China
7.8 Earthquake in Western Sichuan
By Tony on May 12, 2008 | 1 Comment »
I was sitting here in Rajasthan watching “Desperate Housewives” repeats on television when the news cut in and announced that there had been a 7.8 earthquake in western Sichuan in the very area we traveled through last September. This is an area that means a great deal to us, and we made many friends during our time there.
After the traumatic conflicts between the ethnic Tibetans and the government, the area is now being challenged by this catastrophic natural event. We hope that our friends in Sichuan are safe. To help our readers better understand this area and its people, we have linked into a small collection of postings on the region. Just click on the thumbnails above, to read the posting.
Friends Arrested in Sichuan!
By Thomas on March 21, 2008 | No Comments »
In October last year, I was raving about our stay in Dargye Gompa, a beautiful and serene monastery in Sichuan, China. We spent several days there with three monks and a wonderful, small group of travelers, French Thomas, Fredy the Nomad, and Rachel.
French Thomas just left a comment on our blog that monks from Dargye Gompa have been arrested while protesting for their freedom, and he left a link with photos from an online source.
This is terrible news, and we hope the Chinese government will end this nonsense and release our friends.
Tibetans Fight Back
By Tony on March 15, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Tibetan protests against Chinese occupation have flared up in Lhasa as well as across the Tibetan world from Xiahe in Gansu all the way to Delhi here in India. Officials claim that 10 people have been killed, but Tibetans calling friends and relatives here in India indicate it could be up to 70 people or more.
Many of you followed our adventure through Tibet and the Tibetan regions of Sichuan and Qinghai, so you know that it is a region we both care deeply about. We commented on tensions in the area in the following posts, which you might want to check out: Blowing Up Buddha, Attack on Serthar Monastery, Kham and the Khampa, and Facades.
Even during our travels in Tibet, certain individuals indicated such protests were on their way. We did not relate this news in our blog because we were worried that Chinese officials would leap to conclusions about who had suggested the protests to us. The people who told us this are in no way referenced in our blog. (This may seem paranoid, but we discovered while using the Internet in China that even personal blogs were being monitored and blocked. How they manage to censor so much I will never understand.)
Our friend Oscar sent in the following link to bloggers in Lhasa at the moment. Also check out International Campaign for Tibet for the latest news.
Trash Eating Cow
By Thomas on December 14, 2007 | 1 Comment »
As in many third world countries, trash management in China, and even more so in Tibet, is a huge problem particularly outside the tourist areas where there don’t seem to be any centralized places for disposing of trash. The more organized municipalities have random piles of trash distributed throughout the town while less organized places are evenly littered with garbage – it is just like living on a dump.
The most shocking examples of trash mismanagement, we encountered in Tibet. » Continue reading this post »
The Train to Lhasa
By Thomas on November 10, 2007 | No Comments »
We finally got our Lhasa permits and train tickets – Xining adieu!
After all the news reports and documentaries we had seen on TV about the new train line to Lhasa, we were very eager to get on the train and see it for ourselves. The whole train business could, after all, come to a sudden end. Scientists and engineers have predicted a bleak future for the train » Continue reading this post »
