Over fall break I was in Tibet for three days, and each day I had a run-in with the Chinese police. I didn't know this, but Tibet is now a police state. Lhasa is 70% Han Chinese thanks to Chinese migration, and and Chinese soldiers, in groups of 5 and dressed in riot gear, stand in stations at every corner, or patrol with shotguns and machine guns through the alleys. A sniper's nest sits above Jokang temple (the most famous). I accidentally kicked a rock into the feet of one soldier on the second day. While I would hate to generalize, this one didn't have much of a sense of humour. Our train got into town late at night on Tuesday, and after dad and I got dinner, we left the restaurant just in time to see a riot start. Two snobbish kids on bikes were pretending to ride into people in the square, and pulling away at the last second, but they actually hit a Tibetan man on his motorbike. When he yelled at them they kicked his bike, knocking his food onto the floor. Then the motorcyclist punched one of the boys. At this point it was time to leave, so we started walking down the alley. About a step into this plan one of the cinderblocks they were throwing shattered at my feet, and a dozen soldiers with guns up came running down the alley, at me. Thinking quickly, not wanting to get shot, I put my hands at head height, and made a face that said "I don't know officer". They changed direction two steps from me and went for the fight that was getting bigger behind me. Time to go. Other days we got pulled over in taxis, or spent three hours in a police station because my passport went missing and I needed to get back to Beijing. As far as the sights, a picture is worth a thousand words. You should see Potala Palace, and Jokang temple, and Sera Monastery, and mountains covered in colorful prayer flags. But I will say, in each of those places, there was a palpable, heavy, holy feeling. Also a brief bout with dysentery, and a renewed comfort with squat toilets. Not a bad three days.
Other things worth knowing about Tibet: Yak meat is delicious, Monks slap their hands to emphasize a point when they debate, and so in heated discussion it looks like martial arts. Buddhas exist for everything, and the higher up the mountain and the bigger the better. The Tibetans all speak Mandarin and Tibetan, and have excellent taste in headwear.
Realized three years after enrolling in college that I could have learned everything I needed to know about life from Johnny Cash, Warren Zevon, and Bob Schneider, for about 100 dollars in CD's. Finally have coffee here, shocked at how much I can get done in a day.
