Han Chinese seek spiritual salve in Tibetan Buddhism
And the Communist Party tries to discourage them
Chinese tourists celebrated this summer when it was announced that Larung Gar would soon be open to visitors again. Many had long dreamed of seeing the remote Tibetan Buddhist settlement, home to thousands of crimson-robed monks and nuns living in little red huts sprawled around a monastic centre in the mountains of Sichuan province. The sight alone could cleanse one’s soul, bloggers gushed. Too bad, then, that it was closed again a few weeks later, ostensibly to control an outbreak of covid-19.
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Sinifying Shangri-La”
From the October 8th 2022 edition
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