The Tibetan drink of choice is “butter tea,” black tea with yak butter. Most Westerners cringe at the thought. Most of the folks in my study-abroad group professed love or at least like for it. Me, I did not care for it. It tasted about what you would imagine black tea with unsalted butter would taste like–unimaginably bland.  It does not help that if Tibetans like you, they will see to it that your teacup stays filled to the brim. The only way you can keep it from being refilled is to not drink it, but you feel so impolite if you don’t at least sip it.

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From YouTube…

I have questions about some of this…

Here’s something interesting…

Buy a yak for needy Tibetan families, or just buy a share in a yak.

Yaks provide much of what a traditional Tibetan family needs–butter for tea and lamps; hair for clothes, tents, slings, and offerings; meat; and tasty, tasty cheese.

This film by Paul Wagner tells the story of a boy and two girls from a small village in western Tibet. After Chinese officers kill the boy’s grandfather for making anti-Chinese posters, the three move to Lhasa and explore three paths of life.

The boy, Dorjee (Jampa Kelsang), grows into a drunken, discontented man who is angry with the Tibetans who espouse the Dalai Lama’s “middle way” to independence. Nonviolence, he believes, will profit Tibet nothing with the Chinese, who have not shown understanding of anything but violence. Dorjee’s sister Dolkar (portrayed by real-life Tibetan singer Dadon) “goes to the blanket,” so to speak, becoming a Chinese-language singer with a Chinese boyfriend, the well-meaning Duan-ping. This of course does not sit well with Dorjee, who considers her a traitor. For her part, Dolkar tells no one he is her brother, calling him instead a “drunk bum.” Their cousin Pema becomes a nun, and watches as another young nun is beaten and abducted after refusing to renounce the Dalai Lama. Upon coming to Lhasa, she gets in trouble herself for participating in pro-Dalai Lama chants on the Barkhor.

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Tibetan kids are cute as buttons! Chubby little windburned, sunburned cheeks, ready smiles, and often a cheery “Hallo!”

Many of the younger children we saw were a bit shy, and would hide behind Mom if we waved at them. Mom would encourage them to greet us, and they’d blush and hide even more, in that little-kid way that isn’t really hiding, with their bodies behind Mom’s legs and their heads sticking out.

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Tibetan arts and crafts are characterized by ornate decoration and bright colors. There were many things that I wished I could bring home with me. However, it is important to note that Tibet is fighting to retain some measure of cultural uniqueness. Every real Tibetan antique that is taken out of the country is one more piece of heritage that Tibet loses. Already many beautiful monasteries have been partially or wholly destroyed, and the artwork on the walls of the Potala Palace is being painted over or covered by fabrics.

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According to Phayul, China’s government is demanding the right to veto Tibetan reincarnated Living Buddhas. What this would basically do is allow China to decide who is a deity and who is not.

There are several famous examples of this, the most famous of which is probably the case of the Dalai Lama. The DL is considered the reincarnation of Chenrezig, the Tibetan Buddhist deity of compassion. As such, he is also the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama. What the Chinese government would like to do is to be able to say, “Sure, you guys have found someone you think might be the Dalai Lama, but we’ve found a suitable candidate as well, and you will consider him as well,” and of course there would be no choice but to accept the Chinese candidate (who would be a Tibetan kid, but wholly answerable to Beijing) or risk the destruction of monasteries and the killing and jailing of innocents.

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