“There is a contrast between Beijing that has a heavy traffic and numerous people and Xining that enjoys wild nature, blue skies and unity. I was impressed by the development of the city and the infrastructure featured with modern means of transportation and modern streets i.e. walking streets.”

　　The Tibetans with a population of 4,593,100 mostly live in the Tibet Autonomous Region. There are also Tibetan communities in Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.

　　We went to Qinghai where the Tibetan minorities lived. It was an amazing tour. Our first week during our stay in Xining the capital of Qinghai was unexpected. I have considered Qinghai as a very cold and undeveloped city with areas of deserts. But to my surprise, Qinghai is an amazing province with beautiful scenery.

　　My first impression, arriving at the Xining Airport, was that the scenery was very much like that in the pictures of beautiful mountains and fields. This is a city at some 3,000 meters above the sea level, which you only see in the movies or on some magazines. Blue skies, searing sunshine and great fresh air you can get there. After arriving in Xining, I started to see the differences.

　　There is a contrast between Beijing that has a heavy traffic and numerous people and Xining that enjoys wild nature, blue skies and unity. I was impressed by the development of the city and the infrastructure featured with modern means of transportation and modern streets i.e. walking streets. It was safe in Xining and we had the opportunity to walk freely around our hotel area, which we grabbed the chance to do so. We saw Tibetan minorities, which for me was exciting. Their clothes, their language and the culture were all unique and you wouldn’t see them if you were in Beijing. However, I didn’t really know anything about Qinghai except the famous Qinghai Lake.

　　I visited different temples and met Tibetan monks and pilgrims on my way to different places in Qinghai. You could feel the importance of religion to the Tibetan minorities in so many ways and in ways I have not seen elsewhere in the world.  During the trip, we had a chance to talk to some educators and asked them about the language that was used in primary education. We were told that in the formal educational system, bilingual techniques, Tibetan and Chinese ones, were used at schools. I believe that the Tibetan minorities will be as internationally literate with all the same opportunities provided for them in life.

　　During our trip to the countryside outside Xining, we had a chance to see housing subsidized by the government. We visited Tibetan houses that were built for families, which were very different from Beijing homes in terms of space, quality of materials, and commodities inside. There were families of herdsmen who invited us to stay at their home and showed us how their daily life was alike. Their houses were built in collaborative efforts by the villagers and had the characteristics of the traditional Tibetan culture, both in terms of materials used and the colorful decorations in the house especially Thangka. These houses were very bright, spacious and amazingly decorated.

　　During the following week, we visited highlands, lakes and mountains which are stunning with the most beautiful scenery and you can never believe it’s real. An opportunity to bring us all together made us a big family. We would never have this opportunity if Tsinghua University did not make the cooperation with the organizer CICC and other collaborative unions. One sentence can explain this amazing 2 weeks tour: A China that you will never imagine!