Some of  the things I saw, bearing in mind I was being escorted thru Tourist Tibet!!!
Tibet May – June  I was  fortunate to find myself on a trip to Mt. Kailash to celebrate Saga Dawa, and to do the kora, some thing many only dream of. First impression of Lhasa, I may as well have been in China itself, there is very little to suggest to the traveler that they are in Tibet. Hundreds of plastic trees and flowers in pots are everywhere.  Western tourists are few and are herded into Chinese hotels, Indian tourists are plentiful but seem to have their  own areas. Hotel shops sell Tibetan magic water, in bottles, garish postcards of the Potala listed as a cultural relic and poor imitations of things Tibetan, they think might sell. Some of the hotels I encountered on route listed a special low grade room rate referred to as Tibetan grade.
Some disallowed Tibetan clothes , unless by prior arrangement with the management. Evening cultural shows were on offer supposedly by traditional Tibetan dancers, I did not attend, but saw the posters, women in heavy gawdy makeup, men with painted faces, it was impossible to determine if these were Tibetans or Chinese. I spoke to people who did attend , repots were of very loud and pop style show with audience participation encouraged. I didn’t see any Tibetan working in any of these hotels, and all the surrounding shops were Chinese.
The Potala palace is being obscured from view by a huge mountain of mud, there were 2 large cranes still working on the project, the objective seems to be to cut the view from the Barkhor and the Jokhang. Entry to both the Potala and Jokhang is severely restricted, expensive tickets are required, no cameras. Large groups of Chinese tourists, their guides carry portable microphone and mini speaker, drowning out any other  interpretation of any other group.
Two things that most struck me, there are no monks- anywhere, and everything, the people the Potala, Dreprung, Sera, Norbulingka, and all that they contain, which is precious little, is all a cultural relic. Tibetan language, at least with tourists, seems to be banned, the mention of the traditional regions ie, Amdo, is also banned . A friend has forgotton almost half of written Tibetan and his words “ what do we do “ will stay with me. Sera stage managed  a debating session  about 30 monks or apparently monks took part  for a limited time for the tourist cameras. Payment to use a camera is excessive and required everywhere  Tibetans generally do not like their photo being taken, understandably, many wear face masks with hats pulled well down.
The housing area in the Barkhor area is poor, dirty and in parts falling down. There were a great number of children on the streets suggesting they do not attend school. Chronic eye infections are prevelant in the children I saw, especially in areas out side Lhasa. Police and army in full riot gear are in great numbers as are road checkpoints. Heading out of Lhasa is like traveling thru a war zone.
Chinese are building a highway from Lhasa to Kailash   Most of it is substandard, using inferior and unsafe materials. Great parts of what they have built are already falling apart, the damage they are causing  with this construction is huge. Across the Ngari region there are only a few herds of sheep and yak not much else. Darchen is a tourist town for buying the last needy things before Kailash, the town is a massive construction site. Kailash herself is a mecca for Europeans on a challenging walk, and Indians on pilgrimage to Lord Vishnu. Very few, apart from the handful o f Tibetans seem to know why they are there. In a nutshell. This is TOURIST TIBET Chinese style, however it is poorly managed, expensive, and only includes Tibetans willing to align themselves to the Chinese ideaology. The feeling of fear is almost tangible, but at the same time I get the feeling that most still cling to the hope that this hell will  end and if one scratches the surface the faith that people have in His Holiness finding an answer is still strong. I completed the kora around Mt Kailash for all of Tibet and all Tibetans which was my motivation for engaging such a task.
Kale phe. Tashi delek. – Anon.