Tibet

FORCED ABORTIONS, BIRTH CONTROL & STERILIZATIONS

Courtesy of the Tibetan Womens Organisation

Sterilizations and abortions are performed under PRC (Poples Republic of China) authorization on Tibetan women without their consent being freely given.

Implementation of Birth Control Policies

Enforcement and implementation of birth control regulations varies from region to region, from inside and outside TAR, from towns to rural areas, over periods of time, and depending on the discretion of local authorities. While in some rural areas there is said to be no evidence of policies restricting the number of children, there are clear indications that such restrictive policies are carried out in other regions, as noted in testimonies collected by Dr. Blake Kerr and reported by TIN.

Surgical Procedure - Abortion

Methods of birth control available to Tibetan women are primarily surgical: abortion and sterilization. Access to painless methods of preventing birth and pregnancy is almost unheard of, minimally discussed in official propaganda and largely absent from family planning legislation and policy directives. Although there is stated access to other methods of contraception (including The Pill, intra-uterine devices, and condoms) the language of birth control policy documents clearly indicates that abortion and sterilization are the main methods through which the policy is implemented. Chinese authorities do not make any attempt to consider contraception and contraceptive education as a serious alternative to the use of surgical controls.

Tibetan women forced to undergo abortion and/or sterilization are given reasons that they are too young or too old to have children, too poor or unemployed, unmarried or unfit. Reports of coercive abortion in the 1980's helped provoke a cut-off of financial support from the United States for Chinese family planning programs.

Two types of birth control teams operate in Tibet. While birth control units in Chinese hospitals implement birth control policies for Tibetans living by a hospital, mobile birth control teams carry out birth control regulations for Tibetans living in rural villages and nomadic areas. Both teams have a monetary incentive to perform abortions and sterilizations on as many women as possible. The more names the doctors collect, the more money they get from their government, and from the women who are charged for the operation. In June and July 1990, just after the announcement of the shift of focus in the TAR to the rural areas, birth control teams were active in certain areas of the countryside. For example in one case publicized by the authorities 1,467 women were operated on by the planned birth teams in three counties of the Lhasa Municipal Area.

Abortion appears to be the major form of birth control in Tibet. Those contraceptives that exist are widely seen as dangerous and ineffective, with low medical standards of manufacture and insertion. According to a Tibetan paramedic who had worked in a rural area of Ganze before 1990, "they also had birth control methods like IUD: but often, because of lack of hygiene, these insertions were followed by infections. On one occasion, two women came back after having an abortion with infections; one of them became paralyzed."

The deficiency and non-availability of acceptable contraceptive methods in Tibet is only one of the reasons why abortion is a more common practise. The authorities, for a start, had stated a preference for the "combined method" a term which is believed to mean combining abortion with contraception.It appears that the combined method includes sterilization as a subsequent element. There are frequent first-hand accounts by recent arrivals in India of abortions being carried out. One recent arrival, who had four abortions before she left Tibet for India in 1989, told TIN how she had been given an injection in Lhasa "when I was five months pregnant, they aborted my child at the Main People's Hospital in Lhasa. After this injection, the child came the next day stillborn."

While working as a nurse at the Lhasa People's Hospital, Chimi noted that women "nine months pregnant are injected in the abdomen to induce abortion. If delivered alive, the fetus is also injected so it will die." In China, it is legal to inject women nine months pregnant to induce abortion, and to kill infants still in the birth canal with a lethal injection.

Dr. Tashi Dolma - an obstetrician - from Amdo (Qinghai) had undergone an abortion herself. When Dr. Dolma became pregnant for the second time, the head of her hospital told her to have an abortion or lose her job. She had the abortion. It is important to note that despite her relatively high status she says that she had no idea that she could be sacked or be liable to any other sanctions apart from fines for births "out of plan". The detailed regulations concerning punishment are kept secret, and it appears that only summaries are published.

Sterilization - the Preferred Method

Even if abortion is the most frequent form of birth prevention in Tibet, the official literature focuses on the simpler and much surer solution of sterilization. Sterilization is advised and there is an implicit preference for sterilization in all the current regulations. In the internal commentaries on the Ganze "procedure", it is stated clearly that sterilization is the preferable option in remote areas, a directive which lends some credibility to Tibetan recent arrivals accounts of rural sterilization campaigns. There is no doubt that teams are sent out to the countryside for birth control blitzes, and that these included mass sterilizations from as early as 1986.

In 1990, the local radio station in Qinghai announced that "over 87,000 women had been sterilized, about ten percent of women of child-bearing age." It was unclear whether these operations had been voluntary, but the same broadcast announced, "effective and forceful measures have also been adopted to strengthen family planning work." Furthermore, Gansu Radio on 7 May, 1990 reported that 63,000 men and women had been sterilized as a result of a two-month long campaign.

Chinese explanation that sterilizations have been confused with antisyphilis injections and treatment has been contradicted by the western doctors when examining women who have undergone sterilization. Dr. Diana Gibbs of London supports this statement. Some of the reasons given by women for yielding to sterilization include inability to pay fines that exceed yearly incomes, and coming under pressure to obey the Chinese rules.

Each district in Tibet has a birth control office which deals with the operation of the birth control policy. The mobile birth control teams travel from village to village, plan a target and take women by force to the hospital for sterilization. The surgery is performed without anaesthesia and proper post medical care.

A monk named Tashi described a mobile birth control team that came to his village in Amdo in 1987. Tashi recalls, "I watched a mobile birth control team set up their tent next to my monastery. First the villagers were informed that the team had arrived, and that all women had to report to the tent or there would be grave consequences, like fines of 1000 yuan ($US200) to women who did not comply. The team also said that sterilization was part of a world constitution; women all over the world have this done. The women who went peacefully received medical care. Women who resisted were rounded up by the police and taken by force. No medical care was given."

Infanticide - The Unknown Method

Infanticide is also a commonly reported practice. Many women have reported giving birth to healthy children only to have the hospital staff inform them their babies are stillborn. The mothers will often hear their child's first cries before it is taken away, injected and killed. This is often done when women seek medical assistance for the birth at a public hospital but do not have the requisite birth document. In many instances the woman is also sterilized without knowledge or consent.

Three Tibetan women interviewed in exile in India, described how a relative or acquaintance of theirs had delivered a healthy baby, only to have the nurse kill it with a lethal injection in the "soft spot" (fontanelle) on the head. Cases of infanticide are considered abortion under Chinese law.

Use of Force To Effect Birth Control Policies

Physical Force

There is considerable evidence to suggest that coercion is used to enforce birth control policies in Tibetan prefectures and regions. In particular, the Gonge regulations (see Chapter III -Birth Control Policies Outside of the TAR) imply a use of force to carry out the birth control policies. In addition the Ganze Regulations (as also outlined in Chapter III) prescribe compulsory abortion and the TAR Regulations (Chapter III - Birth Control Policies Within the TAR) demand compulsory sterilization for births `out-of-plan'. The TAR regulations also claim the right to compulsory abortion for people with hereditary diseases and for unregistered "floating" couples of any nationality who have had a child out of plan and have failed to return to their registered area.It is quite clear that the birth control policy in China is not educational but legislative, and it is impossible to have a legislative system without the threat of force, at least in the final instance.

Analysis of coercion in China's family planning program is complicated by the excessive use of euphemisms in published documents and discussions. John S. Aird discusses Chinese euphemisms often employed in statements on birth control policy. He states, "the expression, `remedial measures' is a standard Chinese euphemism for mandatory abortion." The euphemism, "technical services" refers to IUD insertions, sterilization and abortion. He concludes that "the Chinese family planning program is profoundly and intentionally coercive."

Economic Force

The use of economic sanctions and rewards to enforce policy is clearly stated in birth control policy regulations. For example in Chapter Four of the TAR 1992 regulations dealing with Rewards and Good Treatments Article 25 states that women workers from State offices, industries and work units who practice late marriage and late births, and who have single child certificates, will be given the benefit of longer maternity leave; cadres and workers who practice late marriage will enjoy an additional week of marriage leave. Article 30 clearly indicates the incentives offered by employers for complying with the specified planned birth regulations; incentives that include having half their travel expenses and medical fees refunded by the work units (upon provision of hospital receipts).

Chapter Five of the TAR 1992 Regulations deals with Limitations and Punishments. Article 34 states that Tibetans and other minority cadres and workers within the region who have extra births will be punished as follows, for the first extra birth, a penalty fee of 500 yuan ($US100) will be charged as an extra birth fee, and for two years neither member of the couple is allowed a promotion, raise, or bonus (including salary awards). For the second extra birth, a sum of 1000 yuan extra birth fee.

Economic sanctions against Tibetan and Chinese women who have additional children include permanent demotions and the potential loss of employment for both parents, as well as fines from 500 to 3000 yuan ($US100-$US600: one to six years' salary). Tibetan women are also given economic incentives to undergo abortion and sterilization.

According to a statement on abortion by Dickyi Dolkar born in Lhasa in 1963 but speaking from exile, she was a nurse at the Lhasa People's Hospital until she escaped to India in 1984. Women are given 100 yuan ($US20) and a blanket if they undergo sterilization, but if a woman has a third child, the child virtually has no right to exist: no ration card to buy food from the government ration shop, no permit or passport to travel, no educational opportunity, no government work and no right to own property. The only stated sanctions described in the 1995 guidelines are fines of 500 yuan for Chinese, 150 yuan for Tibetan cadres, and 100 yuan for Tibetan town-dwellers. The fines are described throughout as a punishment for not observing the stipulated three-year-gap between births; they are not defined as punishment for having a third child.

Statements from four Tibetans, including doctors and rural women consulted for this survey concurred in finding that a very considerable element of force is applied to women, particularly in villages, through the mechanism of fines and administrative sanctions. Particularly where the women are poor, these threats of fines constitute effective force. The women say that they had no option but to agree to undergo an abortion or a sterilization operation. The use of fines as a way to force a woman to accept abortion is a discriminatory weapon.

Other reported penalties include demotion, loss of financial bonuses and disqualification from the right to stand for elected positions."Illegal children" are denied legal papers that give them the right to identity, attend school, own property, travel, participate in legal work, or obtain a ration card. A ration card entitles a child to receive a monthly allotment of Tibetan dietary staples at government stores. Lack of a ration card would mean that basic food such as grain must be bought at non-subsidized prices on the open market.

There are other testimonies of economic force being used to compel Tibetans to yield to abortions and sterilization. One such case is that of a Tibetan woman who worked as an assistant to the cook in a small reception office for people coming from China. Her husband was a driver in a government office. She had an abortion when she was 30 years old. At that time her husband was just about to get a promotion in his office and she comments,"If we had kept the child, my husband would not have been promoted".

Almost all the reports and testimonies of serious incidents of physical force being used to impose birth control seem to emanate from outside of the TAR. The only public protest by Tibetans which has referred to birth control as an issue took place in Rekong (Tongren in Chinese), Amdo (Qinghai). The demonstration, staged in November 1987 mainly by students, called on the Chinese authorities to stop the practice of forced abortion which was happening in rural areas.

The Role of the Quota System in Enforcement

A contributory factor to the use of effective force in the birth control campaigns is the quota system. By this system, each provincial official's performance is assessed. In most areas, doctors are also given quotas for birth control operations that must be reached. The system of quotas and targets were made more strict each year to ensure stronger controls over the lower level officials charged with carrying out birth control policies. The final implementation strategy is decided by the county level authorities, who are in turn answerable to the Party County Committee.

On 26 July, 1988 the central CPC office and State Council Office gave instructions on the present planned birth policy. The instructions to carry out the Sichuan provincial planned birth article stated, for example, "we must adopt strong measures to quickly and effectively carry out planned birth work."They issued an order calling for "target responsibility systems" to be implemented. This was carried out on paper in Sichuan on 10 November 1988, through an order called "Sichuan Provincial People's Government Document No 206" (1988). The provincial government decided to implement the planned Birth Target Management Responsibility System throughout the province from 1989, in order to increase the responsibility of each level of government to do planned birth work well.

The State gave a population control target and point system to Sichuan province, with four items to be examined each year:
1) Number of births;
2) Planned birth rate;
3) Spread of two children (families); and
4) Extra plan pregnancy rate.

In examining any performance, the total number of points is 100. Those who do not exceed the controlled population number will get 30 points. Those who do not exceed the extra planned pregnancy quota will get 30 points. For every one percent lower than the target for number of births and extra planned pregnancies, an extra point will be added. Each item in the quota will be based on a random sample of 1000 chosen by the Provincial Planned Birth Committee. The threshold for awards is 95. After examination, those whose general marks are above 110 points will be placed in the first class, and awarded 1,500 yuan ($US300). Those with points of 100 and above will be in the second class and awarded 1,000 yuan ($US200), Between 95 and 100 will be in the third class and awarded 500 yuan ($US100), and between 90 to 95 there are no rewards nor punishments. Those teams who receive first class awards continuously for three years will be given the title of "Red Flag Work Unit" and will receive a one-off prize. The necessary funds for such awards will be allocated from the planned birth fund.

Conversely, those who do not fulfill the target will be criticized. A notice of criticism and a written report will be sent to the provincial government if they do not fulfill targets for two years running. Those who are charged with causing a serious loss of population control will be demoted one rank or one grade or even be dismissed completely from their positions. The Ganze regulations repeated the Sichuan wide instructions, but with a discreet modification: the pass mark for Ganze officials was lowered by 5 percent so that the areas could fall to 85 percent of the quota before they would incur punishment.

In April 1991, the Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China, Li Peng, accompanied by the Party Secretary, Jiang Zemin, announced that the responsibility for the quota system, used to encourage population control in certain regions, would be extended across all China and would become the responsibility of local government rather than birth control officials.

By March 1992, the Tibet government was able to report that "family planning personnel in our region have conscientiously implemented the relevant policies and regulations, strictly abided by the limits allowed by the policies, and have done a great deal of work under difficult circumstances".

The pattern of implementation has varied widely from one county to another. However, in all cases the quota system and associated punishments and rewards have led to excessive enforcement, beyond the written dictates of the law. So the quota system acts as a second barrier which has to be crossed after a couple has satisfied the requirements of other stringent limitations on childbirth. The current eighth Five-Year Plan of the People's Republic of China, at least in its internal version, calls for a quota system to be implemented in the TAR as well as other aspects of birth control policy: We must step-by-step implement the birth planning quotas of cities and towns providing the leaders of the birth-planning work with the strength, resources and administrative means.

It should be noted that in addition to the above-mentioned forms of coercion, there is evidence of social and psychological pressures being used to ensure compliance with the policy. One example is the holding of commune family planning meetings. Attendance at these meetings is compulsory for women with a third or subsequent child. These meetings could last for days and women are not allowed to leave the "struggle session", until they can "think clearly" about their pregnancy.

PLEASE REMEMBER, EVEN THOUGH THESE DATES ARE FROM YEARS AGO, THESE ATROCITIES ARE STILL HAPPENING TODAY...2008 !!!

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A recent undercover filming in Tibet spoke to one woman who had been forced to have a sterilzation operation said that she had the operation WITHOUT anaesthetic !

Check out the Tibetan Womens Association Website here http://www.tibet.com/women/tears1.html

A brief introduction of Tibet

This information has been sourced from DIIR's Environment and Development Desk and from the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and democracy.

Invaded by China in 1949-50, the independent country of Tibet was forced to face the direct loss of life that comes from battles and, soon after, the loss of universal freedoms that stemmed from Communist ideology and its programs such as the Cultural Revolution (1967 - 1976). However, it is erroneous to believe that the worst has passed. The fate of Tibet's unique national, cultural and religious identity is today seriously threatened and manipulated by the Chinese.

China's policy of occupation and oppression has resulted in no more or less than the destruction of Tibet's national independence, culture and religion, environment, and the universal human rights of its people. China has broken international laws and routinely violates its own constitution by inflicting this destruction, yet time and again goes without punishment.

NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE

With a written history of more than 2000 years, Tibet existed as an independent sovereign state prior to Chinese rule. As recently as 1914, a peace convention was signed by Britain, China and Tibet that again formally recognised Tibet as a fully independent country. But having no representation in the United Nations, the world largely stood by and allowed China's occupation and destruction to happen.

Tibetans have demonstrated repeatedly for independence from China. Ours has been a non-violent struggle, yet even when Tibetan children as young as ten whisper the words "Tibet is independent" or "Long Live His Holiness the Dalai Lama", the Chinese accuse them of trying to "split" the "motherland" and often sentence them to prison. Possessing an image of the Tibetan national flag can lead to a seven- year jail term. As of 1998, 1083 known Tibetans remain incarcerated in Chinese prisons on account of their political, religious or ethical views. Of these, 246 were women and 12 were juvenile.

Issues facing Tibet today

CULTURE AND RELIGION

China's relentless destruction of religion in Tibet saw the loss of over 6000 monasteries and countless religious artifacts during the Cultural Revolution and, today, the Communist authority's approach to religion has changed little. In 1996 the "Strike Hard" campaign was initiated, specifically targeting Tibetan Buddhism. This campaign has been vehemently pursued in recent years.

Denouncing Tibet's Spiritual Leaders

Forced to denounce the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual and temporal leader, and his chosen Panchen Lama, Tibetans must pledge their allegiance to the Chinese government. Failure to do so can result in imprisonment or other forms of punishment. Possessing an image of the Dalai Lama is today illegal in Tibet.

Population transfer

The continued population transfer of Chinese to Tibet in recent years has seen the Tibetans become a minority in their own land. Today 6 million Tibetans are outnumbered by 7.5 million Chinese in Tibet. Under the guise of economic and social development, the calculated and government-encouraged population transfers have marginalised Tibetans in economic, educational, political and social spheres, and thereby threaten to quash Tibetan culture.

Education

Chinese occupation and the massive migration of Chinese to Tibet has seen the Tibetan language surpassed by that of the Chinese. The government is repressing Tibetan culture by making the language redundant in all sectors. Tibet's education system, controlled entirely by the Chinese and their Communist ideology, is directed to the Chinese immigrants and compromises Tibetans. Tibetan students also suffer from prohibitive and discriminatory fees and inadequate facilities in rural areas.

In monasteries, the heart of Tibetan academia and debate, Chinese government "work teams" are being sent to forcibly "re-educate" monks and nuns in their political and religious beliefs. Their methods are similar to those imposed during the Cultural Revolution and between 1996 and 1998, the "Strike Hard" campaign saw 492 monks and nuns arrested and 9,977 expelled from their religious institution by the Chinese.

UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS

By the end of 1998, the People's Republic of China had signed the three covenants comprising the International Bill of Rights, but it is still far from implementing these domestically and in Tibet. Individual and collective rights abuses continue to challenge the Tibetan people in their daily lives and in the future survival of their unique cultural identity.

As we commence the 21st century, the Tibetan Government-in-Exile solemnly relays that the Chinese government's treatment of Tibetans in Tibet is still in breach of the rights to life, liberty and security, and the freedoms of expression, religion, culture and education. Today, in Tibet:

Any expression of opinion contrary to Chinese Communist Party ideology can result in arrest.

The Chinese government has systematically covered religious institutions with police presence in an attempt to eradicate allegiance to the Dalai Lama, Tibetan nationalism and any dissention.

Tibetans are subject to arbitrary arrest and detention.

Those imprisoned are often denied legal representation and Chinese legal proceedings fail to meet international standards.

Torture still prevails in Chinese prisons and detention centres despite being in contradiction with the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

Tibetan women are subjected to enforced sterilisation, contraception and abortion procedures.

Due to subsistence difficulties, inadequate facilities and discriminatory measures, many Tibetan children are denied access to adequate healthcare and schooling.

The rate of imprisonment for political reasons is far greater than in other areas under Chinese rule.

Children are not exempt from China's repression of freedom of expression. There are Tibetan political prisoners below the age of 18 and child monks and nuns are consistently dismissed from their religious institutions. China has recently declared Tibet to be non- Buddhist.

Enforced disappearances, where a person is taken into custody and the details of their detention are not disclosed, continue to occur.

The eleven-year-old 11th Panchen Lama has been missing since his status was announced in 1995.

More than 70 per cent of Tibetans in the "TAR" now live below the poverty line.
Continual international pressure is essential in encouraging the Chinese government to abide by the regulations of the covenants of human rights.

THE ENVIRONMENT

Situated at the heart of Asia, Tibet is one of the most environmentally strategic and sensitive regions in the world. Tibetans live in harmony with nature, guided by their Buddhist belief in the interdependence of both living and non-living elements of the earth. However with the invasion of Tibet, the consumerist and materialistic Chinese Communist ideology trampled upon this nature-friendly attitude of the Tibetan people. The past 50 years has seen widespread environmental destruction resulting in deforestation, soil erosion, extinction of wildlife, overgrazing, uncontrolled mining and nuclear waste dumping. Today, the Chinese continue to extract various natural resources - often with foreign backing - without any environmental safeguards, and consequently Tibet is facing an environmental crisis the ramifications of which will be felt far beyond its borders.

Deforestation

Tibet boasts some of the finest quality forest reserves in the world. Having taken hundreds of years to grow, many trees stand 90 feet high with a girth of 5 feet or more. China's "development" and "modernisation" plans for Tibet are seeing these forests indiscriminately destroyed. In 1959, 25.2 million hectares of forest were found in Tibet, but in 1985 the Chinese had reduced forest-coverage to 13.57 million hectares. Over 46 per cent of Tibet's forest has been destroyed and in some areas this figure is as high as 80 per cent. Between 1959 and 1985, the Chinese removed US$54 billion worth of timber from Tibet. Deforestation, and inadequate reforestation programs, has a profound effect on wildlife and leads to soil erosion and changing global weather patterns.

Soil Erosion and Flooding

Massive deforestation, mining and intensified agricultural patterns in Tibet have led to increased soil erosion and the siltation of some of Asia's most important rivers. Siltation of the Mekong, Yangtse, Indus, Salween and Yellow rivers raises riverbeds to cause major floods such as those Asia has experienced in recent years. This in turn causes landslides and reduces potential farming land, thus affecting half the world's population which lives downstream from Tibet.

Global Climatic Effects

Scientists have observed a correlation between natural vegetation on the Tibetan Plateau and the stability of the monsoon, which is indispensable to the break-baskets of south Asia. Scientists have also shown that the environment of the Tibetan Plateau affects jet- streams which are related to the cause of Pacific typhoons and the El Nino phenomenon, which has had adverse environmental effects world-wide.

Extinction of Wildlife

In 1901, the 13th Dalai Lama issued a decree banning the hunting of wild animals in Tibet. Unfortunately, the Chinese have not enforced similar restrictions and instead the "trophy-hunting" of endangered species has been actively encouraged. There are at least 81 endangered species on the Tibetan Plateau of which 39 are mammals, 37 birds, four amphibians and one a reptile. Perhaps the most famous of these is the Giant Panda, an animal native to Tibet yet one that is propagated by the Chinese as their national mascot.

Uncontrolled mining

Extraction of borax, chromium, salt, copper, coal, gold and uranium is being vigorously developed by the Chinese government as a means of providing raw materials for industrial growth. Seven of China's 15 key minerals are expected to run out within a decade and consequently the extraction of minerals in Tibet is increasing in a rapid and unregulated manner. Increased mining activities further reduces vegetation cover and thereby increases the danger for severe landslides, massive soil erosion, loss of wildlife habitat and the pollution of streams and rivers.

Nuclear waste dumping

Once a peaceful buffer state between India and China, Tibet has been militarised to the point of holding at least 300,000 Chinese troops and up to one quarter of China's nuclear missile force. The Chinese brought their first nuclear weapon onto the Tibetan Plateau in 1971. Today, it appears the Chinese are using Tibet as a dumping ground for their, and foreign, nuclear waste. In 1984, China Nuclear Industry Corporation offered western countries nuclear waste disposal facilities at US$1500 per kilogram.

Mysterious deaths of Tibetans and livestock residing close to China's nuclear sites have been reported, as too have increases in cancer and birth defects. In addition, there has been incidence of waterway contamination where the local Chinese population were officially warned against using the water but the local Tibetans were not. China continues to control the Tibetan Plateau without any regard for its fragile ecology or for the rightful inhabitants of the land.

Etiquette & Taboo

Proper Etiquette

Presenting Hada (or Khatag) is traditional practice of respect and hospitality in Tibet, and will be appreciated by your host. If you are presenting a Hada to a statue or a high lama, raise the Hada above your shoulder and bow. When you receive a Hada, it is proper to accept with both your hands.

Always add a "La" after one's name to show your respect, for example Tashi La. Address a high lama with "Rinpoche" and a common lama with Geshe La, even though he might not be a Geshe.
There are some common rules to remember if you plan to visit a monastery. Always walk clockwise around the religious shrines, stupas, Mani stones and prayer wheels. However, if you visit a Bon monastery, then walk counterclockwise! Although the monks remove their shoes upon entering a chamber, it is acceptable to enter a chamber without removing your shoes. Coming inside during the chanting session is permissible. Sit or stand in the rear, with no loud and irreverent conversation! Also, it is considered proper etiquette to offer some money or butter fuel while visiting a monastery.

The following are considered taboo:
Smoking, consuming alcohol or making unnecessary noise in a monastery.
Touching, walking over or sitting on any religious texts, objects or prayer flags in a monastery.
Causing anything to be killed in a monastery.
Intrusive photography of a monastery especially when people are performing religious ceremonies. Always ask for permission
Harming vultures, or yaks and sheep wearing red, yellow or green cloth.
Stepping on the threshold when entering a Tibetan house.
Spitting before somebody.
Placing trash in the fire.
Public displays of affection.
Wearing shorts.

Tibetan Tea
Tibetan Butter tea is the indispensable beverage of everyday life for the Tibetan people. It is good for people in many ways: to help keep body warm, allay one's hunger, aid digestion, promote a healthy cardiovascular system, cleanse the body of accumulated lactic acid, and rejuvenate inner strength and increase stamina.
The ingredients of Butter tea are butter, brick tea, and salt. In every Tibetan family, there is a slim wooden cylinder which is used for churning up tea. A wooden piston is used to push and pull inside the cylinder where butter, salt, and freshly-brewed brick tea are mixed. After a minute or two of mixing it is poured into a kettle, so that it can be kept warm over a fire, and be ready for serving at any time.

Tea-churning is a daily ritual for Tibetans. They are accustomed to finish several bowlfuls of butter tea before starting to work for a day. Butter tea is also served to guests. Generally speaking, guest cannot decline with thanks but have to drink at least three bowlfuls of butter tea before leaving. In order to show courtesy to ones' host, the tea should be taken slowly and meanwhile tell the host that the tea tastes wonderful. It is customary to leave a little at the bottom of tea cup when finished.

Tibetans like drinking tea very much. Besides salted butter tea, sweet milk tea is another popular alternative, especially at Tibetan wedding feasts. Hot boiling black tea filtered and decanted into a churn, fresh milk and sugar are then added. After about a minute of churning the tea will be ready for serving and a cup of reddish white drink will turn up in front of you.