Blog Lhasa Summer, 8/15/2011

Lhasa in the summer is kind of crazy. And I am not talking about the wild thunder storms with hale and multiple bolts of lightening striking at one time. If you have been in New York City or Venice during tourist season then you might understand what it is like here but if not, then you'd be surprised by the suffocating effect tourists have on the city. I think it is a little bit worse in terms of number of tourists this year because of two things; 1) the draw for Chinese tourists that the 90th anniversary of the first communist meeting in China and the 60th anniversary of the "Peaceful liberation of Tibet" has and 2) (also due to the CCP celebrations) the fact that the TAR was closed to foreign tourists for a month from June to July (June 25 to July 26th roughly).

So after finally finishing up my final papers and exams for my courses in Tibetan (June 29th, a total of: one essay for Tibetan cultures on American Dating practices, two folktales on a Native American folktale, and two exams (one for Lhasa dialect class and the other for calligraphy) all in Tibetan), I had the chance to relax a little before (which I wasn't aware of at the time) the tourism storm. I thought that the number of Chinese tourists was bad but when the TAR opened up to everyone else again, there was and still is no escaping them.

Don't get me wrong I have met some amazing people on their travels and had great conversations but the character of the city just changes. Like when the nomads pour into Lhasa and the feel of the city is different. So changes the feeling when the city is open exclusively to Chinese or the combination of Chinese and other tourists. What is most noticeable for me is the way Tibetans people treat me.

I am used to being talked about in Tibetan by Tibetans right in front of me. And I'm used to telling them that I know Tibetan or saying something in Tibetan and seeing their embarrassed faces. But this is normal and locals talk about tourists in every culture (maybe they are jus a little more careful about in Europe or the US because more tourists speak European languages and or English). It wasn't until I told locals in Venice (while I studying abroad there) that I was a student that they started to even talk to me (true story). So Tibet is not to unique in that aspect. But when lots of tourists are here it is annoying because everyone assumes I too am a tourist. I get asked to buy things more often while walking around the Barkhor ("lookie lookie") and people don't speak Tibetan but only English to me.

Usually, most Tibetans are so used to foreigners being tourists (not students) and not at all being able to speak a sentence in Tibetan. So when I do speak to speak them in Tibetan they don't recognize that I am speaking Tibetan at all and actually will continue to speak English with me. (This could also be that they just can't understand my Tibetan because it is not so great or they speak a different dialect). When this happens I just keep on speaking Tibetan or will give a Tibetan greeting of some kind so they know I can speak their language. (They also really love it when I tell them I don't know Chinese, the expression on their face is both proud and priceless). But I actually feel a little bad for French, German, Spanish or Italian tourists because they have to be heckled by shop owners and sellers in English. I would definitely be offended if I was from Europe and people kept speaking English to me because I might feel they assumed I was English or worse American. Because let's face it I get offended if people think I'm not from California.

Just from the people I have spoken with from various countries and seeing or hearing different tourists groups on Jokhang square, I would say that primarily now here in Lhasa there are groups from mainland China, Spain, Holland, Germany, the US and Italy (listed most to least with Spain and Holland maybe tied). But really the amount of decked out high intensity climbing gear wearing Chinese and European tourists that I have seen (just for walking around in Lhasa city) outrageous and hilarious.

For some reason (mostly Chinese) tourists come to Lhasa like they are climbing Mount Everest. I have even thought about asking them how their trek from base camp was but then of course realizing that they wouldn't understand me (and I would also be being an ass).But when Chinese and foreigners come to visit the TAR it isn't all bad. The way the economy has been primarily structured, it is now based on tourism and government administration (this includes "all" aspects of running the region). This means more tourists equals more work for locals who frankly have nothing to do when there is no work. And sometimes locals will turn to rather unproductive means of occupying themselves when there is a lack of work. (Note: this is a general statement and of course there are some exceptions to this like locals who run private schools and businesses that are based in the community.) (In the past the economy was not so, as the economy in Lhasa was based more on international trade from both agricultural and cultural goods.)

The spurge of tourists both Chinese and European has caused a bit of a strange situation in relation to transportation in the TAR. Just as during the June/ July closed month it was impossible for tourists from outside China to get in to the TAR ( I can't tell you how many Chinese asked me during this time how I go to Tibet, in which I replied "I walked"). But now over the last two weeks, in a similar way it is almost impossible to leave the TAR. By bus, train or plane if you don't already have a ticket out of Lhasa you have almost no chance of doing so until early September (a friend of mine spent yesterday going to every kind of ticketing office in Lhasa (train, plane, bus) and there was one plane ticket in late August but nothing else until September 6th.)

At this point, like during the June/July period before, air travel website cannot be used to book flights out of Lhasa airport (LXA). The Chinese airline websites wouldn't allow it because they require a "reservation specialist" to purchase the ticket (and there are only Chinese companies who fly out of LXA). You can only get LXA to mainland china or other countries at local offices. What usually ends up happening if you need a flight abroad is, you buy an international flight from Beijing (PEK) or Chengdu (CTU) and buy a LXA to CTU or PEK from a local office in cash (credit cards not usually accepted unless you have a China Union pay card, another systematic structural barrier). But buying from local offices is what is no longer possible at the moment.

This has not only to do with the number of tourists here now trying to get out, but also the number of Chinese and Tibetans leaving and coming for the Shotan Festival (famous yogurt festival which includes traditional Tibetan opera performances and the unveiling of a Giant Thangka of the Buddha at Drepong Monastery) at the end of August. This transportation blackout is like nothing I've seen before and just doesn't make sense for the Chinese government not to help rectify. There would be no reason for this to happen intentionally like the blocking of foreign tourists in June/ July, so the lack of tourists being able to leave must be due to the strain on the transportation infrastructure. (But I did hear from someone trying to buy a train ticket that the ticketing office stopped giving tickets one day because the police caught some Chinese dealers selling counterfeit tickets and then on another day there was just none available because of demand).

So with summer coming to end and my eminent departure approaching I too am nervous about my ticket that I bought almost two weeks ago now. I know some other people who needed flights after a reservation fell through but they ended up getting flights out of the TAR just in time to keep their plans intact. They had to travel with just a confirmation number and never got a ticket or receipt before they left. I hear this is how many air travelers are doing it now. And another tour group had to leave some members behind for half a day because they couldn't get on their scheduled flight due to it being over capacity. So hopefully I will have my confirmation number soon and can safely and swiftly be on my way.