Word: tibet
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Three years ago, on a desperately cold day in the Himalayan winter of 2006, Tashi and his two friends reached Lhasa after a long trek from their nomadic settlement in Tibet's Ambdo province. From there, they telephoned their families to tell them they were going across the border, to Dharamsala in India, to see the Dalai Lama and get an education. The families were worried - in addition to the risk of being caught fleeing Tibet, the boys faced an even more arduous, monthlong trek through innumerable snow-covered passes. Each was barely out of his teens and had paid...
...Landlines in Tibet are all down," says Jigme Worbu, who works as a phone booth operator for the exiled government. "Though sometimes it's possible to get through on mobile phones." On the wall is a list of telephone codes for various Tibetan regions, and four clocks charting the time in India, Tibet, the U.S. and Europe. He says some 20 people drop by to call Tibet from his phone booths every day. Conversation is cryptic at best, with callers avoiding names and any references that might land those in Tibet in trouble with the authorities. "No one's talking...
Tenzin Losel of International Campaign for Tibet spends several hours each day scouring Chinese websites and blogs for information on the goings-on in Tibet. "It's the internet that has been of most use to us," he says. "We try everything, from Google to Chinese tourist blogs," he says, "Sometimes tourists might reveal, say, how many troops they saw during a visit to Potala Palace. Sometimes Chinese news reports unwittingly let out details such as how China has handled protests." But Chinese authorities have been policing the Net heavily since the protests last March, and many blogs and sites...
Tibetan exiles in Dharamsala hate Xizang TV - the propaganda channel in the Tibetan language operated by Beijing - yet hardly anyone misses a show. "It's the only place you can hear Tibetan and see Tibet," says Tsundue. They also take solace in the music of two singers who work in Chinese-occupied Tibet and whose CD's are hot sellers: Yadong, who sings of the beauty of his homeland, and Kunga, a young heartthrob loved as much for his voice as for his boyish good looks. "Their lyrics are very clever," says Losel. "They might seem to sing of natural...
With little clue to the situation inside Tibet, the mood on Dharamsala's streets is muted. A handful of protesters are selling yellow-and-maroon Tibetan flags ahead of demonstrations scheduled for Tuesday. A few youngsters on motor-bikes are cruising around hoisting flags, and a lone painter is making a black-and-white sign reading "Tibet: One Struggle, One Nation" near the Namgyal monastery that forms the heart of the town. But there's none of the optimism and the energy of last year. "Last year's protests pushed the Tibet issue to the top of the international news...