Day 4 - Fake Tibet in “Racist Park”

August 4th, 2007

Beijing’s “National Ethnic Minorities Park” is a sickening place. Located directly across from the Olympic Village site, it’s a patronizing and offensive display of Chinese cultural imperialism and only a fool could be taken in by it. It’s too bad the mistranslated signs (right) that once pointed the way to “Racist Park” have been replaced by its more politically correct version.

Seeing this twisted place firsthand has only stoked my rage and passion to fight until Tibet is free from China’s occupation.

The park showcases what China calls its “56 ethnic minority nationalities” like animals at the zoo. There are different sections dedicated to different “minorities.” Brief descriptions of each species are accompanied by photographs describing their strange habits and unique customs. If the visitor is lucky, he or she will arrive when the animals are dancing and singing and get a close-up look at these weird and wonderful creatures.

Horrified yet?

lhadonsalute.jpg

Thankfully, there were few other visitors there with us today under the thick and smoggy skies (fittingly - the worst we’ve seen yet). Most decent guide books do not recommend this trip. Even if one doesn’t care so much about the peoples on display, the shabby condition of the buildings and the inauthenticity that oozes from every corner and every structure is enough to scare anyone away.

I could not bring myself to go close to the young Tibetan dance troupe that performed there today. I didn’t want to watch or take pictures or look them in the eyes. Although I don’t know their individual stories, I can imagine the roads that brought them to this terrible place.

Paul was really shaken up after his visit into a stone house where he found a young Tibetan girl in a small room with a photo of Mao on the wall. She was answering questions from several Chinese tourists. Paul took out his camera to record the scene. When the tourists left, Paul asked the girl if he could take her photo. He took several and then she started to sing and dance. Suddenly he felt mortified and wanted her to stop, but he didn’t because he felt it was more important to get the footage. So he filmed as long as he could stand it. (footage coming soon)

It is no coincidence that the Tibetan section of the park is located right by the entrance and is visible from the main street. China has placed the battle for Tibet at the center of its Olympics-related public relations campaign. This battle has been ongoing for years now but was intensified in 2000 after a high level government-sponsored meeting put Tibet-related propaganda at the top of the official agenda.

This is an excerpt from the leaked document: “Tibet-related external propaganda and Tibetology work in the new era” June 12, 2000: “External publicity on Tibet is an important element of our country’s external propaganda. It is also a very important element of our struggle against the Dalai clique and hostile western forces. We need to carry out result-oriented and pin-pointed research on Tibet issue. We also need to carry out diligent external propaganda on Tibet. These efforts are related not only to national and nationalities unity, but also to the open-door reform, progress and stability of our country. Therefore, this is the common responsibility of our propaganda department and cultural institutes.”

The Chinese authorities believe that if they show enough happy, singing and dancing Tibetans, then the world will accept their rule over Tibetans as legitimate. And the Olympics provide them the perfect opportunity to showcase this fraud.

The one highlight of the visit was seeing the bridge right by the “Tibetan” section of the park where my good friends Han (from SFT) and Liam (from Australia Tibet Council) staged their banner-hang action in August 2004, on the morning after the Beijing Mayor received the Olympic flag at the close of the Athens Games.

beijing-ap.jpg

There’s more where that came from!

 

§ 14 Responses to “Day 4 - Fake Tibet in “Racist Park””

  • [...] wrote a heart-wrenching blog post about her visit to the “Racist Park” in Beijing (now called the “National Ethnic [...]

  • [...] wrote a heart-wrenching blog post about her visit to the “Racist Park” in Beijing (now called the “National Ethnic [...]

  • [...] amazing video of the barbaric “Racist Park,” please click here or read more on her blog.  It’s enough to leave one speechless and [...]

  • tenzin lekshey says:

    the job u all had done is ver nice and really make me feel stronger for my national freedom.I am willing to help u in any graphic deisign if u needed as being a graphic and web designer, i will do it all for free of cost
    thanks for ur did

  • Zhihong Zhu says:

    Lhadon,

    I am an ordinary Chinese working in USA, but not associated with any Chinese government division. Thanks for these wonderful pictures showing the real life in Beijing where I had studies and lived for about ten years. Honestly, I am impressed by the passion of people for the Olympic Games, the progress they have achieved on the construction and the prosperity of economy though I am worried about the severe pollution seen from the foggy sky.

    Here I do not want to talk about the separation of Tibet from China, it is too long a story. Obviously you were born oversea, so most likely what you devote to is distant from what Tibetan in China really hope for. To accurately have a idea how Tibetan there think about their life, faith and future, I strongly suggest you to have a trip to Lhasa via the newly built railway from Beijing. This way, you will have the first hand infos about the daily life of the ordinary Tibetan.

    By the way, you never smile on the pics though you are a pretty girl indeed. Try to smile, live happier.

    Good luck in Beijing.

    Zhihong

  • Mary Lee says:

    Dear Zhihong,

    Are you on crack???!! Why would Lhadon smile in from on displays that were stolen/raped from her country??? These pictures are not “sightseeing” pictures. If you want those then you should be looking at travel websites/postcards!

    I am chinese in decent and was brought up as a buddhist and have always empathized with the Tiben people in their struggle to free themselves from the grips of the “IRON HAND”. I believe in a freedom of religion and speech.

    I was appalled to see the “56 Nationalities of China”. How dare they claim that Taiwan belongs to them! Ha! What next? Vietnam? Korea? Russia? Are they going to claim all the rest of Asia just because they share the same land mass??

    I do not believe a country should have a right to claim any country as their own..especially through brute force. China should be ashamed of themselves.

    I was brought up to be proud of my culture and heritage, but now I am ashamed to be chinese because this brings along associations with China.

    The world should unite on this cause. Free Tibet!

    PS I commend your determination and passion Lhadon! Don’t ever give up. Tibet will one day be free. And China will get what they deserve. Karma.

  • rich says:

    Zhihong, I just came back from a 3 month stay in Tibet, and I agree with Mary Lee that you’re on crack. In one Tibetan city I walked nearly every street of the whole city, only to find one Tibetan business in the whole city. All the Tibetans I spoke to, aside from this restaurant, said they were unemployed. In Lhasa, I walked the street to Sera Monastery, where I spoke to some Tibetans who lived there. They told me how just a year ago the street was almost all-Tibetan. When I walked the street, it was almost all Chinese businesses with a rare Tibetan restaurant or small store scattered here and there.

    Wake up and think for yourself rather than eating the propaganda your imperialist government feeds you. And stop bringing your nasty Chinese stuff to Tibet while you steal Tibetans’ resources to fund your own greed. You make me sick. And be glad that America isn’t quite so fascist as your country, or we’d kick you out of our country for expressing your views like your country kicked out Lhadon-la.

  • [...] post info By chinanow Categories: Uncategorized The park showcases what China calls its “56 ethnic minority nationalities” like animals at the z… [...]

  • joan says:

    Thank you so much for writing the truth.

  • gill says:

    You narrow minded fool, don’t you know that there is a place in the Dysney World where countries from all over the world have their culture showcased and art works displayed? Why don’t you hypocratics complain about that? Don’t you understand that is a way to promote friendship and understanding since people usually don’t have much time to travel and explore different cultures on site. There is too much hatred in your mind so you can not see anything positive in your sight.

  • Disgusted, Beijing says:

    I can’t believe the cheek of these people who believe they can take, without permission, that which blatantly does not belong to them.

    With that in mind, please contact me about royalties for the ‘Racist Park’ photo - it’s my copyright . . .

  • Disgusted in Edinburgh says:

    Stop lying and patching up evidence that is not true. Just like we all know now so well how the German media used the Nepalese Police beating Tibetan activist picture to illustrate the level of violence in China! Stop it!

  • john says:

    You are an ignorant and foolish tool.
    I agree with Gill, you haven’t been to Disney World where all cultures are displayed like that. The Chinese have done a good job displaying tibetan culture and Architecture. Plus, the new Kangding airport in Sichuan is built with Tibetan architectural features and the signs are both in Mandarin, English, and Tibetan. Plus the Chinese are not like the Nazis. If they were, they would wipe out every tibetan cultural feature in the country and they wouldn’t bother to build buildings made with tibetan architecture in mind or preserve it in parks like these. Your review made me soooooooo mad that I can finally admit that you are quite biased and a stupid tool and slave to the dali lama!

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