Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
never suffered any adverse effects from drinking copious amounts of
chang
. However, you
should be aware that it is often made with contaminated water, and there is always some
risk in drinking it.
The main brand of local beer is Lhasa Beer, now brewed in Lhasa in a joint venture with
Carlsberg at the world's highest brewery.
Supermarkets in Lhasa stock several types of (usually awful) Chinese red wine, including
Shangri-La, produced in the Tibetan areas of northeast Yúnnán using methods handed
down by French missionaries at the beginning of the 19th century.
Gay & Lesbian Travellers
Homosexuality has historical precedents in Tibet, especially in Tibetan monasteries, where
a male lover was known as
trap'i kedmen,
or 'monk's wife'. The Dalai Lama has sent mixed
signals about homosexuality, describing gay sex as 'sexual misconduct', 'improper' and 'in-
appropriate', but also by saying, 'There are no acts of love between adults that one can or
should condemn'.
The official attitude to gays and lesbians in China is also ambiguous, with responses ran-
ging from draconian penalties to tacit acceptance. Travellers are advised to act with discre-
tion. Chinese men routinely hold hands and drape their arms around each other without
anyone inferring any sexual overtones.
Hanns Ebensten Travel
( 800-825 9766;
www.hetravel.com
)
This US-based company has organised gay and lesbian group trips to Tibet in the past.
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Out Adventures
( 866-360 1152;
www.out-adventures.com
)
A Canada-based company that can organise tailor-made tours to Tibet.
Utopia
Has a good website and publishes a guide to gay travel in China, though with little specif-
ic to Tibet.
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