Thorn Tree travel forum

1

I'm not in Lhasa yet, but I'll be heading there soon and my travel agent told me that the monasteries are closed to visitors. Other threads have suggested that you can still sneak in, but I wouldn't suggest that (esp wihout a valid permit to be in Tibet).

I've also heard different stories about EBC and climbing everest. I'd say that it's a safe bet that it's closed to tourists, so don't head out there.

Without a TTB, I'd suggest staying in normal tourist spots, and staying away from any "protests". That's just my opinion though.

Best of luck to you.

2

MAX.....don't stress to much! Not having a permit is not a big deal. Absolute worse case scenario is they might ask you to leave Tibet but that is very unlikely. During the protests last Oct. some areas became restricted but you could still generally go where ever you wanted. As far as we can tell only Drepung, Sera, Ganden and possibly Reting are currently closed.....there is many many more monasteries that you can visit.

As a foriegner you can use the "dumb tourist: card pretty well. i would just go ahead and do what ever you had planned to do and if the situation changes play dumb...ask lots of questions and do what you are told!! (With the exception of Everest Base Camp which is definitely closed)

The political pressure on China right now is huge so don't worry....they won't through in jail for not having a permit or walking towards a monastery or riding your bike on a trail!!

If you get more accurate factual information about the changing situation while your travel....please share it here.

CJ

3

I'm in Tibet (Gyantse) on my way to Lhasa at the moment, as part of a group tour. Our guide has just told us that it's not possible to enter Lhasa because of major fights, fires, deaths etc. and that the Chinese government has forced all travel agencies to get their clients to leave Lhasa or not to come to Lhasa.
He wanted us to go back to Nepal by road (how we came). We refused and the alternative is now that we stay here in Gyantse and in 2 days go straight to the Lhasa airport. That means I would not see Lhasa at all....the goal of this trip!

Can anyone confirm these serious troubles and that it's not possible to get into Lhasa? If possible, I would really like to go.

Thx a lot

4

Marloose, the trouble is pretty serious. There are protests, fires and some injured folks (not sure about deaths yet). Some more info is on this thread.

According to the TCHRD.org: "The police have cordoned off all roads leading in and out of Lhasa with armed paramilitary forces patrolling the streets." Don't know if that actually means they are stopping entry to Lhasa altogether. Ramoche Temple is also affected according to them.

No longer posting on TT because TT sucks.

5

Agence France Presse reports a.o. "G u n fire was heard in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa on Friday, according to the US embassy who citied several reports from American citizens." But Xinhua too brings the news.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j_FRQuNSEZGgW6s4PPr5pAtZ655g

The rest of their report, © 2008 AFP

China's official media previously reported that fires and violent protests had broken out in the Tibetan capital, as demonstrations this week against Chinese rule escalated.

"Shops were set on fire in violence in downtown Lhasa on Friday afternoon," the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

"Witnesses said a number of shops were burnt and some others nearby shut down business."

The fires broke out in a market and street near the Jokhang temple in the old part of Lhasa. The temple is regarded as one of the most sacred sites for Tibetan Buddhists.

International Campaign for Tibet spokeswoman Kate Saunders said the rights group had received reports that Tromsikhang market in Barkor Street, which has a line of stalls that run around the temple, was on fire.

"We have heard that it is either on fire or has been burnt down," Saunders told AFP from London.

Saunders said a police car was also on fire near Ramoche temple in Lhasa.

"It seems that lay people have now become involved in the protests," she said.

Foreigners in Lhasa contacted by AFP reported that Buddhist monks and others had protested throughout the city, and that they had been told to stay away from the Jokhang temple and the surrounding area.

"Buddhist monks have marched in the street," a French tourist contacted at his hotel told AFP.

"It is not possible to go to Barkor street, the monastery is closed... it is forbidden to go down there."

The unrest followed three days of protests by monks in Lhasa, which have spread to monasteries in rural Tibet and outside the province. There have also been protests by Tibetan exiles across the world.

Hundreds of monks were involved in the protests earlier in the week in Lhasa, rights groups said.

The International Campaign for Tibet said earlier Friday that troops had surrounded the monasteries, amid fears of a crackdown by Chinese authorities.

6

According to CNN News ~ 20 min ago:
Serious troubles in Lhasa and around Ganden-, Sera- and Drepung Monasteries and unconfirmed reports of several other places.

Within China CNN has been shut down, all tourist permits(presume concerning Tibet) have been canceled and ?????

At the moment CNN interrupts their program about every 20 - 30 minutes for news updates.
Everything is still very sketchy!

7

Phayul report TCHRD (Friday, March 14, 2008 15:42)

Tension intensifies in Lhasa

Lhasa reels under extremely tense situation at the moment. The situation intensified since this morning. There is smoke every where from burning shops and vehicles. Roads leading in and out of some of the busiest streets in Lhasa have been sealed off. Despite a huge presence of Chinese armed troops, the protesters continue to stage demonstration.

According to confirmed information received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), around a hundred monks from the Ramoche Temple (north of Lhasa), while on their way to the streets around 10 am this morning to stage a peaceful protest, were blocked by Chinese armed police which led to minor scuffles between the two. The monks carried forward their peaceful demonstration which eventually grew bigger with bystanders joining them. Sources confirm vehicles and shops getting burned down in the commotion.

The police have cordoned off all roads leading in and out of Lhasa with armed paramilitary forces patrolling the streets. Sources confirm gunshots being fired to disperse the protesting crowd. No deaths could be confirmed at the moment. TCHRD will continue to closely monitor the situation and issue updates as the situation progresses.

At the time of release of this update, reports are coming in of a parallel demonstration by monks of Labrang Tashikhil Monastery and the area Tibetans in Sangchu County, Kanlho "Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture" ("TAP") Gansu Province.

Contact person: Tenzin Norgay (English) / Jampa Monlam (Chinese and Tibetan)
Tel: +91 1892 223363 / 225874 / 229225

http://www. phayul.com
/news/article.aspx?id=19621&article=Tension+ intensifies+ in+ Lhasa&t=1&c=1

8

Long Reuters report, published Fri Mar 14, 2008 7:36am EDT

C h a o s in Tibet
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSSP10739920080314?sp=true

France24 Intl. News - update (in English) with photo
http://observers.france24.com/en/content/20080314-information-blackout-tibet-protests-china

Is Lhasa still online meanwhile?

9

Thanks for posting the links; so far most are working -except Phayul, of course- but it'll be interesting to see how hard the Net Nanny starts to work on certain keywords in the coming days.

10

Dalai Lama urges China to stop using force in Tibet - Agence France Presse, 27 minutes ago

DHARAMSHALA, India (AFP) — The Dalai Lama said Friday he was "deeply concerned" over the situation in Tibet and appealed to China to "stop using force" after security forces used gunfire to quell the biggest protests against Chinese rule in two decades.

"I am deeply concerned over the situation that has been developing in Tibet following peaceful protests in many parts of Tibet, including Lhasa, in recent days," , Tibet's exiled Buddhist spiritual leader said in a statement from India. "These protests are a manifestation of the deep-rooted resentment of the Tibetan people under the present governance," said the Nobel peace laureate. "I therefore appeal to the Chinese leadership to stop using force and address the long-simmering resentment of the Tibetan people through dialogue with the Tibetan people."

The Tibetan capital of Lhasa erupted in violence with at least a dozen people hospitalised with injuries. The protests came amid a growing international campaign by Tibetans to challenge China's rule of the Himalayan region ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August.

The United States and Britain quickly expressed concern over the reports of violence, with the White House calling on Beijing to "respect Tibetan culture".

More than 100 Buddhist monks kicked off the protests on Friday morning, which quickly attracted other Tibetans and saw one of the biggest markets in Lhasa as well as cars set ablaze, foreign tourists and rights groups said. "Sources confirm gunshots being fired to disperse the protesting crowd," said the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, run by Tibetan exiles in India.

Foreign tourists and a local Tibetan contacted by AFP also reported hearing gunfire in Lhasa as riot police and soldiers were sent in to quell the uprising.

The unrest also spread to areas of China outside of Tibet, with monks leading a rally of up to 300 people in Xiahe, Gansu province, the site of one of Tibetan Buddhism's most important monasteries, an AFP reporter witnessed.

"Shops were set on fire in violence in downtown Lhasa on Friday afternoon," the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. "Witnesses said a number of shops were burnt and some others nearby shut down business." Xinhua said some people had been sent to hospital with unspecified injuries. A nurse at one hospital told AFP that about a dozen people had been brought in with injuries, but she gave no more details.

The fires broke out in a market and street near the Jokhang temple in the old part of Lhasa, a local fireman and tourists in the city told AFP. The temple is regarded as one of the most sacred sites for Tibetan Buddhists.

The unrest followed three days of protests by hundreds of monks in Lhasa, India and elsewhere around the world that marked the anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. China has ruled Tibet since 1951, a year after sending troops in to "liberate" the region from what it said was feudal rule. Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, fled Tibet following the failed 1959 uprising.

Tibetan rights groups have vowed to pile intense pressure on China over its controversial rule of the region in the lead-up to the Summer Olympic Games, when the world's spotlight will be put on the nation's communist rulers.

The protests are the biggest since 1989, when current Chinese President Hu Jintao was the Communist Party chief of Tibet. Hu is due to be re-elected on Saturday by the nation's rubber-stamp parliament as president for another five years.

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said the protests began when 100 monks from the Ramoche temple north of Lhasa walked into the city centre early Friday. The monks "were blocked by Chinese armed police which led to minor scuffles between the two," the centre said in a statement posted on its website. "The monks carried forward their peaceful demonstration which eventually grew bigger with bystanders joining them."

The International Campaign for Tibet's Saunders said a police car was burnt near the Ramoche temple. Troops had earlier surrounded the three biggest monasteries in and around Lhasa, Saunders' organisation said.

Foreigners in Lhasa contacted by AFP reported that Buddhist monks and others had protested throughout the city, and that tourists had been told to stay in their hotel rooms. "Buddhist monks have marched in the street," a French tourist contacted at his hotel told AFP, saying the areas near the Jokhang temple had been sealed off. "It is not possible to go to Barkor street, the monastery is closed... it is forbidden to go down there."

A German tourist reported a heavy police and military presence in Lhasa. "We know there is a lot of military and police in the middle of Lhasa. When they told us to stay in the hotel, we could do nothing else."

In Washington, the White House expressed concern and reiterated calls for dialogue between Beijing and the Dalai Lama. "Beijing needs to respect Tibetan culture. It needs to respect multi-ethnicity in their society," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said. The US government also issued a travel warning, advising Americans not to travel to Tibet.

In Britain, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Office told AFP: "We want to see the Tibet issue dealt with peacefully between all concerned and are naturally alarmed when we hear of violence."

Source & copyright : AFP http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jwjVbNBhikqsXM10iigOsFDAlJmg

edited for lay-out

11

CNN just started reporting on it as well.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/14/tibet.unrest/index.html

For all of you in the area, please be careful. If you can manage to keep us updated as well, it will be much appreciated.

Yaks, Yaks, Yaks. Need I say more?

12

Phayul, Friday, March 14, 2008 18:17

Tibet: Guns shots fired as thousands of Tibetans hold fresh protest in Amdo Labrang

Labrang (Amdo), March 14: In yet another fresh protest incident in Tibet, thousands of Tibetan monks and laypeople staged demonstration in the streets of Sangchu County, Kanlho "Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture" ("TAP"), Gansu Province, accoriding to a reliable source. Phayul.com has obtained set of pictures taken through mobile phone that show the intensity of the demonstration in Labrang.

Around 50 monks from the Labrang Tashikyil Monastery began staging demonstration carrying the banned Tibetan national flag and shouting “Tibet Independence” slogans around 2:00pm today. Some 600 more monks from the same monastery later joined the demonstration.

The number later swelled up to few thousands when general public continued to join the procession of monks and the protest became more intensive. The source said police started to fire live ammunitions in the air and started to beat the demonstrators when the procession reached the Sangchu County Public Security Bureau headquarter.

“Public security and armed police began firing shots later as it (protest) became very intensive. Whether it caused casualties is unclear,” the source said. "Gradually the number increased and thousands of Tibetans gathered around in the main market. At the police station they shouted more loudly out of control, then the Chinese police started shooting among the protesters, as a result the mass scattered rapidly due to gunfire,” the source said.

The situation in Amdo is said to be extremely tense as unrest continues across Tibet. The public demonstration in Labrang has not entirely ceased at the time of filing this report.

Copyright © 2004-2008 Phayul.com
http://www. phayul.com/news/article. aspx?id=19626&article= Tibet%3a+Guns +shots + fired+as+thousands+of+Tibetans+hold+fresh+ protest+ in+Amdo+Labrang&t=1&c=1

The article has 4 colourphotos.
Note: I broke the whole link deliberately here, same as the previous one

13

A long article in German in Die Welt :

http://www.welt.de/politik/article1800464/Proteste_in_Tibet_fordern_erste_Todesopfer.html

It says a.o. that several people were killed in the Lhasa- r i o t s of today.

And it reports that Human Rights Watch is issuing PROTESTS after the threats uttered against and the crackdowns on Tibetans in exile in both India and Nepal (by police in those countries).

BBC earlier today: India holds Tibetans for 14 days

More than 100 Tibetan refugees who were detained in India while attempting to march to the Chinese border have been placed in custody for 14 days. The marchers, protesting against China hosting the Olympics, were detained near Dharamsala town, headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile.
The walk began on Monday as part of a global pro-independence protest. It coincided with the 49th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's escape from Tibet after a failed uprising against China.

India has in the past been sympathetic to the Tibetan cause but in recent years Delhi's relations with Beijing have improved and India has not allowed large-scale public protests for fear of embarrassing Beijing.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7295736.stm

Fear of embarrassing Beijing.....
As if Beijing isn't fully capable of embarrassing itself, all over the globe, better than any other party ever could!

14

BBC News Friday, 14 March 2008, 14:00 GMT

Copied below for those in Mainland China.

Shops on fire amid Tibet protests

Fires have broken out in the Tibetan city of Lhasa amid reports of rioting, as rare street protests led by Buddhist monks appeared to gather pace.

One eyewitness told the BBC how large groups of people were setting fire to cars and shops and destroying anything of Chinese influence.

The US embassy in Beijing said US citizens had reported hearing gunfire.

Rallies have continued all week in what are thought to be the largest protests against Beijing's rule in 20 years.

Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, released a statement expressing deep concern, saying the protests were a "manifestation of the deep-rooted resentment of the Tibetan people".

The Dalai Lama, who heads Tibet's government-in-exile in India, called on the Chinese leadership to stop using force and begin dialogue with the Tibetan people.

He also urged Tibetans not to resort to violence.

"As I have always said, unity and stability under brute force is at best a temporary solution. It is unrealistic to expect unity and stability under such a rule," the statement said.

Tear gas

The US-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said at least one police car had been set on fire on Friday.

ICT spokeswoman Kate Saunders said her group had received reports that the Tromsikhang market in Barkhor Street - a busy commercial neighbourhood - was either on fire or had burnt down.

"It seems that lay people have now become involved in the protests," she said.

An eyewitness told the BBC there was a thick pall of smoke hanging over the city.

Another eyewitness said security forces and monks had clashed on Wednesday and several monks were beaten.

He said about 300 monks had tried to leave the Sera monastery to protest but security forces brandishing clubs stopped them and at least one monk was beaten to the ground.

The protests began earlier this week, when a number of monks were reportedly arrested after a march marking the 49th anniversary of a Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule.

Hundreds of monks took to the streets to demand their release - and reports say tear gas was used to disperse them.

The police were reported to have sealed off the city's three main monasteries on Thursday.

Correspondents say there is growing evidence that protests against Chinese rule are intensifying, despite assurances by Beijing on Thursday that the situation was under control.

China says Tibet has always been part of its territory, though Tibet enjoyed long periods of autonomy before the twentieth century, and many Tibetans remain loyal to the Dalai Lama, who fled in 1959 and currently lives in exile in India.

Hong Kong & Macau FAQs | Off the Beaten Track in Hong Kong | Hong Kong & Macau Places to Eat Trip Reports Guangxi, Guizhou & Hunan | Fujian & Eastern Guangdong | Huangshan / Huizhou villages | Taiwan | HK to Saigon | Sicily | Sichuan & Chongqing | Kaiping | Yunnan | China Rail Assistance | HK Map | A day in Hong Kong
cycle couriers of the world unite