Chinese language visiting Tibet spurs tourism increase that places stress on historic Tibetan websites

LHASA, China – Tourism is booming in Tibet as more Chinese people travel to the country due to the coronavirus pandemic, and this poses risks to the region’s fragile environment and historic sites.

In the Potala Palace, the former residence of the Dalai Lamas, the number of visitors is limited to 5,000 per day. Balancing tourism demand with the need to minimize wear and tear on the massive hill structure is an ongoing challenge, said Gonggar Tashi, the chief administrator.

A Chinese tourist in Tibetan clothing poses for a photo in a courtyard of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, west China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. Mark Schiefebein / AP

“The biggest challenge for us is the contradiction between the protection and the use of the cultural relics,” Tashi told journalists in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, during a tour organized by the government that gave foreign journalists infrequent access to Tibet, albeit among them watchful eyes of officials who set the agenda.

The tourists seem unconcerned with the political controversy that has long encircled Tibet. China’s communist forces invaded the region in 1951 and the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s traditional spiritual and political leader, fled to India in 1959 during a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

According to Ge Lei, deputy director of the China Tourism Marketing Association, millions of visitors come to Tibet every year, with 2020 showing an increase of 12.6% over the previous year.

Tourists look at goods for sale in a gift shop outside Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, west China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. Mark Schiefebein / AP

He expects the number of visitors to roughly double by 2026 – a flood of visitors that far exceeds Tibet’s 3.5 million population. He said that this means that care must be taken to protect the environment and culture.

Tourists are drawn to the “mystique and myth of Tibet as a remote, snow-capped land,” said Travis Klingberg, cultural geographer at NYU Shanghai. “But Tibet has become a place of beautiful natural landscapes that is important to the Chinese nation.”

Tourists walk along the lakefront and ride a pony in Namtso in western China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. Mark Schiefebein / AP

Tibet has shifted its focus from international to domestic visitors as China’s middle class has grown, said Emily Yeh, professor of geography at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Tibetans have sometimes complained that Chinese tourists disregard cultural traditions, including stepping on prayer flags, Yeh said.

A construction worker is working on a hotel being built in a tourist host family neighborhood in Zhaxigang Village, near Nyingchi, in western China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. Mark Schiefebein / AP

The tourism sector is intensifying government propaganda, Yeh said. The ruling Communist Party says it freed hundreds of thousands of serfs when the theocracy was overthrown in 1951 and has since brought economic development to the high plateau bordering the Himalayas.

“Rewriting history is an integral part of the tourism landscape,” said Yeh.

A woman dressed in ethnic clothing adjusts a bedspread for her tourist host family in Zhaxigang Village, near Nyingchi, in western China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. Mark Schiefebein / AP

One of the most popular natural spots is Lake Namtso, which is surrounded by snow-capped peaks and Buddhist shrines and you can see herds of yaks and migratory birds on the horizon. The development of the website needs to be done carefully to avoid the damage that makes it attractive, Ge said.

“It will be difficult to protect the ecology and culture of Tibet … unless we have a long-term plan,” he said. “That is why it is very important to establish a number of values ​​and rules of conduct for traveling in Tibet when building the facilities.”

Tourists climb stairs at Potala Palace in Lhasa in western China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. Mark Schiefebein / AP

Mark Schiefelbein / AP

Mark Schiefelbein / AP

Mark Schiefelbein / AP

Mark Schiefelbein / AP

Tourists stand near a large mural depicting Chinese President Xi Jinping in a square near the Potala Palace in Lhasa, west China’s Tibet Autonomous Region.