I’ve just been informed that starting from June 2016, non-Chinese tourists traveling to Seda have been stopped at checkpoints along the way and have not been allowed to reach Larung Gar. Obviusly there is no official communication from the government, but apparently tourist can’t enter the area anymore.
This was the closest area to the region of Tibet where it was possible to experience the tibetan lifestyle on your own (you can’t do that in Tibet, you must have a travel permit, a tour guide and a private vehicle with driver). People were living in a completely different way and I can say that everyone there was Tibetan: even their speaking language and writings were not in mandarin, but in tibetan. It has been really fascinating to travel there and experience their culture without restrictions.
It’s so sad to see that an idea can disturb so much a government and that there is a repression going on with no one knowing about it. Resources say that Chinese government is planning to reduce by half the number of the nuns and monks living there within 2017.
I totally share what Sophie Richardson said:
“China’s authorities should not be determining the size of monasteries or any other religious institution, but should accept that religious freedom means letting people decide for themselves and their religious practices”.
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