Hello SangyeDolma,

I should have been more specific, I should have said that China wants the name tibet wiped from the face of the earth and the memory of it, I surprised that have'nt changed the name of that region.

Even though tibet was annexed by China, they were still kind of seperate from China to the outside world, you have people going to visit the dali lama and the tibetan monks, and things such as that, but I believe China wants it (the tibetan culture) all out of the way and eliminated for all time.

And yes if tibet had oil you could bet the world would have been in an up roar by now even before now.

Hi SPM,

Technically, China has done away with the name 'Tibet' and has renamed the region.

Nobody goes there anymore to see The Dalai Lama as he fled into exile in 1959. Anyone in Tibet caught even with a photo of him is tried for treason. The people who made the movie Kundun, even Brad Pitt, has been banned from China, as it shows the early life of the Dalai Lama including the Chinese takeover.

No foreigner is allowed to talk to any monks or nuns on Tibet anymore.

The monasteries and nunneries are all under Chinese control and a lot of what tourists see is all pretend, all staged. The Chinese even have spies in the monasteries and nunneries.

But you're right that China wants all Tibetan culture wiped off the earth.

That's a shame because the world is losing more and more of its unique cultures everyday.

Tibet will never been forgotten, since the fruit of its teachings and culture have traveled to other lands, even back to the historic birth place of those teachings, in N. India.

China has miserably failed if they have intended to destroy the memory of Tibet, though of course they will do their best to destroy the culture of all those Tibetans who remain living in Tibet.

I have already said China's policy towards Tibet is wrong. They should at least give the same autonomy to Tibet as it does to hong Kong amnd Macau.

I think it is dangerous to make statements like
There may be some Chinese who like those in the Culture Revolution want to destroy the past to bring in a new system. However most Chinese value their past. Buddhist temples have been preserved even in Beijing. The problem in Tibet is that the Han Chinese see the Tibetans as a threat. They are trying to settle in Tibet to lessen the numbers of Tibetans. I think this wrong and will fail. The unique culture of Tibet will survive as has the regional cutures of other pats of China.It is true that However this is also true in Cambodia and Vietnam. Surely showing of monastries to tourists is at least an indication that they want to preseve some aspects of Buddhist culture. Of course all tours are control however I am not sure they can be call pretence. It is true that many Buddhists in China do not support the Daila Lama, He is a political figure as well as a spiritual leader.

However I do support his call not to boycott the Olympic Games. I attended the Moscow Games and found the American boycott had no effect. In fact there were more World Records broken there than most other Games.

Visitors to the Games might see a clean up city but at least there is some reform. If the Games are held, China may be for es to make some gestures towards Darful in the Sudan and Tibet.

Hi aus22! I should amend what I said about the Chinese. When I referred to the Chinese I meant the Chinese government, not the people.

We just had new neighbors move in next door and the woman is from China. I haven't met her yet but my husband has. He said she has a Chinese accent but her English is good and clear. She gave Ken two gifts to give to me. That was so sweet. Ken was worried I'd have a problem with her as she's Chinese and there's the whole Tibet mess. I said I didn't have a problem with anyone Chinese, it's their government. He breathed a huge sigh of relief.

I've mentioned before that there's a wonderful book called "In Exile From the Land of Snows" which is a very readable history of Tibet and of the Chinese takeover. I know that Sangye has read it and enjoyed it as well.

The chapter on Tibetan medicine alone is worth your time (if you take it out of the library) and money (if you buy it).

Highly recommended.

I will keep a look out for it in the book stores.

It's not a new book, so you're unlikely to find it there. I'd suggest the library or alibris.com.

Dax, it is still in publication, believe it or not. It is a wonderful book! I highly recommend it. It's very sad at times, but hopeful. The Tibetans never lose their hope.