25/12/2015
A jungle of cranes juts out between the rooftops of the old holy city of Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. Your urban area, a maze of white brick houses with wooden gates and windows, has spread to the modern multi-story buildings that are built on the outskirts. Of the three million inhabitants that this vast region has, where the 92 percent are Tibetans and other very small minorities and the rest are from the majority Han ethnic group in China, a third already live in Lhasa. Of that long million inhabitants, only half (580.000) They are permanent residents. The rest, mostly Han Chinese coming from other provinces, He only stays in the city for work during the mild spring and summer months..
For the future, Authorities expect the permanent population to exceed one million in Lhasa. But not all who come will be Han Chinese. As is happening more and more frequently, There will also be young Tibetans who abandon their jobs traditional in the countryside to settle in the city.
«Devoting yourself to livestock or agriculture is very hard. It is better to live in Lhasa to earn more money», explains to ABC Suolang Quzhen, a girl from 16 Danxiung years, near Lake Namtso, who studies at the Vocational Training School of the Tibetan capital. Youngest daughter of a family of ranchers, what you have 108 yaks and 90 sheep, He has followed the same example as three of his five brothers and prefers to study rather than work in the fields. «My older brother left school and returned to my parents, but I want to look for a job in a logistics center in Lhasa», points out the young woman, who is in the first of the three years of the Transportation and Packaging course.
like her, in this center they study for free 1.800 young Tibetans representing a new generation: the beneficiary of Chinese economic growth. «I don't usually pray because I'm too busy working.», he says, breaking with the usual image of Tibetans, one of the most devout people in the world. This is demonstrated by the thousands and thousands of faithful who, shaking their prayer wheels, They circle around the Potala Palace praying, former residence of the Dalai Lama, and Jokhang Temple.
Employment
In front of them, the majority of advanced age, young Tibetans are more interested in the human than the divine. «Thanks to the development of the city, It is easy to find a job in Lhasa after going through the Vocational Training School», asegura Norbu Tashi, Employment Director. Of the 720 students who will graduate next year, 500 They already do paid internships and earn between 1.000 and 2.000 yuan (in between 140 and 280 euros), depending on the job. As detailed by Norbu Tashi, The most requested studies are accounting, nursing and electricity, while the sectors with the best future are tourism, hospitality and catering.
Before, Tibet received a million visitors. Last year, reached the 15 millions. Many of them arrived on the train that connects Beijing with Lhasa from 2006, the highest railway line in the world by crossing mountains that exceed 5.000 metros. The majority of these tourists were nationals due to restrictions on foreigners. Due to the mass suicides of Buddhist monks to protest against China, that have been charged 138 lives since 2009, Beijing's authoritarian regime frequently closes Tibet to foreign travelers, who need a special permit in addition to their visa and cannot visit many areas «sensitive». Although journalists and diplomats are prohibited from entering the Tibet, This correspondent was able to visit it on a trip organized by the Chinese Foreign Ministry for a small group of international media..
«We are not closed to the world and we hope that more people come», invites the executive vice president of Tibet, Deng Xiaogang, who insists that «The task of the Chinese Government is to improve the lives of the people». For it, claims that «we have taken out 400.000 people of poverty and others 300.000 will come out of it in the next Five Year Plan».
China's richest water reserves
According to official data, the Gross Domestic Product (Commence) of Tibet has gone from 174 million yuan (24,5 Millions of euros) in 1951, when it was a feudal theocracy led by the Dalai Lama, to the 92.083 million yuan (12.974 Millions of euros) from last year. For your part,GDP per capita has jumped from 142 a 29.252 yuan (of 20 a 4.122 euros). Until the third trimester, Tibet is the Chinese province that has grown the most this year (9,3 percent).
With the richest water reserves in China and 102 minerals, this vast region of the Himalayas spreads across 1,2 million square kilometers and occupies one eighth of the national territory. In addition to its natural resources, It is of vital geostrategic importance for Beijing due to its borders with India and Burma..
Despite the progress that Chinese modernization has brought, Many Tibetans see it as colonization due to the regime's repression of their religion and culture., which has its greatest exponent in the Dalai Lama. Exiled in India since the failed revolt of 1959, He has been demonized as a separatist terrorist by Beijing to the point of banning his portrait. «There are Tibetans who benefit from Chinese growth, but I want independence because the Government uses religion for political purposes», denounces a young man who hides his name out of fear. With pros and cons, Tibet is torn between colonization and progress.
