EPTI’m on the second last day of my week long trip to Tibet, and so far it has been an enlightening and pleasant experience. The beautiful scenery aside, allow me to shed some light on the “true Tibetan” way of life.
Previous knowledge of Tibetan culture pretty much stops at “they are a group of nomadic people with faith in Buddhism.” My contact with them this week has made me realize that they are in fact really good people; enthusiastic to welcome strangers, hardworking (because they have to survive in harsh conditions, especially before modern comforts living as true nomads), concretely devoted to Buddhism, and possesses a rich culture that stretches back thousands of years.
However, some of their practices, especially ones stemming from tradition and survival considerations are tough to stomach. First of all, in stark contrast to the Han perspective on the issue, their sexual relationships are terrifying lewd and salacious. Maybe these are too strong of adjectives, but the fact remains that true, unassimilated Tibetans have more sexual partners than even some porn stars. Let me convey this point further with a true story.
Tibetan girls, upon reaching a certain age (typically 15-16), deemed cultural fit for reproduction, are sent to live in an isolated (~50 meters away from the large family tent) white tent. The color of the tent here is significant; it sends a message to neighboring nomadic families that this family has a daughter of marriageable age fit to have children. Upon seeing the white tent, ALL neighboring Tibetan single men or various ages are automatically granted permission to visit this white tent, for the sole purpose of having sex with the young girl. This practice continues until the girl conceives, from which point onwards neighboring Tibetan families with single men request a marriage. The important thing to note here is that families with pregnant girls are always in demand; single men WANT to marry a pregnant girl, because a pregnant girl has demonstrated her fertility and ability to reproduce further. Thus, a girl gains status and power once she has children. In the end, the children are welcomed into the new family with the mother, and it is truly a case of not knowing who your biological father is, for pretty much everyone.
Incomprehensible to me at first, I understood why this cultural practice came into place after considering the event from a purely biological and survival perspective. The sanitary condition and non-existent personal hygiene practices combine to lower the fertility rates of both men and women dramatically for these nomadic people. Can you imagine working with animal carcasses/feces all day and not washing yourself for years or even decades at a time? Besides poor hygiene, sexually transmitted infections, although mostly endemic and controlled by resistance stemming from natural selection, also engender all sorts of fertility issues. I wish I had better internet to verify this statistic, but apparently AIDS is rampart amongst the Tibetan population, the highest in the country. It’s significant to point out that a girl, depending on how fertile and other factors, could live in the “white tent” for upwards of a decade before she conceives a baby, and sometimes not even then. Getting knocked up is also something the Tibetans worry about, but in their case the anxiety is turned 180 degree in the other direction.
I’ve been volunteering with an NGO in the Gansu and Qinghao provinces in China, driving around in SUVs and giving out free condoms along with educational pamphlets to indigenous Tibetans. It’s ironic and sad because I am very rarely able to convey my message and connect with them; their mentality of being, “What?!! Wear something that prevents me from impregnating a girl? Are you crazy?!! Don’t have so many sexual partners? How the hell am I suppose to have kids?!!”
Next I’ll touch on the religion of Buddhism. It’s almost unreal thinking about the devotion of Tibetans which engenders them to accomplish feats of terrible yet great personal sacrifices. “Ke Chang Tou”, a practice where devoted monks kneel down and bang their forehead on the ground every 2 steps in praise of Buddha, for tens of kilometers at a time, is performed regularly and by many. It is the utmost honor yet also requirement for every family to have a son sent to be educated in the monastery, and people make amazing sacrifices to the monasteries. Donating ALL their materialistic wealth to build a better temple, the monasteries are coated with gold tiles and awe-striking in grandeur with endless wall paintings, bells, and statues of Gods from Buddhist realm. It’s literally to the point of “I’d gladly give my life, be it from starvation or whichever reason, for the betterment of Buddhism”, due to the belief that your contribution to the monasteries in this life will heavily weight into how high of a status you’ll be born with during the next one. Insane dedication and eternal devotion till death, for all believers, for everyone. Sadly, what agonizes me is that although one could praise such a life of the utmost religious fulfillment for the average Tibetan, I have to vehemently condemn a large majority of religious leaders. News reports, photo evidence and eye-witness accounts have revealed scandals of Dalais, the highest religious authority in Buddhism, living revoltingly hedonistic lifestyles with sports cars, mansions and countless wives, not adhering to the Buddhist sins and drinking/gambling/eating meat/etc. Sources will be searched and given when I get the chance, but I can confirm with my own sightings of a Mercedes AMG SLK convertible driven by someone in lama (Buddhist monk) clothing leaving and entering the barred off areas of a large monastery.
Moreover, only now am I starting to understand the real reason behind the conflict between the Tibetans and Hans (majority Mandarin in China). The best parallel I can muster up is the conflict between the Europeans and Native Americans; 2 groups of people from completely different worlds sharing the same geography are bound to have problems, although times have changed (and as such, committing genocide isn’t really an option anymore) and technically both groups are all Chinese people. The Han people have embraced the modern way of life, while it has been a much slower process for the Tibetans. With objectivity in mind, I must say that both parties are at fault, and conflicts are naturally inevitable.
Starting from the economic perspective, the Han people feel as if Tibetans are parasites of the country who take so much yet give back so little, and there is some truth to their feelings. Every year, the Chinese government allocates large sums of money to provinces with Tibetan districts. This is evident just from my own travels where good infrastructure (roads, electricity, etc.), improved residential housing, and remote schools are all built through funding from the government often just to serve (and to a certain extent, appease because of separation issues) the Tibetan communities. Naturally, there are Han people in China whose conditions are much worse off without aid money from the government who will more or less develop feelings of bitterness and resentment, especially when the Tibetans contribute very little to the national GDP aside from tourism. Speaking of tourism, the Tibetans are somewhat hostile toward Han people doing business on their “turf”. In terms of the average businessperson, a Tibetan is no match for a Han, as these Han people that open up shops, agencies, and various other commercial outlets understand what the tourist look for and thus open up much more competitive businesses. Personally, I am choosing to stay at Han hotels and eat at Han restaurants for the most important reason, none other than better sanitation or at the very least, the appearance of it. However, I can also sympathize with the bitter feelings of local Tibetans, to have their sources of income and livelihood “stolen” away by the outlanders.
Socially, the Tibetans, quite understandably, feel as if their land has been encroached upon. Although not as large of an issue nowadays, it was a valid reason to be infuriated with the Han people when the PRC was first established in 1949 which carved up the country into provinces with revised areas. Although still left with massive land areas in the northwestern provinces, small pockets of religious and cultural significance to the Tibetans were lost, because they offered significant geographical and resource advantages for economic development. In contrast, the Han people are gruesomely tired and angry at all the social privileges that assimilated city-dwelling Tibetans enjoy, which is also quite understandable. Especially for Tibetans that have been assimilated into the Han culture and the modern way of life, it seems unfair to the Han people that these “Tibetans”, outwardly exactly the same in appearance as Han people, get to have a large sum of points added to their university entrance exam final scores, a reduced tuition, and legal privileges when in trouble with the law. The Han people are so weary of this issue that although the government is still sensitive to global criticisms on its policy towards Tibetans (and make concessions accordingly), the average Han is mostly just saying, “fuck Tibet. Let them separate and we’ll be so much better without them.” Worse yet, for Han people brought up with an incomplete understanding of Tibetans, the sentiment is that of the utmost contempt and hostility, which is again also understandable as you often see Tibetans urinating/defecating on the sidewalks of smaller city streets and will never forget the smell of months or years of showerlessness.
All in all, the assimilation of the majority of Tibetans into Han culture / modern way of life will happen inevitably as the Hans can’t just physically, mentally and culturally destroy the Tibetans like the Europeans did to the Native Americans, but the assimilation process will be a long and arduous one that require better communication and a willingness to sympathize from both groups of people.
Lastly, I will comment my views on the issue of commercialization. Due to the fact that I planned a route that is mostly populated, and often visited by tourists (for safety considerations), my expectations of seeing traditional and true nomadic Tibetan culture has not been met. Specifically against the teachings of Buddha, now temples and monasteries, especially the large and famous ones with a long history, now require expensive tickets to get in. Everywhere I went, there were endless shops after shops, owned by Tibetans, selling “Tibetan relics and souvenirs”, that upon closer inspection, are undoubted “Made in China” mass produced in factories. Washrooms cost money to enter, water bottles cost money to fill, taking pictures of Tibetans in traditional clothing again costs cheese; the endless list goes on and on, I would not last an hour without my wallet. This phenomenon is saddening considering the loss of traditions and culture, but I guess it is a step in the right direction towards assimilation and harmony.
A bonus lighter note: although not to the point of developing actual altitude sickness, I am feeling “altitude weakness” above 3500 meters. When doing any sort of physical exercise that raises my heart rate by more than 30%, I have to take regular breaks as breathing becomes somewhat labored. Smoking frequency is lessened dramatically as it more often than not just makes me feel shitty. A fun little experiment was conducted when I came across an oxygen tank, where I was only able to hold my breath for a maximum of 1:26 at an altitude of 4100 meters, but after breathing from the oxygen tank I surprised myself and held my breath for 3:15. A sight that I captured in photos was hilariously fantastic: a group of older (late 40s to early 50s) and overweight tourists were smoking in a coffee shop with an oxygen bar, with a cigarette in 1 hand and an oxygen tube in the other.
Thanks for reading, pictures and more content to come after I get home.
