hong Kong for 7 1/2 years and is now an AP enterprise author in London. Observe him at http://twitter.com/chanman.

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