Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, Jan. 9: A video widely circulated on Chinese social media platforms has triggered strong condemnation from Tibetans inside Tibet and in exile after it showed a Chinese tourist desecrating sacred objects inside a Tibetan Buddhist monastery.
The footage, which has since spread across various platforms, shows the tourist drinking liquid directly from a shrine’s altar and then pouring the leftover drink into a butter lamp—an act Tibetans say constitutes a serious violation of religious sanctity and cultural norms.
Tibetans online described the act as not merely disrespectful but a “blatant insult” and “shameless provocation,” stressing that monasteries are sacred spaces and not venues for tourists seeking attention or social media notoriety.
“Monasteries are not a stage for tourists to gain attention,” a Tibetan netizen wrote, calling on judicial authorities and cyber police to take strict action against what they said undermines national unity and social harmony. The Tibetan netizen emphasized that the act went far beyond ignorance of local customs. “It’s not that I don’t know the rules. This is not simple disrespect. It’s humiliating. This is blatant provocation,” the comment read. “The bottom line of culture cannot be trampled. I hope the relevant departments investigate this thoroughly.”
He also echoed similar sentiments, saying the behaviour was an affront not only to Tibetan culture and religion but also to other visitors who approach Tibet with sincerity and respect. “Your behaviour is not just disrespecting Tibetan culture; it is offensive to everyone who comes to Tibet with genuine intentions,” he said.
Renowned Tibetan writer and poet Tsering Woeser also weighed in on the incident, attributing such behaviour to what she described as long-term tolerance by authorities toward tourists’ misconduct in Tibet.
“The outrageous behaviour of tourists is a direct result of long-term tolerance,” Tsering wrote on her X (formerly Twitter) account. She pointed out that under the promotion of “cultural tourism” as one of Tibet’s “nine major industries,” tourists have increasingly become “untouchable figures,” while offenses against Tibetan beliefs and customs continue to rise.
“We’ve had enough,” she wrote. “The reason these egregious acts occur so frequently is that the local government has chosen to ignore them, turning a blind eye. The result is that increasingly brazen offenses go almost unpunished, while Tibetans who are harmed can only feel anger and rarely receive a fair response.”
Bhuchung K. Tsering, Head of the Research and Monitoring Unit at the Washington-based advocacy group International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), also raised concerns over the apparent lack of response from Chinese authorities.
“Video of a #Chinese tourist drinking an offering in a #Tibetan monastery and further desecrating a butter lamp by pouring the leftovers is circulating on Chinese social media,” Bhuchung wrote on X. “There is no word about Chinese officials—whose censors are ever present—taking action against him.”
Disgrace and shame.
The Chinese claim they are an old civilisation! Some claim they have 5000 year history while less jingoistic Chinese claim two thousand years of history. Whatever the truth is, it is not much if we compare it with Australian aboriginal history of 60,000 years! Indian history dates back 4,000 years from the Indus Valley civilisation. Tibet has civilisation of about 3000 years. The Chinese of ancient times such as the Tang era seems to be the zenith of their culture. They claim the Tang Dynasty as the golden age of Chinese history. Most Tibetans who know anything about China seem to have the idea of culture of the Tang era as the Chinese culture. At other times they were ruled by foreign powers such as the Mongols and Manchus and had to follow their cultures. Chinese culture has a streak of cruelty imbedded in it from ancient times. Oral story passed from generations has it that the Chinese prepare bird meals by putting them in a big pot and close it and light fire from beneath! As the pot heats up, the poor bird plucks its feathers and put under its feet to absorb the heat from the burning pot. As the heat intensifies, it plucks all its feathers to protect its feet from the burning heat and becomes completely featherless and more or less dead! The Chinese then cook them without having the hassle of plucking the feathers manually! You will also notice the live fish in fish tanks in Chinese restaurants that are killed just before they are cooked! Sometimes, they let you choose your own fish from the tank! Since 1949, an extremely violent ideology was imported from Europe by the Chinese communists! This ideology has been a curse for humanity. Wherever, it has taken root, it brought mass killings, mass starvation and mass suppression. The Chinese communist slaughtered 80 million people under its jurisdiction! No foreign invader of China has ever killed so many people! The Chinese communists are the only people in the world who rejected their own culture and destroyed them! This came to be known as the cultural revolution! During this era, young people were told to rebel against their parents, their teachers and in many cases children killed their teachers and parents! Their cultural icon Confucius was reviled as a reactionary. Confucius is said of taught the Chinese filial piety. Even he was not spared and his busts were torn down to dust. What we can gauge from this behaviour of the Chinese communists is, THEY HAVE NO RESPECT FOR ANYTHING! THERE IS NOTHING THAT IS SACRED OR SACROSANCT! Chinese communist zealots have killed their perceived enemies and ate their hearts as a form of self-gratification! In occupied Tibet, they killed the Tibetan parents and made family members including children to walk on their corpses, saying “the reactionaries have been liquidated”! The tenth Panchen Lama alluded to such repugnant incidents in his 70,000 petition! Mao, on his part instead of correcting the cruelty of his communist red guards, he called the Panchen Lama’s 70,000 word petition a “poisoned chalice” and imprisoned him for eight Ling years! In Karze a Tibetan man was given the death penalty. On the day of the execution, the public were forced to watch the cruel spectacle in order to intimidate them. The man shouted all the while as the distressed fellow Tibetans watched. The Chinese authorities cut his tongue to stop him shouting before he was executed! A monk from the region told me this story when he came to study in India! This goes to demonstrate the level of cruelty the Chinese communist are capable of and during the Tiananmen square massacre on June 4th 1989, women and children who pleaded the PLA to stop running tanks over the protesting Chinese democracy protestors were bayoneted in cold blood! This is the true face of the CCP and its murderous regime. The Chinese people have lost their culture they had in ancient times.Today, they are a people who have lost all humanity and decency and are the worst behaved people in the word! Where ever they go, the locals complain about their behaviour! They are the worst behaved people in the world! THEY HAVE NO RESPECT FOR ANYTHING! No wonder then that they are doing the same in occupied Tibet. They treat Tibet as their colonial outpost and look down upon Tibetans as dirty, smelly and stupid! All Chinese have the same Han chauvinistic attitude towards the Tibetans and others who are called “minorities” by the Han chauvinists!
Such despicable act must be condemned and the ignorant or total disregard for local culture and customs must be brought to justice. I hope not all Chinese are such ignorant person. Those who do not respect Tibetan traditions or customs must not visit Tibet.