Tibet: Part 2

What made Tibet especially interesting for me was it’s parallels with Jerusalem. Lhasa means “holy land” in Tibetan, and it is also the capital of the region. Lhasa has an old city and a new city. Tibetans walk around Lhasa holding prayer wells and repeating prayers in Tibetan. Tibetan monks can be found throughout the city wearing their traditional red robes. Most importantly, Lhasa just has the feeling of a spiritual center.

People come from all over Tibet to visit Lhasa and its holy sites. Some of these travelers will spend up to 2 years walking/bowing to get there. When I say walking/bowing, I mean taking a step then bowing, taking a step then bowing, etc.  People bow this way all over Lhasa. The rural Tibetans often come with their entire families to Lhasa. These visits can be once every decade or once in a lifetime. For these reasons, it’s hard not to feel the energy when you are in Lhasa.

I thought it was interesting that I was so excited to see religious Buddhists. If anything, one of the things that I have missed most while in China is religious people. The majority of Chinese are staunch Maoists Atheists. I loved seeing the intense monks who are isolated from the modern world. Everything seemed so exotic.

Then it hit me. If I brought Chinese tourists to Jerusalem or B’nei Brak, they would think that the ultra-orthodox Jews are just as exotic. All the men have long beards and walk around in black suits and black hats. People can be found praying throughout the city. If you walked in a synagogue, you would see people loudly mumbling prayers in a foreign language. Many Charedis don’t own television sets and live a life isolated from many parts of the modern world. I thought it was interesting that many secular Europeans and Americans are so enamored by these religious Buddhists, yet so turned off by religious Jews or Christians.

I can sort of relate to the difference in feelings. I have no connection and almost no understanding of Buddhism. I am not worried about a Buddhist relative coming and asking me to go live in a monastery for the next few years.  It’s easy to be infatuated with something if it demands nothing from you.  However, I DO have Jewish relatives who want me to spend a few years in a yeshiva and live similar life styles to them.

In all, it made me appreciate my own peoples’ customs a little more.

On a lighter note, I became a B-list celebrity on the train ride back to Beijing. The train ride back to Beijing has almost no foreigners because, hey, who wants to ride on a train for 50 hours.

A brave group of middle-aged Americans were on the train, and they did not speak a single word of Chinese. We ended up translating for them because they were convinced the waitress on the train was trying to steal their money.  As I walked back to my cabin, I saw an American friend of mine talking to a group of older Chinese men.  She had asked them not to smoke and it looked a little bit tense.  Trying to break the ice, I joked with them in Chinese that we could all smoke together.  They wouldn’t stop shaking my hand and praising me after they realized I spoke Chinese.

After a few minutes of talking to the men in Chinese, they decided they wanted to get a picture of them and these 2 Chinese-speaking American students.  We posed this way.  And then we posed in a different place.   The lighting wasn’t good.  Another person wanted to use his own camera.  Before I knew it, about 35 Chinese people had all crowded in this hallway to get pictures of us posing.  I told them that my friend didn’t have a boyfriend, and the train roared with laughter.  These drunk Chinese businessmen and women decided they wanted to do single pictures.  A 45-year old woman posed with me, and an older man posed with my friend.  Each time I made a joke in Chinese, the crowd got louder and louder.

What an experience.  As soon as I got back to my cabin, one of the older men brought fruit over as a gift.  Every time I went to use the restroom, I was stopped by someone and had a half-hour conversation about how I have learned Chinese.

Maybe I can go on tour here.