CRI reporter: Exploring border areas in Tibet- People's Daily Online

CRI reporter: Exploring border areas in Tibet

10:03, August 25, 2009

Upon entering into Tibet, unlike-I presume-many foreigners, I really came in with little expectation of what I might discover. Tibet not having been high on my China-travel radar screen, I admittedly did little research before hitting the tarmac at the airport in Beijing. And though travel apathy may have been the original rationale for not doing my homework, a portion of me now realizes that perhaps part of my lack of research into this unique part of the world was to enter this land with a clean mental slate and discover for myself why this place has piqued the interest of so many for so long.

Upon arrival I was pleased to discover that one of my larger fears, the extreme altitude, had very little effect on me, unlike a number of my less fortunate colleagues. This allowed me to immediately begin to soak up the sights as we made the hour-long journey from the airport into Lhasa proper. Making our way through the winding rural roads, the one analogy that kept springing to mind was 'old Mexico meets China.'

The two-storey simple brick homes which lined our way into Lhasa bear a striking distinction from the traditional styles which are found in most other parts of China. And yet as we traveled along, the road-side fruit vendors and laborers plying their trade bore a distinct resemblance to the many other parts of rural China I have traveled through. But because all of this fell under the backdrop of millions of years of tectonic splendor that are the mountains of this rugged land, I knew it was going to be interesting to see what parallels and distinctions this place was going to offer.

Entering Lhasa isn't like crossing over a defined point that separates rural from urban. Though Lhasa has grown and developed quite quickly over the past decades, there remains a rugged, almost pastoral feeling to the city which, while on the one hand has embraced development and commerce has, on the other hand, also maintained an almost gravitational attraction to the trappings which constitute the cultural and religious focal point of Lhasa, the Potala Palace.

After checking into our hotel and indulging in what was the first of many communal meals with the CRI contingent, it was decided that we would make our way to the iconic shrine to Tibetan Buddhism. As we caught our first glimpse of Potala, my English-service colleague and 'handler' for this trip noted out loud "It's smaller than I thought." It's a comment I honestly couldn't disagree with. Having seen numerous pictures of the Palace, one presumes that it is a monolith in proportion to what the Pyramids of Giza was to the ancient Egyptians or what Babylon was to ancient Mesopotamia. Admittedly the sheer size of Potala is nothing to sneeze at. But what is captivating about the structure is not the size or design, but the almost simple elegance that it commands with its somewhat faded white, gold and brown facade, seemingly nestled snugly in the cradle of the side of one of the many mountains which gives this land its unique flavor.

After retiring for the evening, I began my second day in Lhasa with a bit of personal self-indulgence. Having worked my way through the Chinese-style buffet breakfast at the hotel (though it was gratis, and I've lived here for over 4 years now, I still find it difficult to reconcile carrots, cauliflower and French fries at 8am) I decided to treat myself to more sleep.

Not as though the day was scheduled to be difficult, but I thought to myself that with some 8 days of journeys still to come, which includes crossing over the border into Nepal, one should try to bank rest when one can. So after a somewhat perforated 'kip' I emerged ready to tackle the day's mission, which was to take part in a news conference with some high officials in the Tibet Autonomous Region's administration.

Following the initial remarks and display, which was essentially designed for the local media in Lhasa, we were granted a CRI-exclusive Q-and-A session with the Vice-President of the TAR, Mr. Baimachilin. And while Mr. Baimachilin had, in what is generally custom when posing questions to high officials here in China, been briefed on the questions in advance, I was pleasantly surprised with the candor in which he spoke. But the one thing that really stood out for me was the emphasis that surrounded economic development.

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