Tibet - a great monastery of Buddhism or you can say a real inheritor of Lord Buddha’s sayings is no longer an asylum to persevere the centuries old Heritage. China’s dragon of modernization is swallowing the decades old monastery of Tibet.
Buddhist monks who usually love to live a life of alienation instinctively are now facing inconvenience because of the hordes of visitors. Lhasa, the historic capital of Tibet has become the prime victim of tourism development. 
Inquisitive tourists (we also can’t keep ourselves aloof) are always seen keen on digging more and more knowledge about the monastery and as a result of this exercise Tibet is rapidly loosing its natural charm, which it is known for. UNESCO has already expressed its concerns that China is allowing the destruction of Lhasa’s traditional buildings.
It is very disheartening that China is planning to unveil fast food centers, shopping centers, nightclubs and hotels in the view of western tourists (some has already started in the region) and lure more from around the globe.
In order to make the access easier, China unveiled a new rail line ( Height of 16,000 feet the highest of any railroad in the world)to Tibet last summer and is a clear indication of its burgeoning tourism campaign in Tibet.
You should not be surprised if some years later Tibet turns out like other cities of China. Although, China claims that it would bring prosperity for the local dwellers and would open new gateways of earnings. However, here I would ask, is the development of Tibet at the expense of its heritage and environment is relevant?
In 2004, Tibet received 1.2 million tourists and Chinese government wants to increase this number to 10 millions by the end of 2020. I think, we all know the impudent nature of
China’s policy makers, which are infamous to achieve their goals despite the strong confrontation of masses.
One can easily assess the future of Tibet if these will go as planned. It is not the only aspect of the story, more environmental degradation and loss to invaluable heritage too is not far.
Via: NYTimes
