Travel Destination: Tibet. Modernizing the Present and Concreting over the Past.

DEUTSCHE GESELLSCHAFT FÜR ASIENKUNDE E.V. German Association for Asian Studies

Vorstand / Board of Directors Dr. Theo Sommer, Hamburg (Ehrenvorsitzender)

MDg a.D. Dr. P. Christian Hauswedell, Berlin (Vorsitzender) Prof. Dr. Claudia Derichs, Marburg (Stv. Vorsitzende); Dr. Wolfgang Brenn, Berlin (Stv. Vorsitzender); Dr. Karsten Giese, Hamburg (Geschäftsführendes Vorstandsmitglied); Prof. Dr. Rahul Peter Das, Halle; Prof. Dr. Jörn Dosch, Kuala Lumpur; Prof. Dr. Doris Fischer, Würzburg; Dr. Kirsten Hackenbroch, Dortmund; Prof. Dr. Katja Levy, Berlin; VLR I Birgitt Ory, Berlin; Timo Prekop, Hamburg; MDg Peter Prügel, Berlin; VLR I Günter Rauer, Berlin; VLR I Jörn Rohde, Berlin; Dr. des. Stefan Rother, Freiburg; Dr. Margot Schüller, Hamburg

Wissenschaftliche Beiräte / Advisory Councils

Südasien / South Asia China

Prof. Dr. Nadja Christina Schneider, Berlin(Sprecher / Chairperson)

Dr. Margot Schüller, Hamburg (Sprecher / Chairperson)

Prof. Dr. Joachim Betz, Hamburg PD Dr. Andrea Fleschenberg, Islamabad Prof. Dr. Hans Harder, Heidelberg Clemens Jürgenmeyer, M.A., Freiburg Prof. Dr. Tatiana Oranskaia, Hamburg

Prof. Dr. Björn Alpermann, Würzburg Prof. Dr. Jörn-Carsten Gottwald, Bochum Dr. Saskia Hieber, Tutzing Prof. Dr. Heike Holbig, Frankfurt Prof. Dr. Genia Kostka, Frankfurt

Südostasien / Southeast Asia Japan - Korea

PD Dr. Andreas Ufen, Hamburg (Sprecher / Chairperson)

Prof. Dr. Verena Blechinger-Talcott, Berlin (Sprecher / Chairperson)

Dr. Marco Bünte, Kuala Lumpur Prof. Dr. Christoph Schuck, Dortmund Prof. Dr. Mark R. Thompson, Hongkong Dr. Michael Waibel, Hamburg Dr. Patrick Ziegenhain, Trier

Prof. Dr. David Chiavacci, Zürich Prof. Dr. Eun-Jeung Lee, Berlin Prof. Dr. You Jae Lee, Tübingen Prof. Dr. Frank Rövekamp, Ludwigshafen Prof. Dr. Karen Shire, Duisburg-Essen

© DGA Hamburg 2013. Geschäftsstelle / Redaktion / Verlag: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Asienkunde e.V., Rothenbaumchaussee 32, D-20148 Hamburg, Germany, Tel.: +49 (040) 44 58 91; Fax: +49 (040) 410 79 45; E-Mail: [email protected], Internet: www.asienkunde.de und www.dga-ev.de; Konto: Nr. 0635 821, Deutsche Bank AG Hamburg (BLZ 20070024), IBAN DE29 2007 0024 0063 5821 00, BIC DEUT DEDB HAM

Begründet von Günter Diehl und Werner Draguhn

Editor Günter Schucher Editorial Manager Benedikt Skowasch Guest Editor Ingeborg Baldauf

Editorial Assistants Yingjun Gao Christian Textor Proof Reading Carl Carter James Powell

Editorial Board P. Christian Hauswedell Claudia Derichs Christian Wagner Günter Schucher Andreas Ufen Verena Blechinger-TalcottMargot Schüller

International Board Sanjaya Baru, Indien Anne Booth, England Chu Yun-han, Taiwan ROCLowell Dittmer, USA Reinhard Drifte, England Park Sung-Hoon, SüdkoreaAnthony Reid, Singapur Ulrike Schaede, USA Jusuf Wanandi, Indonesien

ASIEN ist eine referierte Fachzeitschrift. ASIEN veröffentlicht wissenschaftliche Beiträge aus den Bereichen Politik, Wirtschaft und Kultur zum gegenwärtigen Asien. Jeder eingereichte Artikel wird zwei Gutachtern aus dem zuständigen Wissenschaftlichen Beirat der Gesellschaft anonymisiert zur Begutach-tung zugeleitet (double-blind-Verfahren).

ASIEN ist die Mitgliederzeitschrift der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Asienkunde e.V. Die Redaktion freut sich besonders, wenn Mitglieder der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Asienkunde die Zeitschrift durch Übersendung von Aufsätzen zu einschlägigen Themen sowie von Rezensionen, Konferenzberichten und Informationen zu Forschung und Lehre unterstützen.

ASIEN erscheint vierteljährlich. Mitglieder erhalten ASIEN kostenlos. Ein Jahresabonnement kostet 60,00 Euro (zzgl. Porto und Versand)

Hinweise für Autoren und Autorinnen Manuskripte sollten in Deutsch oder Englisch abgefasst sein und müssen den Vorgaben der ASIEN-Redaktion entsprechen. Dies gilt besonders für wiss. Artikel. Ein Honorar kann leider nicht gezahlt werden. Englischsprachige Beiträge müssen vor Abgabe von einem native speaker geprüft worden sein. Wissenschaftliche Artikel sollten 45–50.000 Zeichen (ohne Leerzeichen) nicht überschreiten (ca. 20 Heftseiten). Grafiken sind bitte getrennt in guter Qualität abzuspeichern. Weiterhin sind ein 15–20-zeiliger englischsprachiger Summary, 4–8 inhaltscharakterisierende – englische – Schlagwörter sowie kurze biografische Angaben (Name, Position, Institution) an die Redaktion zu schicken.

Die anonymisierten Artikel werden von ZWEI Gutachtern des zuständigen Wissenschaftlichen Beirats der DGA begutachtet. Der/die Autor/in bekommt i.d.R. innerhalb von 2 Monaten Bescheid, ob und mit welcher Kritik sein/ihr Beitrag zur Veröffentlichung angenommen wurde. Für die Überarbeitung des Beitrags haben der/die Autor/in 4 Wochen Zeit. Ungefähr 4 Wochen vor Drucklegung erhält der/die Autor/in seinen/ihren Beitrag zur Korrektur. Zu prüfen ist der Beitrag auf Druckfehler, Vollständigkeit und Stellung der Abbildungen und Tabellen sowie auf eventuell von der Redaktion angemerkte Fragen. Den Umfang verändernde Verbesserungen müssen unterbleiben.

Research Notes sollten 35–40.000 Zeichen (ohne Leerzeichen) nicht überschreiten (ca. 15 Heftseiten). Grafiken sind bitte getrennt in guter Qualität abzuspeichern. Weiterhin sind ein 15–20-zeiliger eng-lischsprachiger Summary, 4–8 inhaltscharakterisierende – englische – Schlagwörter sowie kurze biografi-sche Angaben (Name, Position, Institution) an die Redaktion zu schicken.

Asien Aktuell sollten 20–25.000 Zeichen (ohne Leerzeichen) nicht überschreiten (ca. 10 Heftseiten). Grafiken sind bitte getrennt in guter Qualität abzuspeichern. Weiterhin sind ein 15–20-zeiliger eng-lischsprachiger Summary, 4–8 inhaltscharakterisierende – englische – Schlagwörter sowie kurze biografi-sche Angaben (Name, Position, Institution) an die Redaktion zu schicken.

Konferenzberichte sollten 5.000 Zeichen (ohne Leerzeichen) nicht überschreiten. Die Veröffentlichung erfolgt, soweit möglich, im nächsten folgenden Heft. Folgende Angaben sollten vorhanden sein: Konferenztitel, Veranstalter, Ort, Datum.

Rezensionen sollten 5.000 Zeichen (ohne Leerzeichen) nicht überschreiten. Sie sollten u.a. Informationen über das Anliegen und die Thesen des Autors/der Autorin/Autoren enthalten, den Inhalt der Publikation kurz skizzieren und evtl. auch auf die mögliche(n) Zielgruppe(n) hinweisen. Die Veröffentlichung erfolgt sobald wie möglich. Folgende Angaben sollten vorhanden sein: Autor, Buchtitel, Ort: Verlag, Jahr. Seitenzahl, Preis.

Nach Veröffentlichung erhält der/die Autor/in ein Belegexemplar der Zeitschrift sowie seinen/ihren Beitrag als PDF-Dokument inklusive Umschlag und Inhaltsverzeichnis.

Informationen u.ä. zu asienwissenschaftlichen Themen, Forschung oder Lehre sollten möglichst kurz sein. Textvorschläge sollten als E-Mail-Anhang in einem weiterverarbeitbaren Format (doc-, rtf-, odt-Datei) an die Redaktion geschickt werden.

Printed by DSN – Druck Service Nord, 21465 Wentorf, [email protected] Die in der Zeitschrift veröffentlichten Beiträge sind urheberrechtlich geschützt. Ihr Nachdruck – auch auszugsweise – darf nur mit schriftlicher Genehmigung der Redaktion erfolgen. Namentlich gekennzeichnete Beiträge geben nicht unbedingt die Meinung der Herausgebenden wieder.

INHALT ASIEN 129 (Oktober 2013)

REFERIERTER THEMENSCHWERPUNKT

CENTRAL ASIA: COMING TO TERMS WITH THE PAST – COPING IN THE PRESENT

Ingeborg Baldauf: Introduction

5

Ildikó Bellér-Hann: Strategies of Social Support and Community Cohesion in Rural Xinjiang

7

Lutz Rzehak: Recalling the Past to Assert Ethnic Rights in the Present: The Case of the Gawars in Afghanistan

22

Christoph Wenzel: Getting By after Internal Migration. Scenes from the Life of a Day Laborer Family in Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan

38

Jeanine Dağyeli: The Past as a Burden: Washers of the Dead between Merit and Stigma

51

Thomas Loy: “Unmasking Enemies” Again and Again? The Memoirs of Mordekhay Bachayev and the Revenge of the Soviet Past

73

Jesko Schmoller: Trust and Deception in (Post-)Soviet Uzbekistan

91

Diana Lange: Travel Destination: Tibet. Modernizing the Present and Concreting over the Past

100

Ingeborg Baldauf: The Successful Life of Qurbon Amirqulov: Memories of Leadership in the Southern Periphery of Uzbekistan

115

Ines Stolpe: Mongolia’s Golden Ages: A Brisk Gallop through Changing Representations

137

KONFERENZBERICHTE

DAAD-Alumnitreffen „Beeindruckende Bilanz – Nachhaltiger Ausblick“, Hanoi, 10.–11. Mai 2013 (Kerstin Schiele)

151

Indien NRO-Forum, Brot für die Welt, Berlin, 29. Mai 2013 (Jona Aravind Dohrmann)

152

Trierer China-Gespräche 2013: Kampfkraft – Wie leistungsfähig sind die chinesischen Streitkräfte? Berlin, 6. Juni 2013 (Matthias Schneider)

154

Ursachen, Geschichte und Folgen des Kalten Kriegs im Vergleich: Deutschland und Korea, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, 10.–12. Juli 2013 (Robert Kramm-Masaoka)

156

International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, Manchester, 05.–10. August 2013 (Pierre Gottschlich)

158

INHALT ASIEN 129 (Oktober 2013)

REZENSIONEN

Nadine Mensel: Der Entwicklungsprozess der Sozialistischen Republik Vietnam. Erfolge und Herausforderungen durch staatlich gelenkte Entwicklung (Yasmin Koppen)

160

Van Nguyen-Marshall, Lisa B. Welch Drummond, Danièle Bélanger (Hgg.): The Reinvention of Distinction. Modernity and the Middle Class in Urban Vietnam (Eva Fuhrmann)

161

Katharine McKinnon: Development Professionals in Northern Thailand. Hope, Politics and Practice (Felix Anderl)

163

Kees van Dijk, Jajat Burhanuddin (Hgg.): Islam in Indonesia. Contrasting Images and Interpretations (Azriansyah Achdiat Agoes)

164

Bettina Bauernfeind, Josefine Fokdal (Hgg.): Bridging Urbanities. Reflections on Urban Design in Shanghai and Beijing (Andreas Oberheitmann)

166

Richard McGregor: Der rote Apparat. Chinas Kommunisten (Günter Schucher)

167

Nele Noesselt: Governance-Formen in China. Theorie und Praxis des chinesischen Modells (Izabella Goikhman)

169

Raimund G. Philipp: China. Die zukünftige Weltwirtschafts- und Supermacht? (Volker Stanislaw)

170

Herbert Yee (Hg.): China’s Rise. Threat or Opportunity (Ekkehard Kleindienst)

171

Peter Matanle, Anthony Rausch et al.: Japan’s Shrinking Regions in the 21st Century. Contemporary Responses to Depopulation and Socioeconomic Decline (Winfried Flüchter)

172

Claudia Schmidhofer: Fakt und Fantasie. Das Japanbild in deutschsprachigen Reiseberichten 1854–1900 (Albrecht Rothacher)

174

Lim Dong-won: Peacemaker. Twenty Years of Inter-Korean Relations and the North Korean Nuclear Issue. A Memoir (Werner Pfennig)

176

Johannes H. Voigt: Geschichte Australiens und Ozeaniens. Eine Einführung (Roland Seib)

178

William Dalrymple: Return of a King. The Battle for Afghanistan 1839–1842 (Wolfgang-Peter Zingel)

179

FORSCHUNG – LEHRE – INFORMATIONEN

Konferenzankündigungen: Dezember 2013 bis Februar 2014 180 Martin Wagener

Einführung in die Sicherheitspolitik Ostasiens, Teil 3 181

Monika Gaenssbauer Theses of the Author Liu Zaifu in the Context of Exile Studies

200

NEUERE LITERATUR 211

AUTORINNEN UND AUTOREN DIESER AUSGABE 216

ONLINE-BEILAGE AUF WWW.ASIENKUNDE.DE

Asienkundliche Lehrveranstaltungen im Wintersemester 2013/2014

ASIEN 129 (Oktober 2013), S. 100–114

Travel Destination: Tibet. Modernizing the Present and Concreting over the Past

Diana Lange∗

Summary Modernization is understood as the implementation of innovations of various kinds and can happen gradually or very suddenly. After the invasion of China’s People’s Liberation Army in 1951, Tibet was literally catapulted into “modernity.” Transforma-tions took place on various levels. The introduction of the new Communist ideology went hand in hand with the destruction of the old Tibetan culture and its values. The old Tibet was branded as feudal, backward, and underdeveloped, and therefore needed to be modernized. By now — sixty years, or nearly two generations, later — the face of Tibet has completely changed. The improvement in the region’s technical infrastructure has not only led to fundamental changes in the lifestyle of many Tibetans, but has also reshaped the environment in which they live and work. A network of roads and airports, a new railroad, new bridges, tunnels, and piers, new houses, power supply lines, and solar fields are everyday features of the region today. Tourism has been growing more and more important as a branch of the Tibetan economy. Expectations regarding the growth of tourism were the basis of improvement and extension of the road network on a grand scale in the last decade. The boom of tourism is possible only through perfectly repaired roads and newly constructed railways and highways. The growing numbers of tourists, in turn, demand and stimulate even more improvements in the infrastructure and facilities such as new hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, travel agencies, and souvenir shops. Most tourists come to Tibet from mainland China and expect to find an untouched world with sacred mountains and lakes, including a unique monastery culture. The area that was once considered to be backward has now become a magnet for visitors, and once-denigrated “traditional elements” are experiencing a revival today under arguably positive auspices.1 This paper outlines the ways in which the booming new tourist industry is transforming the region in economic, infrastructural, and cultural matters.

Manuscript received on 2013-06-21, accepted on 2013-09-21 Keywords: Tibet, tourism, infrastructure, economy, transformation

∗ This paper is based on the author’s personal observations and fieldwork research conducted in

Southern and Central Tibet between 1999 and 2012. The term “Tibet” refers to the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR), which is part of the People’s Republic of China today.

1 This paper focuses on the Tibetan Autonomous Region, where tourism is a comparatively young branch of the economy, unlike in other parts of China and Tibet. For an in-depth case study on the socio-economic effects of “Shangri-La tourism” in Eastern Tibet, see Kolås (2008); she shows how “Tibetan culture” is being reconstructed as a marketable commodity for tourists.

Tibet: Modernizing the Present and Concreting over the Past 101

Modernizing Tibet The idea of modernizing Tibet is not a new one. Modernization has always been stimulated from outside the country — primarily by the Chinese and the British — and has focused on the development of traffic and communications right from the beginning. Tibet’s geographical position was of strategic significance, especially for Britain, China, and Russia. Having a good infrastructure at their disposal was crucial for those who strove for control of the area.

Shaped and dictated by the environment and climate of the Tibetan Plateau, trans-portation in pre-modern Tibet had to adapt to the natural conditions of the land. The Tibetan Plateau is at a high altitude (4,000 m above sea level on average) and is surrounded by high mountain ranges. Traffic and transportation in pre-1959 Tibet relied on a combination of waterways and roads, with the majority of the roads amounting to no more than tracks or pathways for beasts of burden. Overland trans-port for people and goods relied almost entirely on animal power with no mechani-cal assistance; the Tibetans did not use the wheel for transportation. Yaks, sheep, and donkeys were used for long- and short-distance transportation of goods. People would travel on horseback or just walked. In order to indicate the distance between two places, Tibetans would use terms like “a three-day ride on horseback.”

Sun Yat-sen (1866–1925), the revolutionary and founder of the Republic of China, drew up a plan to develop the regional economy in Tibet. This included the con-struction of railways in order to reclaim wasteland, exploit Tibet’s mineral resources, and support the Chinese armed forces in defending the national frontiers. The British Younghusband invasion of Tibet in 1904 was regarded as a result of China’s inability to transport troops into the inaccessible area.2

In the early 20th century, the British gained influence not only over the Tibetan nobility, but also over the 13th Dalai Lama, who was open-minded about “moder-nity.” It was the British who set up the first telegraph stations in the region. Young Tibetans were sent abroad to study. Upon their return to Tibet, they became aware of the backwardness of their homeland and pushed the idea of modernization. How-ever, all modernization efforts, including those concerning the army, were nipped in the bud by the monastic elites, which feared losing their political power and influ-ence. Following its declaration of independence in 1913, Tibet had a period of nearly forty years to prepare for an armed confrontation with the Chinese, but rather than building up its defense capacity, “Tibet saw itself as a uniquely religious coun-try in which the pursuit of Buddhism was the dominant goal” (Goldstein 1993: 816). Thus, the Chinese invasion faced comparatively little resistance when it took place.

One of China’s main goals after the signing of the “Seventeen-Point Agreement” and its takeover of Tibet was to modernize the region on several levels. As Gold-stein has stated, building tarmac roads from inland China to Lhasa was a priority

2 China Tibet Online (2009).

Diana Lange 102

right from the start (Goldstein 2007: 414). The first section of road from Ganze to Chamdo in Eastern Tibet (445 km) was completed in less than one and a half years, viz., by November 1952. Construction of the highway to Lhasa — another one thousand-odd kilometers of roadway — began in 1953 and was completed in December 1954. Another road from Lhasa to the northern province of Qinghai was opened at the same time (Goldstein 2007: 414–419).3

Today there are many way of reaching Tibet and traveling within the region. Airlines, highways, and the railroad network all play a significant role in long-distance traffic, whereas local and short-distance traffic relies on an efficient network of local roads. After the Cultural Revolution, Chinese leaders wanted to see rapid development in Tibet. The economic transformations of the 1980s and 1990s were comparatively moderate. The introduction of free-market relations caused the economy to diversify, as individual business activities were permitted again. Educational and medical systems were set up and gradually improved. Nevertheless, although economic conditions slightly improved for many Tibetans as of the 1980s, overall living standards remained quite poor compared to those in Eastern China. Drastic modernization started only at the beginning of the 21st century. In 1999, the Chinese Government initiated the so-called “Open up the West” campaign (xibu da kaifa in Chinese), which was designed to overcome the imbalance of economic development between the booming Chinese east coast and the western provinces, including the Tibetan Autonomous Region. In Tibet, most investments were aimed at improving the region’s infrastructure: it was provided with electricity (dams and hydropower stations were constructed), new roads and highways were built, existing roads were repaired or tarmacked, and a new railroad was constructed from Golmud to Lhasa. Experts had regarded the project of a railway between Tibet and its neighboring province Qinghai as unfeasible, but even so, the world’s highest rail route was opened in 2006. The railroad runs across dams, over bridges, and through tunnels. The permafrost soil has been subdued with poles made of cement and steel. A vast number of bridge piers have been constructed, quite a few of them more than fifty meters high. More than 1,000 km of rail tracks were laid through mainly deserted areas and over 5,000-meter-high mountain passes.4 Although the journey takes 24 hours from Qinghai’s capital Xining to Lhasa and as much as 48 hours from Beijing, traveling to Tibet by train is very popular among Chinese tourists.5

3 The road was mainly constructed by Chinese soldiers, although Tibetans were also involved in the

construction work. For a detailed eyewitness report including historical pictures, see the published diary of Lin Tian, who was a Chinese soldier at the time.

4 For a good overview of the railroad construction project, see Peters and Lu (2006). 5 For her Master’s thesis, Ming Ming Su undertook extensive research, which included a questionnaire

on travelers’ perspectives concerning the railway. She focused on travelers to Tibet on the train from Beijing to Lhasa and identified the region’s natural scenery and culture “as the most important reasons for travelers to visit Tibet.” Half of Ming Ming Su’s respondents stated that “if there were no train, they would not have come to Tibet.” Many tourists not only appreciate the splendid panorama as the most important attraction on the train journey, but also believe that traveling by train helps


Many people in Tibet have directly benefited from modernization in the form of infrastructural changes, which has made everyday life easier. Like other people, most Tibetans therefore embrace “modernity” and are now quick to accept technical improvements.6 They appreciate shorter routes and speedy means of travel like cars and motorbikes. New furniture and technical equipment such as TV sets, refrigera-tors, and cell phones have entered Tibetan homes on a large scale. Since 2004 or so, many old farmhouses have been replaced by houses of higher quality furnished with tiled floors and glass windows. Even relatively new houses that were built of mud in the traditional style have been pulled down and replaced by new stone houses. The new building materials are quite easy to obtain, since stone is a byproduct of the many tunnels that are built in the region and of nearby mines. The construction of new houses along with extensive electrification has led to a remarkable change in the lifestyle of many Tibetans.

Fig. 1: A new two-floor stone house near Lhasa

Source: Diana Lange, June 2012.The new car is parked just next to the traditional fuel: yak dung.

them to adapt to the high altitude of Tibet, which they consider a positive side effect. The majority of her respondents agreed that the train journey was an important part of their trip, and 85 percent even considered it the best part of all. “Undoubtedly, the opening of the Qinghai–Tibet railway has had a great impact on the economic development of Tibet, especially from the tourism perspective” (Ming Ming Su 2007: 86–87).

6 See Altner [Lange] (2009 and 2010); Goldstein, Childs, Puchung Wangdui (2008 and 2010); Sautman, Teufel Dreyer (2006); Gruschke (2012).

Diana Lange 104

This is, in fact, part of an ongoing global trend that has not left Tibet untouched. In the past, the Tibetan Plateau gave human beings only two “natural” options in life to assure their livelihood: nomadism and farming. A third option — life as a monk — existed as a result of the basic condition of pre-modern Tibetan society where pious and monastic life would make up for the lack of lay opportunities, while a tiny elite consisting of Buddhist clerics and members of the hereditary nobility ruled and administered the country. Today, “traditional ways of life” are gradually being re-placed by a variety of new economic activities and a totally new everyday lifestyle. The booming tourist business offers Tibetans the opportunity to keep the “traditional way of life” alive, however, or rather, to revive it by creating a new range of jobs.

Experiencing a “traditional Tibetan way of life”: tourism in Tibet As soon as Mao Zedong founded the People’s Republic of China in 1949, he pro-claimed the liberation of Tibet to be one of the main goals of the People’s Liberation Army. In 1951, the “Seventeen-Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet”7 was signed and the Tibetan government was encouraged to reform the exist-ing “feudal” institutions, which were sharply criticized by Chinese Communist lead-ers. At the same time, the Chinese government started confiscating the estates of the religious and secular elites, closing down thousands of monasteries, and creating a new Communist governmental structure. As a consequence of this, Tibet’s farming and nomadic pastoral areas were turned into communes. During the Cultural Revo-lution (1966–76), which was initiated to destroy “the old world” everywhere in China, i.e., old ideas, culture, customs, and habits, Tibetan traditional culture and religion came close to the point of extinction. Tibetan Buddhism was denounced, and most of the monasteries and castles were destroyed (Goldstein 1997: 37–60). All expressions of Tibetan culture were banned, including the Tibetan language, Tibetan songs, dances, and drama, and even local clothing (van Schaik 2011: 246). There is a joke that circulates everywhere in Tibet and characterizes the period of Tibetan history from 1950 to 1980 as three different stages describing the losses the region suffered. It goes as follows: “In the first ten years (1950–60), we lost our land [i.e., Chinese troops entered and took control of Tibet]. In the second ten years (1960–70), we lost our political power [i.e., the traditional government was replaced by a Han-dominated Communist government]. And in the third ten years (1970–80), we lost our culture [i.e., the Cultural Revolution destroyed Tibetan religion and other customs]” (Goldstein 1997: 96).

7 The official English translation is “Agreement of the Central People’s Government and the Local

Government of Tibet on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet.” In Tibetan, it is known as krung dbyang mi dmangs srid gzhung dang bod kyi sa gnas srid gzhung gnyis bod zhi bas bcings bkrol ‘byung thabs skor gyi gros mthun, and the Chinese name for it is Zhongyang renmin zhengfu he Xizang difang zhengfu guanyu heping jiefang Xizang banfa de xieyi.


After Mao Zedong’s death in 1976, Deng Xiaoping implemented reforms to strengthen China’s economy. The disparity in economic and social development between the western areas and those of the Han Chinese in the east had not been bridged over the years but broadened, with Tibet even lagging behind the other minority regions (Tsering Shakya 1999: 371). The transformations resulting from post-Mao policies now started to change the essence of life in Tibet and led to a renaissance of “traditional” Tibetan culture in the 1980s. Customs and religious activities experienced a revival (Goldstein and Kapstein 1998: 10).

Nowadays, the “Tibetan way of life,” which had been criticized as being “feudal” and “backward” for decades, is undergoing discursive re-evaluation and experienc-ing a true revival, albeit in the name of economic prosperity. An increasingly im-portant branch of the economy, tourism has become a source of income in a variety of business sectors in Tibet. The service sector provides jobs for tour guides, drivers, and the countless staff required by hotels and restaurants, for instance. In fact, the region is brimming over with Chinese tourists who want to experience the “simple, traditional Tibetan way of life” in a breathtaking natural environment and make sure they get to see the most famous sites. Many of the monasteries that were once destroyed have now been restored or rebuilt. The scale and quality of reconstruction depends on the location and historical significance of the respective monastery. Those who take care of small monasteries in remote places usually depend on dona-tions from the local population to rebuild or renovate their temples. The reconstruc-tion of monasteries located close to tourist routes or in tourist areas, on the other hand, is often supported by governmental money. One of the highlights of the recon-struction activities is a fort in Shigatse, which was completely destroyed in the 1960s and rebuilt in 2007. Instead of natural stone, however, concrete was used for the walls. Sadly, this “instant” building is no more than a façade; local Tibetans call it “concrete castle.” In contrast, many buildings in the historic city of Lhasa have been rebuilt with local materials, and traditional techniques such as roof cladding (accompanied by work songs) have been employed.8

The fees raised for visiting monasteries have increased tremendously, and entrance fees have even come to be charged at natural sites such as lakes and rivers, too; nothing seems to be free anymore. However, most visitors are still willing to pay in order to see the sites. Although the entrance fee for Potala Palace in Lhasa was dou-bled from 100 to 200 yuan in 2012, the queues of visitors are still very long.

The manufacturing sector is also benefiting from the tourist boom and the demand for “Tibetan products” that has come with it. The growing number of tourists has not only led to an increasing number of restaurants, hotels, and travel agencies being set up, but also to an extensive trade in Tibetan souvenirs. Souvenir shops offer a wide

8 For a detailed description and analysis of the traditional roof cladding and work songs, see

Grothmann (2011).

Diana Lange 106

Fig. 2: Fort Shigatse, or “Concrete Castle”

Source: Diana Lange, June 2012.

Fig. 3: Traditional roof construction at the Barkhor in Lhasa


range of products. Some of these shops extol their goods as “local handicrafts” produced by “Tibetan village artisans.” Religious objects like prayer wheels, rosaries, and scroll paintings (thangkhas) are very popular articles. The increasing demand has, in turn, stimulated Tibetan handicrafts, such as thangkha painting. Thangkha painting centers where young Tibetans are trained in the traditional craft are mushrooming on the Barkhor, the traditional trading area of Lhasa, as are showrooms displaying such artwork. The demand for “traditional” Tibetan products has led to a revival of handicrafts like those of the clay statue builder, metalsmith, carpenter, and tapestry maker. The ongoing reconstruction of monasteries is creating


a demand for statues and all kinds of metal and wooden objects needed in these holy buildings. Traditional materials, techniques and skills that had almost fallen into oblivion in the past are now experiencing a revival. Large-scale re-skilling is taking place, and people are re-adopting traditional materials: chemical colors that were used for dying wool and for paintings in recent years are now being replaced by natural colors that were successfully used in the past, for instance.

Fig. 4 and 5: Thangkha painter and unfinished metal statues in Lhasa


Along with the revival of traditional handicraft technologies, the producers are adapting their products to the demand and taste of their new customers. Traditional ornaments and motifs are very popular, and products with an “ethnic design” sell well on the tourist market. Handicraft goods that are created today are often made for completely different purposes than the original products were. While pre-modern local craftsmen primarily attended to the needs of the local population, today their production is directed at international customers in local and regional markets — and even worldwide. The cultural heritage of handicraft traditions is being turned into a new source of income (Lange 2013). Frederick Wherry undertook an in-depth study of “global markets and local crafts” in Thailand and Costa Rica and drew sim-ilar conclusions there: “Some artists have gone global, either exporting their crafts abroad or selling directly to international tourists, if not both” (Wherry 2008: 133).

Diana Lange 108

Fig. 6: Leather bags in “Tibetan style” for the international market


How tourism is changing the face of Tibet The scope and intensity of construction at tourist sites and the transformation of historical and religious sites into touristic attractions varies from one place to another. A selected number of monasteries along perfectly constructed roads have been almost perfectly reconstructed, but at the same time, they have been “concreted” into the surrounding landscape, since large parking lots were built right next to them for tourist busses. Many mountain passes — and more generally, what-ever spot promises a good glimpse of natural or cultural features of interest — are provided with one of these large parking areas for busses. The famous Gampala Pass between the Yarlung Tsangpo River and Lake Yamdroktso is completely covered by a parking lot intended for at least ten large tourist busses. Every single visitor is charged a fee; parking outside the car park is not allowed. Platforms that offer a nice panoramic view over the river have been constructed all along the Yarlung Tsangpo River. Tourists’ needs are catered to at practically every level. Big concrete toilet facilities have been built in much-frequented places, and newly erected cell phone towers guarantee telephone connections in many remote areas, for example.


Fig. 7: The Gampala pass


Fig. 8: Platform for a panoramic view on the Samye Monastery


Diana Lange 110

A recent Xinhua report stated that “the region is home to 70 class-A national scenic spots as well as 211 star-rated hotels.”9 The hotel construction boom is not confined to Lhasa or major towns, but extends into relatively remote areas as well. Guest-houses are built close to monasteries, especially those in a picturesque landscape like Samding Monastery at Lake Yamdroktso. The functions that many monks carry out have also changed: aside from devoting themselves to their pious duties, they collect entrance fees, sell “religious” souvenirs, and guide tourists around their mon-asteries. Some monasteries have shops of their own comparable to museum shops. Local people outside the monasteries also try to benefit from the booming tourism. They sell all kinds of products, like prayer flags, butter for religious offerings, or ceremonial scarves. Some of them have specialized in selling “Tibetan antiquities,” the authenticity of which is not always easy for non-professionals to determine. Nomads try to do some petty business by selling fresh, handmade cheese. Others rent their yaks out for short rides or for tourists to be photographed on as they sit on the animals’ backs.

Fig. 9: Guesthouse built right beside Samding Monastery near the Yamdroktso


Owing to infrastructural changes like the construction of roads and bridges, the old hide boats, which were essential in the water transport system before the advent of modernity in Central Tibet, have outlived their usefulness in the last few decades.

9 Xinhuanet (2013).


Water transport as such has lost its past significance almost completely. In Central Tibet, there is only one village left where these boats are still built and used for fishing, although most villagers have now given up fishing as a livelihood. One reason why boats are still being constructed is tourism: boat tours are being offered on the Kyichu River. The former fishermen of Chun even design little model boats made of sheepskin as souvenirs (see Altner 2009 and 2010); the exotic boats appeal to tourists and have therefore become a new source of income. This has encouraged people from the nearby village of Lungpa who had also given up boat construction a number of years earlier10 to revive their old tradition. In 2012, an entire new fleet of boats was awaiting tourists when the season began.

Fig. 10: Part of the new boat fleet in Lungpa


The boom in tourism — and the rush to make money from it at practically any cost — is not appreciated by everybody, though. When certain sacred lakes finally came into the focus of tourist companies and the respective local governments, local and national resistance to the tourist-development policy started to grow. In June 2012, local media announced that boating tours would be offered on Lake Yamdroktso south of Lhasa — one of the largest sacred lakes in the Tibet Autonomous Region (after Lake Namtso north of Lhasa and Lake Manasarowar in Western Tibet). These plans were rejected by environmental activists and prominent individuals — Han

10 Altner [Lange] 2009: 61–62.

Diana Lange 112

Chinese and Tibetans alike.11 Chinese film star Chen Kun appealed to the public: “Let’s leave something for later generations to enjoy! Don’t be blinded by short-term interests!”12 While the boating tours were stopped, the opponents failed to halt the construction of a big fish restaurant on the northeastern shore of the lake. The sacred status of the Yamdroktso is not an impediment to harvesting part of its fish population, it seems.

Fig. 11: Fish restaurant under construction on the shore of the Yamdroktso

Source: Diana Lange, June 2012

Nevertheless, the number of tourists is still on the rise, and it seems that the climax of the tourist economy has not been reached yet.

Conclusion Most tourists come to Tibet to experience the “simple, traditional Tibetan way of life”; they want to visit the famous monasteries in an untouched countryside. Tibet is one of the most exotic travel destinations for many tourists and has not lost any of its fascination — the mystique of Shangri-La — so far. In the preface to his book on Lhasa, Robert Barnett underlines these developments: “From the mid-1990s, the culture once reviled as feudal and barbaric became a tourist attraction for wealthier

11 Liu Jianqiang (2012). Liu is the Beijing-based deputy editor of chinadialogue. He has reported

extensively on China’s environmental movement and Tibet. 12 Liu Jianqiang (2012).


Chinese, with nearly a million a year visiting Tibet to enjoy its exotic architecture, customs, and religious traditions” (Barnett 2010: xxix). Tourism is big business — in the meantime, possibly even the most important branch of the Tibetan economy. Recent developments like “concreting over the landscape” and converting every-thing to the anticipated taste of the average traveler are highly questionable, how-ever, for they may lead to the destruction of the very features that attract tourists to Tibet in the first place: its untouched countryside and unspoiled landscape, the inhabitants’ simple lifestyle, and a kind of “otherness” compared to many other parts of China. The charms of many a remote area would be spoiled if it were to swarm with tourists. The renaissance of Tibetan culture initiated in the early 1980s has changed the culture’s dimension and character. The revival appears to have been stimulated from outside and therefore has a “synthetic” touch to it. The Tibetan countryside might be transformed into a huge tourist attraction for visitors from other parts of the world if this continues. There is no evidence to suggest that the current trends are going to change in the near future.

The picture gets even more complicated when the needs and interests of local resi-dents are taken into consideration. Tibet has been overtaken by modernity, and most Tibetans now enjoy the fruits of modernization. The “traditional way of life” has been superseded by new economic options, lifestyles, and values. The tourist indus-try is just one of many new sources of income. In this context, the value of the region’s heritage can be turned into economic gain — one more ongoing global trend that has not left Tibet untouched. More than a few Tibetans currently earn their living as tourist guides, drivers, storekeepers, or hotel and restaurant owners and are constantly in touch with tourists who appreciate their “traditional” way of life.

References Altner [Lange], Diana (2009): Die Verkleinerung der Yakhautboote. Fischerkulturen in Zentral und

Südtibet im sozioökonomischen Wandel des modernen China. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz — (2009): “Fishery in Southern and Central Tibet. An Economic Niche is Going to Disappear”, in:

Dotson, Brandon; Kelsang Norbu Gurung; Halkias, Georgios; Myatt, Tim (eds): Contemporary Visions in Tibetan Studies. Proceedings of the First International Seminar of Young Tibetologists, SOAS 2007. Chicago: Serindia Publications, 45–67

— (2010): “From Water Radish to Fish Restaurant. Recent Developments of Fisheries in Central Tibet”, in: AAS Working Papers in Social Anthropology, 18: 1–13, doi: 10.1553/wpsa18s1 (accessed: 2013-08-28)

Barnett, Robert (2010): Lhasa. Streets with Memories. New York: Columbia University Press China Tibet Online (2009): “Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s blue print for Tibet”, http://chinatibet.people.com.cn/

6660092.html (accessed: 2013-08-28) Goldstein, Melvyn (1993): A History of Modern Tibet, Vol. 1. 1913–1951. The Demise of the Lamaistic

State. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers — (1997): The Snow Lion and the Dragon. Berkely and Los Angelos: University of California Press — (2007): A History of Modern Tibet, Vol. 2. The Calm before the Storm. 1951–1955. Berkeley et al:

University of California Press Goldstein, Melvyn; Kapstein, Matthew T.(eds.) (1998): Buddhism in Contemporary Tibet. Religious

Revival and Cultural Identity. Berkeley et al: University of California Press Goldstein, Melvyn C.; Childs, Geoffrey; Puchung Wangdui (2010): “Beijing’s ‘People First’

Development Initiative for the Tibet Autonomous Region’s Rural Sector. A Case Study from the Shigatse Area”, in: The China Journal, 63: 57–75

Diana Lange 114

— (2008): “‘Going for Income’ in Village Tibet. A Longitude Analysis of Change and Adaptation, 1997–2007”, in: Asian Survey, Vol. XLVIII, No. 3: 514–534

Grothmann, Kerstin (2011): Die Arshe. Arbeitslieder aus dem traditionellen tibetischen Bauhandwerk. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz

Gruschke, Andreas (2012): Nomadische Ressourcennutzung und Existenzsicherung im Umbruch. Die osttibetische Region Yushu (Qinghai, VR China). Wiesbaden: Reichert

Kolås, Åshild (2008): Tourism and Tibetan Culture in Transition. A place called Shangrila. London and New York: Routledge

Lange, Diana (2012): “‘Local handicraft made by Tibetan village artisans’. Globale Einflüsse und ihre Folgen für das lokale Handwerk in Zentraltibet”, in: Zentralasiatische Studien, 41: 89–106

Lin Tian (1997): Xizang jishi (Tibet documentation). Beijing: Zhongguo zangxue chubanshe Liu Jianqiang (2012): “Tibetans fight tourism on holy lakes”, http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/

single/en/5114-Tibetans-fight-tourism-on-holy-lakes (accessed: 2013-08-28) Ming Ming Su (2007): “The Qinghai-Tibet Railway and Tibet Tourism. Travelers’ Perspectives”,

MA thesis, University of Waterloo Peters, Mario; Lu Guang (2006): “Der Zug ins Extreme”, in: GEO, 2: 16–40 Tsering Shakya (1999): The Dragon in the Land of Snows. A History of Modern Tibet since 1947.

London: Pimlico Schaik, Sam van (2011): Tibet. A History. New Haven and New York: Yale University Press Sautman, Barry; Teufel Dreyer, June (eds.) (2006): Contemporary Tibet. Politics, Development, and

Society in a Disputed Region. New York: M.E. Sharpe Wherry, Frederick F. (2008): Global Markets and Local Crafts. Thailand and Costa Rica Compared.

Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press Xinhuanet (2013): “Tibet aims to double incoming tourists”, http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/

2013-01/25/c_132127674.htm (accessed: 2013-08-28)

Travel Destination: Tibet. Modernizing the Present and Concreting over the Past.

Documents

Transcript of Travel Destination: Tibet. Modernizing the Present and Concreting over the Past.