Published by: World Tibet Network News, Monday, October 7, 1996

By Jane Macartney

LHASA, China, Oct 7 (Reuter) - Tibet's toilets offer some of the most spectacular views in the world -- if you can hold your nose long enough to enjoy the scenery.

Many tourists on the roof of the world are so overwhelmed by the breathtaking beauty of the Himalayan plateau that such niceties as stinking lavatories are the least of their concerns.

Given the altitude -- 3,680 metres (12,000 feet) in the Tibetan capital Lhasa -- many visitors stifled by the rarefied air scarcely have time to breathe the noxious odours from public toilets with unglazed windows that open on to views of mountains and temples. And most really don't care.

"It's pretty much indescribable. It's vast, overwhelming, awesome, beautiful, interesting," said U.S. tourist Mary Beth Cooper, visiting from Cleveland, Ohio, as she toured the Jokhang temple in Lhasa, holy of holies in a land dotted with Buddhist shrines and sacred sites.

Tourists say they are stunned by the beauty of Tibet's soaring Himalayas, the warmth of its nomadic and deeply devout people and the mysteries of its ancient Buddhist monasteries.

Officials are clearly almost as excited as the tourists as they reel off a list of their achievements in developing Tibet's major industry and the various recreational activities on offer to lure more dollars to one of China's poorest, most backward and inaccessible regions.

Tourism on the roof of the world is a growth sector, officials say. It is the most lucrative source of foreign exchange for this vast, sparsely populated land -- apart from trade -- and is an industry that officials eagerly nurture.

Tibet earned $22 million in tourist dollars last year and is hoping for $30 million this year. It hopes to increase earnings by 8-10 percent a year and to play host to 60,000 visitors a year by the turn of the century.

"We got off to a late start compared with the rest of China," Zhou Lizong, vice director of the Tibet Tourism Bureau, said in an interview.

Tibet inched open its doors to foreign tourism in 1980.

However, the route to 1996 when hundreds of awestruck tourists can be seen panting around Tibet's monasteries and mountains has been fraught with difficulties.

Riots by monks protesting against Chinese rule in 1987 -- a record year for tourism with 47,000 foreign visitors -- was followed by two years of unrest, several months of martial law and a tourism nadir.

"However, since 1990 tourism has gradually recovered," Zhou said. "And since 1992 things have really improved with between 30,000 and 40,000 foreign visitors a year."

Officials acknowledge that Tibet's infrastructure lags, there is a shortage of hotel rooms, especially higher-end accommodation, as well as of transport facilities. The cost of a holiday in Tibet far exceeds a vacation anywhere else in China.

The type of visitor has changed in recent years.

In 1987, only 10,000 foreign tourists came in high-spending organised groups. The rest were low-budget backpackers.

Now, backpackers are few and far between because of a policy imposed from Beijing that requires all visitors to the restive region to obtain a special permit -- and this can only be done through a travel agent and as part of a tour group.

Zhou insists the system has not hampered visitors.

"This does not make it more difficult to come to Tibet, you can, even in a group of just one person."

Backpackers spent little and damaged the natural resources, he said. Some individual foreign travellers were unfortunate enough to freeze to death on Tibet's wild and rugged plateau, said bureau vice Communist Party secretary Xiao Zhigang.

"We are not saying backpackers can't come," he said. "Everyone is welcome."

Beijing and Tibetan security officials may be less welcoming. They blame the huge 1987 influx of backpackers, many of them ex-hippies looking for a cause, for helping to stir up pro-independence unrest over the next two years.

Most tourists said they had few problems entering Tibet -- either because officials did not bother to require a permit or because of the efficiency of travel agencies.

"We have had absolutely no difficulties," said Cooper.

"The temples are magnificent... unlike anything I have seen anywhere," she said. "People are very friendly. Big, big smiles from people... from all sorts of ethnic backgrounds."

One American couple said they took three years to find an agent who could realise their dream of a holiday in the land fabled to be Shangri-La. They were not disappointed.

"Everything is as beautiful as we thought it would be. We are very glad we came," said the husband, who declined to be identified.

Officials say tourists are drawn by three main attractions -- Tibet's natural beauty and towering mountains, its monasteries and temples and its unique and mysterious culture.

That's not all. Tibet offers adventure tours to Everest, the world's highest mountain at 8,848 metres (29,028 ft), to the nature reserve at its foot, trekking with yaks and camping in yak-hair tents and mountain biking.

Not all tourists are bewitched, and several said the highly publicised campaign of Tibet's exiled god-king, the Dalai Lama, for autonomy for his homeland had sparked their curiosity.

"There are positive points such as better sanitation and roads, but the Tibetans have paid a high price," said one French woman tourist. "The Chinese could give them more autonomy.

"When we see the ugly Chinese buildings, the little Tibetan houses seem more beautiful."

Others said they were curious about the politics.

"Our impression is overwhelming," said Norwegian Bodil Borchgrevink Grindal.

"I do not want to say too much about the political situation for several reasons, but as Norwegians we gave the Nobel Peace Prize to (the) Dalai Lama and if we say we supported very much that decision I think we have said what we need to say."

Others just couldn't breathe.

"The altitude makes it very difficult for me," said one Austrian man. "But I am just so glad that I have been able to see something."