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China reopens Tibet to foreign tourists

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A file photo taken in February 2009 of an ethnic Tibetan farmer sells home-made yak butter at Tomsikang market, which local stall holders say was the site of March riot last year, in Lhasa, Tibet. China announced the opening of Tibet to foreign tourist from 5 April.File photo/Reuters/Emma Graham-Harrison/China

Foreign tourists will be allowed to visit Tibet again from 5 April after it remained closed since Losar, the Tibetan New Year, and during the 50th anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet on 10 March.

“Tibet will resume receiving foreign tourists as of 5 April, and we warmly welcome them”, Xinhua, China’s state run news agency quoted Bachug, the region’s head of tourism as saying.

“Reception work was suspended in March for the sake of travellers’ safety,” added the official.

“Tibet is harmonious and safe now. Travel agencies, tourist resorts and hotels are well prepared for tourists.”

So far more than 100 foreign tourist groups had applied to visit Tibet, the official had said.

China banned tourists from visiting Tibet since Losar, the Tibetan New Year, which fell on 25 February. Extra troops were brought in ahead of the 50th anniversary of the failed uprising.

Widespread anti-China protests that turned violent on the 49th anniversary on the entire Tibetan plateau prompted this year’s lock down and the heavy security in the region.

Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959 led to the flight of the Dalai Lama in to exile in India, and the establishment of the Tibetan government-in-exile in the northern Indian hilltop town of Dharamshala.

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