Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
GUCCI GUCHI
Being a devout Buddhist region, Tibet has a long tradition of begging for alms. Generally,
beggars will approach you with thumbs up and mumble 'guchi, guchi'- 'please, please'
(not a request for Italian designer clothes).
Tibetans tend to be generous with beggars and usually hand out a couple of máo to
anyone deserving. Banks and monasteries will swap a ¥10 note for a wad of one-máo
notes, which go a long way.
If you do give (and the choice is entirely yours), give the same amount Tibetans do;
don't encourage the beggars to make foreigners a special target by handing out large de-
nominations. It's worth keeping all your small change in one pocket - there's nothing
worse than pulling out a ¥100!
Han Migration
Official statistics claim 93% of the TAR's population is Tibetan, a figure that is hotly con-
tested by almost everyone except the government. Chinese figures for the population of
Lhasa, for example, suggest it is just over 87% Tibetan and just under 12% Han Chinese, a
ratio that stretches the credulity of anyone who has visited the city in recent years. It is
more likely that well over 50% of Lhasa's population is Han Chinese.
The current flood of Chinese immigrants into Tibet has been termed China's 'second in-
vasion'. The Chinese government is very coy about releasing figures that would make it
clear just how many Chinese there are in Tibet, but for visitors who have made repeated
trips to Tibet the increased numbers of Han Chinese are undeniable.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, there's an endemic mistrust between the Tibetans and Chinese
and ethnic tensions bubble just under the surface. Many Tibetans see the Han Chinese as
land-hungry outsiders, while the Chinese often complain that the Tibetans are ungrateful
and slow to adjust to economic opportunities. Actual violence between the two communit-
ies is rare, but it's quickly apparent to visitors that most towns have quite separate Chinese
and Tibetan (and in some cases also Hui Muslim) quarters.
