Tibetans leave home to seek new opportunities

CHENGDU - A growing number of Tibetans have taken to migrating to new areas to seek new opportunities, according to a research project conducted by the Institute for Contemporary Tibetan Studies.

The project, conducted by the institute under the China Tibetology Research Center since last June, found that many Tibetans have settled down in densely-populated cities far from their hometowns, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu.

While at least 20,000 Tibetans are permanently living in Beijing, Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province, is home to more than 30,000 permanent Tibetan residents and a floating population of 150,000 to 200,000 Tibetans, according to the study.

"Tibetans, like many other Chinese, have gone beyond the confines of their hometowns to search for opportunities and try new lifestyles in faraway cities," said Rigzin Losel, director of contemporary studies at the China Tibetology Research Center and leader of the research project.

The phenomenon, however, has largely been ignored by critics who have blamed government policies for failing to prevent people from China's dominant Han ethnicity from flooding into Tibet, Rigzin Losel said.

The six-month project, conducted by four teams of researchers, studied the number, distribution, occupations and living conditions for Tibetans who have settled down in Chengdu and the neighboring city of Dujiangyan, as well as Shuangliu and Pixian counties, all of which are predominantly Han, he said.

New Tibetan communities

Drarong runs a Tibetan restaurant on a commercial street near the Temple of Marquis in downtown Chengdu. He named the restaurant "Gesar" after a Tibetan king who ruled during the 11th century.

Drarong, 45, said he opened the restaurant in 2003 after noticing an increase in the number of Tibetans living in Chengdu. "We started by serving traditional Tibetan food and drink: dumplings, beef, yogurt and yak butter tea."

The restaurant was instantly popular among the city's Tibetans, as well as tourists and Chengdu natives, he said.

After a few years, Drarong bought an apartment in Chengdu, returning to his hometown in the Garze Tibetan autonomous prefecture only for holidays. "Now that Tibetan food is getting popular, I'm seriously considering opening a new outlet in Chengdu."

Among the most frequent diners in Drarong's restaurant are Tibetan businesspeople on Temple of Marquis Street, known by Tibetans as "Chengdu's Pargor Street" - named after a major commercial street in the heart of Lhasa, Tibet's capital.

Along the street are hundreds of Tibetan businesses: themed restaurants, bars, hostels and stores selling Tibetan clothing, artwork and religious items. It is also home to the Garze prefectural government's liaison office in Chengdu.

Rigzin Losel and his associates found in their research that Chengdu has the third-largest Tibetan population in Sichuan after the province's two traditional Tibetan communities: the Garze and Ngaba prefectures.

"People from Tibet and other Tibetan communities in Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu and Yunnan provinces now make at least 1 million trips to Chengdu annually," he said.

Chengdu is a major stopping-off point for Tibetans during their long journeys to other Chinese regions. Almost all domestic air passengers to and from Lhasa stop over in Chengdu to transfer to regional flights.

Chengdu has made efforts to improve the lives of migrants who chose to move to the city, including offering them medical services, legal aid, employment services and free education for children, even if the migrants plan to stay for just one year.

Booming Tibetan culture

The growing number of Tibetan migrants in inland provinces has in turn created a Tibetan cultural boom. In many parts of Sichuan, Tibetan music and dance dominate local entertainment markets.

"Tanggula Wind," a Tibetan art troupe based in Chengdu, stages music, dance and operatic performances that draw large audiences every evening. The troupe has staged a number of well-known musicals and helped talented Tibetan farmers to become nationally renowned performers.

However, the troupe struggled for most of the years following its founding in 1999, undergoing major restructuring ten years later. In 2009, Li Jin, a Tibetan from Sichuan's Ngaba prefecture, turned the group into a joint stock company and began targeting national audiences.

"We hope to promote Tibetan art and culture across the country, " said Li, the company's board chairman.

The opportunities, benefits and charms of urban living have drawn many Tibetans away from the remote, underdeveloped villages they previously called home. In Jinchuan county of Ngaba, about one-seventh of the county's population of 70,000 have moved to inland cities to do business or study.

"These migrants have brought Tibetan culture to other parts of China and helped reshape the mindset of folks back home," said Rigzin Losel.

National cohesion

Rigzin Losel and his associates believe the migration of Tibetans to China's inland provinces is an "irreversible trend" that can serve regional economic development and enhance cohesion.

In Ande, a small town in Pixian county, one of the region's largest yak trading centers has allowed Tibetan herders from remote areas to sell cattle for higher prices and make up for a lack of yak beef in urban areas.

"The increase of Tibetans in Sichuan province reflects a higher degree of equality, tolerance and cohesion between Chinese people of different ethnic groups," said Rigzin Losel.

"The fact that many Tibetans have bought homes in Chengdu indicates that they are comfortable with city life and their new neighbors," he said. "Their migration shows that Tibetans and the Han are getting along."

From Chinadaily