It was not until after the democratic reform of Tibet in 1959 that Tibetan social and cultural development entered a new era. From this date, Tibetan culture was no longer the privilege of a small group of monks and nobles, but became the common cultural heritage for all the Tibetan people.

In the past, the rate of school-age children’s enrollment was less than 2 percent. Today Tibet has a well-developed education system, including six higher education institutions, seven vocational schools, 118 middle schools, 880 elementary schools and 1,351 teaching stations, with the enrollment rate for school-age children reaching 95.9 percent. The region has 538,000 students on campus, with the illiteracy rate dropping to 5 percent. All these prove great progress for Tibetan culture and education.

In learning, the use and development of the Tibetan language are highly stressed. Today, in the capital city Lhasa and other regions in Tibet Autonomous Region, signs in the Tibetan language can be found on government buildings, factories, schools, bus stations, airports, shops, hotels, as well as street and traffic signs. Programs in Tibetan broadcast by the Tibet TV Station are viewable throughout China. Educational institutions in Tibet Autonomous Region universally practice a bilingual educational system whereby teaching is done principally in the Tibetan language. Furthermore, teaching and reference materials for all the courses from primary school to senior high school have been edited in or translated into the Tibetan language. The encoded Tibetan language has been formally recognized by the Chinese state and international standards, the first among China’s ethnic languages.

Since the late 1980s, the Central Government of China has allocated more than 380 million yuan for the protection and maintenance of the three key cultural relics of the Potala Palace, Norbu Lingka and Sagya Monastery. The Potala Palace, Jokhang Monastery and Norbu Lingka have been listed as World Cultural Heritage sites. Experts from the World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization spoke highly of the maintenance work of the Potala Palace, saying it was a “miracle in the history of world heritage protection” and “a great contribution to the protection of the Tibetan culture and even world culture.” The Chinese Government has also made giant investment to save, compile and publish Tibetan cultural classics. On the Tri-Pitaka (a Buddhism sutra) alone, the government has allocated 36 million yuan, with the collating work taking more than 20 years. This level of protection of Tibetan culture would have been impossible in the past.

Qinghai-Tibet Railway promotes local development

The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, which is hailed by the international community as an “unprecedented project” in the human history of railway construction and as an auspicious road toward happiness by the Tibetan people, was described in negative terms by the Dalai Lama in his interview with Der Spiegel. According to him, since the railway began to operate in July 2006, every day will see 5,000 to 6,000 people entering Tibet, among whom, only 2,000 go back. Alleging that prostitutes and beggars from other parts of the country began to settle down in Tibet, he blamed the railway for driving the Tibetan people into the corner and exposing them too much to the outside world in a “cultural homicide.” This must be based on hearsay or assumption.

As a matter of fact, since it was opened to traffic on July 1, 2006, there are four trains daily going in and out of Tibet. Even if all four trains were filled with passengers, they can only carry 3,000 people in total. It is absolutely impossible to carry 6,000 passengers. Besides, according to statistics, by December 31, 2006, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway had carried 300,775 passengers into Tibet and 358,727 out, with those leaving outnumbering those who entered by 57,954. All these facts show that what Dalai Lama said is not true.

The formal operation of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway marked the beginning of train travel to Tibet. Gone are the days when it was easier for Chinese inland residents to travel overseas than to enter Tibet. It is a milestone in Tibet’s history of economic and social development. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway has connected the Tibetan market to the vast market in the rest of China. Thanks to the low transport fee of the railway, which is 0.12-yuan per ton-km, the cost for Tibet to import commodities from inland areas has been cut by 75 percent what it was before. The railway has also boosted the development of Tibet’s tourism, medicine, mining, agricultural, animal product processing and handicraft sectors, cultivating a large number of new economic growth points. Economic growth in Tibet has also bolstered the economy in its neighboring provinces, giving rise to a new economic belt consisting of provinces and regions along the Qingzang Gaoyuan (Qinghai-Tibet Plateau).

The operation of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway will undoubtedly help to protect and develop the Tibetan culture, contributing to a positive interaction between local culture and external cultures. On one hand, the arrival of tourists who are attracted by Tibet’s natural scenery and unique culture will encourage local people to further develop their culture; on the other hand, communication between local people and tourists and their personal visits to the outside world will promote the absorption of fine external cultures and also the integration of cultures. History tells us that cultures do not reject each other, nor will they always remain the same, but they develop in the process of communication and integration with other cultures. Openness and integration are the internal force that prevents a culture from dying, while conformity and innovation are the life force that keeps alive any cultures. The Tibetan culture is no exception.