Tibetan alternative games
Updated on 06 August 2008
Lindsey Hilsum takes a break from Beijing to visits the horse festivals in the largely Tibetan region of Qinghai.
Everyone is obsessed with smog, stadia and security for the Beijing Olympics so we headed off for Qinghai, a largely Tibetan region, where we found - maybe unsurprisingly - that people have other things on their minds.
An underage driver goes off road
For a start, Tibetans have their own Olympics, the annual horse festivals where tens of thousands gather to cheer on horse racing and archery. This year, however, the Chinese government has cancelled the big summer festivals, fearing that if too many Tibetans gather there'll be unrest.
At the horse festival
Their fears are not unfounded. Last August, a Tibetan called Ronggyal Adrak leapt on stage at the Lithang Horse Festival demanding independence and the return of the Dalai Lama. He's now in prison for "inciting separatism." This year, the atmosphere is even more charged after the uprising in March in which thousands of Tibetans demonstrated against the Chinese government.
A pilgrim prostrates himself
The police and army have been working hard since then, "re-educating" monks and taking down pictures of the Dalai Lama. They have certainly succeeded in quelling active dissent - there were no security forces in evidence in the Rongwu area during our three day visit, yet no-one was out on the streets protesting. Some Tibetans remain in prison, the rest know that's where they'll land up if they cause trouble now.
Dalai Lama - local hero
But the Chinese government didn't seem to be doing too well on the hearts and minds front. Monks were all displaying pictures of the Dalai Lama again, despite months of "patriotic education" designed to make them pledge allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party. Here's a selection of comments from monks we interviewed, all anonymously, because they could get into serious trouble for expressing their views:
"When the government people come to check, we put away our Dalai Lama pictures. Of course we don't want to. When they leave, we put them up again."
"The Party Secretary of the county came and called for a meeting. He said: "Life is so good and you still rioted. It's your fault." I don't agree. We have our own thoughts. All Tibetans want our own country."
"My heart aches when I see the soldiers smash up Dalai Lama pictures. My friend called me after his dormitory was raided by the soldiers. I saw a big mess in his room. Dalai Lama pictures were smashed and thrown on the floor."
"I understand why people rebel. For example, I haven't done anything wrong. But if you always accuse me of wrong doing, saying Tibetans are bad, then sooner or later, I'll rebel. If you always wrongly accuse somebody, he'll explode at some point. We try to be tolerant as long as nobody gets hurt. Only when we can't stand it anymore, do we rebel."
Lindsey's favourite yak!
A nomad, herding yaks high on the grasslands, who had only the vaguest notion of what the trouble had been about in March said, "I worship the Dalai Lama. I really want to see him. He's Buddha in my heart. I trust him and respect him."
Nomads crowd around a camera
Tibetans are not going to get independence. China is too strong; it's as simple as that. Film stars and activists can shout as loudly as they like, and it will make no difference.
Going to the festival
But you can't force people to hate what they love, and the Chinese campaign to make Tibetans reject the Dalai Lama is not only brutal but futile. The only hope is that one day China will be confident and powerful enough to relax, and let Tibetans have genuine autonomy and worship as they wish.
Blessing the horses
