Travel Through Tibet

Fake T-shirts, inexpensive jeans, and MTV aspirants characterize late Tibetan cities much than prayer wheels, monasteries and devoted monks. At one point, French (2003) describes a visit to a monastery that shows the modern reality of Tibet is a far cry from romanticized views typically perpetuated by outsiders, "At Tashilhunpo?I found an atmosphere of fear. The monks gather inmed to be short(p) to a greater extent than ticket collectors, and none of them wanted to talk. Their job was to pickle with the busloads of Chinese tourists, cheerful with their suits and cameras, who came to look at the monastery. It was rumored that many were non monks at all, entirely spies," (232).

The facts typically provided to westerly authorities with pry to the impact of the Chinese on Tibet are often exaggerated, fit to French. While Tibetan officials routinely argue that more than twenty percent of the population died as a direct result of Chinese rule, French (2003) was given access to secret records at Dharamsala that were not credible. He claims no more than half a cardinal people died as a result of Chinese rule, but he admits this is "a devastating enough figure," (282). Chinese commerce has primarily devastated the economy and culture of Tibet. Many individuals live with the painful memories of the horrors of the Cultural Revolution. They remember boots that were so worn they grew into the skin, people resorting to can

With lever to UN resolutions, French (2003) explores how the UN and its members routinely slue Tibet's issues or place it conveniently on the back burner. At one point he describes the self-immolation of the Tibetan Thubten Ngodup in upstart Delhi in 1998. Ngodup was scheduled to be included in the future round of hunger strikers. One of his main protests was the long-forgotten UN resolutions on Tibet. though U.S. foreign policy has long supported self-determinism and human right hands, china remains a sore spot on two levels. In this respect, French (2003) is highly disillusioned with Tibetan activism.

He describes the influence of Hollywood and a celebrity like Richard Gere in the move to liberate Tibet, but finds such efforts ineffectual and chagrin to traditional Tibetan culture and the spirit of Buddhism. He discusses his feelings with respect to the Dalai Lama, particularly his decision to leave Tibet. French (2003) wonders if the Dalai Lama's flawed traffic with Chinese officials or his decision to leave Tibet to save the Western world from materialism while promoting Tibetan liberation were the right decisions. He wonders if the Dalai Lama could have done more. In this aspect, we see one of French's flaws that stems from his initial youthful idealism pertaining to Tibetan activism and his more mature cynicism. He fails to recognize the fact that the Dalai Lama has been submissive in keeping Tibet in the minds of Westerners for decades. Further, though French may have had illusions about Tibetan activism and liberation, it seems the Dalai Lama never did. At one point when he discusses whether or not he should have made the decision to leave Tibet, the Dalai Lama sounds more realistic than most about the actual realities of Tibet, its political situation, and the center of liberation: "I remain concerned with what is happening inside(a) Tibet. Some Tibetans rely too much on the campaign of one person?Whether the Dalai Lama remains a refugee or n
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