First Chinese tourists since unrest enter Tibet–state media
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 08:25:00 04/25/2008
BEIJING – Chinese tourists returned to Tibet on Thursday, state media said, following a wave of protests in the Himalayan region against Chinese rule and a subsequent crackdown by security forces.
The 15-person group from the eastern city of Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province was the "first domestic tour group" to enter the area since protests erupted into violence on March 14, the Xinhua news agency said.
"The group was originally scheduled to come here before March 14, but was delayed due to the unrest," a tour guide identified as Zhang told Xinhua.
"We were notified by the regional tourism bureau a few days ago that we could re-arrange the tour group."
Zhanor, deputy director of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Tourism Bureau, said three more tour groups would visit Tibet on Friday, Saturday and Tuesday.
"Tourists needn't worry about their trip in Tibet ...," Zhanor told Xinhua, though he did not say when the region would re-open to foreign visitors.
Independent domestic travelers had not been prohibited from entering Tibet, Xinhua said, contrary to earlier reports.
But the regional government stopped issuing tourist permits to foreigners after riots broke out in the region's capital, Lhasa, amid protests by Tibetans against China's 57-year rule of the remote region.
Exiled Tibetan leaders say more than 150 people died in the Chinese crackdown on the demonstrations. China insists it acted with restraint and killed no one, while blaming Tibetan "rioters" for the deaths of 20 people.
Foreign reporters were also banned as China sent in a massive security force to quell the unrest, which spread to other areas of western China with Tibetan populations.
On Friday, a group of foreign reporters were to depart Beijing to travel to Tibet to cover the Olympic torch's ascent of Mount Everest, the first overseas journalists to be allowed into the region in a month.
Chinese authorities announced on April 3 that the region would be reopened to foreign and domestic tourists on May 1, a national holiday in China, though last week a Tibet Tourism Bureau official said those plans had been abandoned.
It's unclear when foreigners will be allowed back.
Alongside the Great Wall and the famed Terracotta Warriors in Xian, Tibet has become one of the most popular destinations for foreign travelers in China.
Its spectacular landscape, Buddhist culture and access to Mount Everest base camp are among Tibet's top draws.
Tibet welcomed 4 million foreign and Chinese tourists in 2007, up 60 percent from 2006, Xinhua reported.
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