TIBETAN SURVIVAL IN SHANGRI-LA: TOURISM, BUDDHISM, AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 CHENGDU 000181

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/CM, DRL, G

E.O. 12958: DECL: 9/3/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON SOCI CH
SUBJECT: TIBETAN SURVIVAL IN SHANGRI-LA: TOURISM, BUDDHISM, AND
ECONOMICS IN NW YUNNAN

REF: A. A) 08 CHENGDU 000197

B. B) 08 CHENGDU 000238 AND PREVIOUS

C. C) 09 CHENGDU 000149

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CLASSIFIED BY: David E. Brown, Consul General, U.S. Consulate
General Chengdu.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)

1. (C) Summary: A recent visit to Shangri-la by CG and ConGen
staff found a booming tourism industry that some say threatens
the local Tibetan Buddhist landscape, though the local Party
Secretary asserts that it benefits religious life, bringing
necessary financial support. New high-end, Tibetan-themed spa
hotels catering to Chinese and Western tourists have opened,
with some actively supporting Tibetans in the local economy (one
is even owned by a Tibetan). Life in nearby monasteries is less
encouraging, with monks made to read patriotic newspapers and
sell trinkets instead of practicing Buddhism. Allegiance to the
Dalai Lama persists, though Tibetans are uncertain of what lies
ahead should the Dalai Lama choose not to reincarnate. Despite
rules for bilingualism in autonomous prefectures, local signage
is overwhelmingly Chinese and opportunities to study Tibetan
extremely limited. But despite creeping Chinese acculturation,
post sees hope for Tibetans who find ways to thrive and preserve
their cultural identity in Shangri-la's new economy. End
Summary.


2. (C) Consul General, along with PolEcon Officer and ethnic
Tibetan LES, traveled August 13-15 to Shangri-la (formerly known
as Zhongdian),seat of the Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture
in northwest Yunnan Province. Meetings included Diqing Party
Secretary, Qi Zhala; manager of the Banyan Tree Ringha Hotel,
Luhu Winarno; Manager/Owner of the Songtsam Hotel, Pema Dorje;
Managing Director of Yueliang Wan Company (aka Gyalthang
Eco-Travel Service Company) Uttara Crees; and Tibet Poverty
Alleviation Fund (TPAF) Country Director Tony Gleason (reported
septel). Informal contacts included numerous monks,
shopkeepers, and local Tibetans.

Tourism, the Environment, and Buddhism
--------------


3. (SBU) Diqing's priorities are economic development and
environmental protection, Diqing Party Secretary Qi told CG.
Diqing sees 3-4 million tourists per year, with roughly 400,000
from overseas, and the prefecture is trying to encourage more
high-end tourism. Noting his admiration for U.S. models of
protecting the environment while allowing for economic
development, Qi said he hopes to see similar developments in
Diqing Prefecture. Eco-trekking businesswoman Crees commented
separately that Diqing Prefecture understands the value of
tourism and environmental protection better than most local
governments in China.


4. (C) When asked about religious freedom in the context of
development priorities, Qi emphasized that cultural activities
are secondary to livelihood. Building/rebuilding temples and
monasteries requires financial resources, he said, noting the
prefecture government's support in this area. Moreover, the
government helps monks and nuns reap the benefits of the growing
tourism industry by building roads and water pipes and providing
electricity, medical insurance, and basic living expenses for
elder monks and nuns. The government has also built a Buddhist
college in the prefecture where monks and nuns can receive a
high quality Buddhist education, he said.


5. (C) The impact of tourism development on monastic life around
Shangri-la varies dramatically. A government worker in
Zhongdian recently told Tibetan LES that the biggest monastery
in the prefecture, the Sumtsen Ling, has established a tourism
management bureau and that each day some 3,000 tourists pay the
entrance fee of 85 RMB (USD 12). The worker said that many
monastic leaders are getting more interested in tourism
development than in religious education. In contrast, a monk
told PolEconOff his monastery is 101km from Shangri-la high up
in the mountains, so tourism has had no impact whatsoever there.
Other monks said there are 24 or so monasteries in the area,
but only 4-5 of them really see any tourists.

Tibetans as Hoteliers and Tourism Operators
--------------


6. (SBU) At the Songtsam Hotel in Shangri-la, ranked as the top
Yunnan hotel on the Chinese version of Tripadvisor.com, ConGen
staff met highly successful Tibetan businessman Pema Dorje.
Already having 30 percent stakes in several area hotels,
owner/manager Dorje took a 50 percent stake in the Songtsam, a
majority-Tibetan staffed hotel exquisitely decorated with
traditional thangka paintings, antique rugs, and painted doors
from old buildings -- all authentically Tibetan. Responding to
PolEconOff's comment that the hotel appeared true to Tibetan
style down to minute details like antique window locking

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mechanisms, Dorje said he was unable to find local artisans
still trained in traditional Tibetan building and had to
recreate the hotel from his memory of growing up in a Tibetan
home. The wealthiest person in the prefecture is also Tibetan,
Dorje noted, and there are other successful Tibetans in the
area, including holders of concessions of local scenic areas.
(Note: Dorje is sharing his largesse, supporting local Tibetan
children with 1000 RMB scholarships for elementary school
students and higher amounts for middle and high school students.
End Note.)


7. (SBU) At the Songtsam Hotel's main competitor, the Banyan
Tree Ringha, Indonesian hotel manager Luhu Winarno discussed his
company's efforts to blend with and support the local Tibetan
community. (Comment: While also a beautiful hotel meant to be
done in traditional Tibetan style, the Banyan Tree's decor was a
mixture of Tibetan art of varying authenticity and
made-to-look-antique Chinese furniture. End Comment.) The
international Banyan Tree chain of hotels has its own Corporate
Social Responsibility department, he said, so he has clear
guidelines to follow. The hotel, with a majority Tibetan staff,
attempts to blend with the local culture, working closely with
the local village to organize activities and send hotel business
to locals, such as renting horses or organizing homestays. The
hotel chef also holds a class where he teaches local women about
cooking, food safety, and nutrition.


8. (C) In addition to their significant role in Shangri-la's
hotel industry, ethnic Tibetans appear to share control with Han
Chinese over the area's natural tourism resources. For example,
the Diqing Prefecture Tourism Investment Company reportedly
controls over 80 percent of major scenic spots in the
prefecture. A local government worker told Tibetan LES recently
that the company is owned by both local ethnic Tibetans and
Chinese, and that many Tibetans work for the company. (Note:
Ref B discusses post's impression that Tibetans' ability to
participate in the economy is one reason Diqing Prefecture has
remained the quietest of all ethnic Tibetan areas over the past
year. Other reasons include the prefecture's relatively low
proportion of both Tibetans and Han versus other nationalities,
the presence of ethnically Tibetan officials, and a weaker
Tibetan ethnic identity due to early migration of Han into the
area. Diqing intellectuals say that the Chinese Communist
Party's United Front Work Department, which plays an important
role in minorities policy, often visit Diqing Prefecture on
study tours to study the reasons for Diqing's stability. End
Note.)

A Monk's Life: Patriotic Education and Selling Trinkets
-------------- --------------


9. (C) Qi told CG that religious freedom has liberalized since
the reform and opening and if you visit any Tibetan home it will
have Buddhist a altar with images of famous Tibetan Buddhist
masters. However, he emphasized that "patriotic education" must
be carried out in the monasteries, and monks and nuns should
promote solidarity among Tibetan Buddhism's different schools.
(Note: ConGen staff noticed hanging files of patriotic education
newspapers in the local monasteries. According to Tibetan LES,
after the March 14 disturbances Han Chinese Communist Party
cadres had criticized their ethnic Tibetan counterparts saying,
"The Party fills your stomach, but the Dalai Lama fills your
mind." End Note.) Some, but not all, monks continue to be
assigned to positions by decision of the Democratic Monastic
Management Committee. For example, one monk with whom we spoke
was selling religious articles at a monastery for one year,
leaving him virtually no time to study, he said. Another monk
with whom we spoke is currently assigned to a monastic job by
the committee for one year, saying either his Buddhist school or
the monastic committee will decide his next assignment, though
it is possible the committee may simply let the school decide
next time, he said. A third monk said he was sent to a small
remote temple for one year by his monastery, not the committee.


10. (C) Qi praised changes to Chinese law prohibiting those
under 18 to enter the monkhood, leaving them to make their own
decision as adults. Monks with whom we spoke, however, said the
number of monks is steadily declining, in part because delaying
religious education until 18 results in some Tibetans having
lost interest in a monastic life by that age. At the same time,
family planning rules limiting Tibetans to two children mean
families can no longer afford to send one of several male
children to the monkhood (per tradition),since his help will be
needed for herding or agriculture. Nonetheless, an unknown
number of Diqing families continue to circumvent the age-18 rule
by sending their children to India for study. During a separate
trip Shangri-la in July, one Tibetan proudly told PolEconOff

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that 20 students from his village of 200 are currently studying
in India. Many were smuggled across the border as children of
seven or eight years old, he said.

14th Dalai Lama on Display, But What If No 15th?
-------------- ---


11. (C) ConGen staff noted several pictures of the Dalai Lama on
display, including one at a small hilltop temple with a large
and very obvious photo of the Dalai Lama permanently displayed,
surrounded by flashing yellow and orange lights. Asked about
concern for the photo being seen, the monk, during pauses in his
ritual practice and blessings to local Tibetan women who entered
during our conversation, said he just covers the picture when
local officials visit once or twice a year. Pictures of the
deceased 10th Panchen Lama were numerous in all monasteries and
temples we visited, but no pictures were spied of the
controversial 11th Panchen Lama not recognized by Beijing. One
monk showed us his Tibetan religious calendar, produced by the
Tibetan exile government and given to him by a monk who had
visited India, while another told us of his own trip to India
where he secretly met the Dalai Lama. He decided, however, to
return as he felt the monastery needed his help. Another monk
mentioned that the Chinese Government no longer issued 10-year
validity passports to monks, and therefore they must travel
illegally without passports.


12. (C) Asked what would happen if the current Dalai Lama should
decide not to reincarnate as a 15th Dalai Lama (as has been
suggested by the Dalai Lama himself),the monk who had met with
the Dalai Lama said he was unsure what would happen. Holding
back tears, he said it would be up to the Tibetan people and
would depend on their karma.

PRC Bilingualism: Speak Tibetan, Read Chinese
--------------


13. (C) According to Party Secretary Qi, 50 percent of the
schools in Diqing offer instruction in Tibetan, utilizing
teachers from Qinghai, the Tibetan Autonomous Region, and other
ethnically Tibetan areas. Others we spoke with, however,
assured us that in Shangri-la itself (Diqing's largest city),
the only school that offers Tibetan instruction is the Tibetan
Language Middle School (which oddly also includes elementary and
high school grades). Businessman Pema Dorje, who himself cannot
read Tibetan but said he would like to learn in order to read
Buddhist texts, said about 20 percent of local education is
available in Tibetan, a number quoted by others. A young girl
in the village just outside Shangri-la said no Tibetan is
offered at her elementary school or the village middle school.
Among several ethnic Tibetans with whom we spoke, none could
read Tibetan, though all spoke the local dialect at home. One
Tibetan shopkeeper said she studied Chinese instead of Tibetan
as she was afraid she would have no job opportunities if she
could not read Chinese. (Note: Both Party Secretary Qi and the
prefecture governor, also a Tibetan, received Chinese educations
and cannot read or write Tibetan. End note.)


14. (C) Per ConGenOffs' observations, the apparent lack of
education in written Tibetan is reflected in the shortage of
Tibetan signage in this ostensibly bilingual autonomous
prefecture, evidenced by the fact that while shop signs outside
are posted in both Chinese and Tibetan (with the Chinese many
times larger than the Tibetan),signage in official buildings
appears to be entirely in Chinese. The local Rural Cooperative
Bank, where residents can apply for loans, the post office, and
even the local hospital only had signs in Chinese (thought the
hospital did have "toilet" written in Tibetan). Asked about the
lack of Tibetan-language signs in the hospital, two ethnic
Tibetan women staffing the hospital registration desk (who also
spoke Tibetan at home but could not read it) told PolEconOff
that since there are Tibetan-speaking staff at the hospital it
is not a problem. (Comment: The women seemed never to have
given this question any thought, nor did they seem to think it
was a problem since so few Tibetans have learned to read, which
was the reaction we got from several Tibetans. End Comment.)

Comment: Socialism with Tibetan Characteristics?
-------------- ---


15. (SBU) Comment: Consistent with previous reporting, the
process of "Sinicization" continues in Diqing -- from inadequate
offerings of Tibetan education, to a shortage of Tibetan
signage, to a string of Han Chinese shopkeepers selling Tibetan
cultural items (e.g. at the "Satisfied Minority Race Things"
shop). While Diqing's unique history and geography likely
contributed to its early susceptibility to Chinese influence

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(reftels),the area's recent boom in tourism may have more
dramatic effects, for better or worse. A certain Disney-esque
character has taken hold in Shangri-la's old town, but a
"Tibetan-ness" still permeates the place (in varying degrees of
authenticity),without which Shangri-la's economic potential for
tourism would vanish. In this changing economic climate, one
sees poor ethnic Tibetans selling vegetables street-side, while
Han Chinese sell "Tibetan" products to tourists from
brick-and-mortar shops. At the same time, one also sees
successful businessmen like Pema Dorje and others thriving. One
can only hope Tibetans like Dorje continue to find ways to
succeed in the Chinese economy, and that others catch on.


16. (SBU) As of yet, at least, Chinese influence here only goes
so far: riding to the airport along Shangri-la's newly-built
divided highway, we approached a giant white Tibetan stupa
serving as a traffic circle where other roads met ours. To our
surprise, our Tibetan taxi driver suddenly veered across several
lanes of traffic to drive clockwise around the stupa before
taking the exit -- the new road and new taxi may be Chinese, but
risking life and limb to honor the Buddhist tradition of
clockwise circumambulation is decidedly Tibetan. End Comment.
BROWN