XIAHE - UPDATE NOTE - the latest update I got from travellers in Gansu province about access to Xiahe can be found here. It would also appear that the Chinese authorities have now blocked access to my blog.
Original posting - Tibetan Towns Closed to the Outside World - A Posting for Xiahe and Tongren:
What used to be a peaceful existence in the Tibetan regions of China’s Gansu and Qinghai provinces seems to have been shattered after pre-Olympics protests in Lhasa, which then rippled discontent and clashes into ethnic Tibetan areas in greater China. Now a new and worrying development sees the area closed to foreigners again.
When I visited Gansu province last year, it was a picture of calm. The main street faƧades of the Tibetan town of Xiahe were covered in scaffolding for a much needed facelift, and the town’s main drag led you through a Chinese area, past the bus station and Communist Party HQ, and on to a Tibetan stretch and the massive Labrang Monastery - one of the biggest Tibetan monasteries outside of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and one of six great monasteries of the Yellow Hat school of Tibetan Buddhism.
A few days previously we had been to another Tibetan town, Tongren, a few bumpy hours away by bus and across the border to Qinghai province. Tongren is a bustling market town with spectacular scenery, a lively community (we watched the locals gather in the central square for their weekly folk dancing event), and the modern buzz of motorbikes mobile phones and a busy Internet cafe.
But now the area is closed to tourists and the outside world - a worrying development.
I normally treat with caution reports delivered by interested parties, no matter how noble their causes -and this applies both to the Chinese authorities and the Tibetan government-in-exile, but two reports from the ground added a level of credibility to the information. Richard Lloyd Parry reported for The Times from Tongren around the time of the Olympics, and captured some of the undercurrents of discontent and stories of beatings and clashes between Tibetan monks and the Chinese army.
Last week we heard from a friend who had tried to travel to Xiahe that he was not allowed in, being warned off because entry was forbidden for tourists.
The reason for my posting is not political. Conflicts tend to be a lot more complicated than they seem from the outside, and despite my reading on the subject I would not presume to know enough about the lives and aspirations of Tibetans in the old “greater Tibet” regions, which are now part of Gansu and Qinghai provinces. I do know though that when conflicts erupt, it is people and their daily lives that are disrupted, often brutally.
I wanted to post this entry for the people of Tongren and Xiahe. We were greeted with a warm and friendly welcome in both towns, and I hope that things settle down for their residents, and that the area is re-opened to allow the outside world in again: both as a catalyst (’the world is watching’) and as an important source of income for the local population, that relies heavily on tourists for its livelihood.
Note: If you are in the area and have any information (confirming that it is closed or that it has re-opened) - please let me know either by commenting on this posting or by contacting me.
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