Radio Free Asia-Reported by Sangyal Kunchok and Taring Tenzin Norbu for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Chinese tourists must show only negative COVID tests, while Tibetan travelers are often barred from entry.
Tourists from China are pouring into Tibet’s capital Lhasa in large numbers despite a surge in COVID-19 cases in Chinese provinces that has seen authorities ban tourism in areas outside Tibet, sources in the region say.
A spike last week in COVID cases in 11 Chinese provinces has led China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism to announce tightened restrictions on travel into worst-hit areas, with tourism entirely suspended in some locations, government sources said.
Tibet’s regional capital Lhasa is still left open to tourism, however, sources in the city told RFA in recent interviews. Continue reading