El Gobierno pretende desarrollar la llamada "Región Autónoma del Tíbet" to turn it into a tourist attraction pole
Tibetan Buddhists and pilgrims circle around the most important Jokhang temple
from Lhasa. (Javier Garcia / EFE)
Tibet, the roof of the world and one of the most virgin places on the planet until a few decades ago, It is the scene of an intense development program by the Chinese authorities, that aim to turn the region into a tourist attraction pole.
railway lines, highways and housing blocks expand at a frenetic pace through the once remote Tibetan cities, especially in the capital Lhasa, where historic sanctuaries such as the Potala Palace or the Jokhang Temple coexist with modern off-road vehicles, mobile phone antennas or blocks of socialist-inspired buildings.
Right in front of the mythical Potala, a large avenue crowded with cars runs while, a few meters away, a giant screen displays the bubbles of a refreshing drink.
Seemingly oblivious to the illuminated signs and road traffic, dozens of chinese tourists, perched on a small promontory, se hacen "selfies" in front of the legendary palace that housed the governments of Tibet and the residence of its highest civil and spiritual figure, the Dalai Lama.
El impulso del turismo es una de las prioridades de Pekín para desarrollar la llamada "Región Autónoma del Tíbet" (TAR, by its acronym in English) por lo que ha celebrado por cuarta vez este año en Lhasa la "Expo de Turismo y Cultura del Tíbet y de China", to which he has invited a small group of foreign media, Among them Efe.
"El turismo tiene un papel crítico en el desarrollo del Tíbet", stated at the inauguration of that forum the president of the government of the autonomous region, Qi Zahla, and announced that the area hopes to host this year 30 millions of tourists, the vast majority of them Chinese.
Last year they arrived 25 millions of tourists to the Tibetan plateau - with barely three million inhabitants- of which only 334.000 They were foreigners, who have to negotiate multiple permits to access the region and can only do so on organized trips.
International journalists and diplomats are prohibited from entering unless they are invited by the Chinese government., some restrictions that, according to TAR leaders, They will gradually rise.
"El Tíbet es una de las mejores caras de la nueva China", Zahla proclaimed at the opening of the expo in which other members of the Communist Party were also responsible for praising the role that tourism has had in improving the living conditions of Tibetans..
The truth is that the increase in the purchasing power of the Chinese population after the strong economic growth of recent years has multiplied the waves of domestic tourists in all parts of the country and, but still, in the majestic Himalayan region annexed by China in 1951.
According to Beijing, tourism and the development promoted by the central Government have made the Gross Domestic Product (Commence) of the region has multiplied by more than a thousand since then and that only in the last 16 years life expectancy went from 38 a 68 years.
From 2002 have been built 9.000 kilometers of highways, The Qinghai-Lhasa train - the highest in the world - has been launched, which first connected Tibet by railway- and countless residential buildings and public infrastructures have been built.
Around the Tibetan capital, many of these housing estates are located, however, still empty, as confirmed by Efe.
The Chinese authorities assure that these homes are subsidized and intended to offer better living conditions to poor Tibetan farmers..
Supporters of the so-called Tibetan Government in exile, headed by the 14th Dalai Lama, They believe they will accommodate new immigrants from the interior of China, with which Beijing seeks to increase the presence of the Han ethnic group - the majority in the country- to end up making it prevail over the Tibetan.
Be that as it may, The Chinese presence in Tibet is already overwhelming. From the red flags and large images of Chinese leaders in streets and squares to the preponderance of Mandarin Chinese over the Tibetan language in commerce or business.
Un gran cartel de Xi Jinping, Mao Zedong and other leaders presides over the great esplanade in front of the Potala, crowned by a red banner.
a little further, a sign at a yak meat butcher shop announces its gender, like everywhere in Lhasa, in both languages although, like everywhere too, with Chinese in larger characters.
