Prospering the city culturally to establish the spiritual homeland of multi ethnicities

J: What are the considerations in terms of listing culture as the second strategy for the development of Lhasa?

Qi Zhala: Culture is the homeland of our ethnic spirit. Lhasa is a peculiar region that beholds mostly Tibetan people, among other various ethnic minorities, where the spiritual pursuit is stronger than material pursuit. Only by intensifying the strategy of prospering the city culturally will the ethnicities in Lhasa be brought together in establishing Lhasa into a plateau capital city with sustainable development.

Specifically, we will first of all bring the spiritual power of the people together through the embodiment of the core value system of socialism with historical comparisons. In the vast agricultural and pastoral regions and the monasteries, we will carry out the “eight comparisons, the one check out, the one exposure and criticizing, and the four strengthening” activities to modify the wrong ideological understandings and enhance the people. Through the comparisons in terms of “wearing, eating, living, transportation, culture, education, medical care, and hygiene” between history and the current situation, we will check out the achievement so far after 60 years of the democratic reform in Tibet, while exposing and criticizing the politically revolutionary, the religiously hypocritical, and the tactically fraudulent separatist group of Dalai Lama, in order to improve the understanding from the people and from the monks of the communist party, of the nation, of the ethnic group, and of rule of law. With such ongoing activities, more and more farmers, herdsmen and monks have started to realize the roles played by the communist party in bringing them the happiness of today. They have also hence realized the superiority of socialism and become determined to follow the party in pursuit of the well-off society.

Secondly, we will regard the great prosperity of the non-profit cultural undertakings of the people and the great development of the cultural industry as a project that nourishes both the “pockets” and the “minds” of the people. We will bring advanced cultural forms such as radios, TVs, movies, books and newspapers into the monasteries to spread the culture in the monasteries of the entire region as a leading example.

Thirdly, we will design, rehearse and broadcast the standard dance of ‘Happy Lhasa’, guide the pious believers in diverting their energy from the Buddhist religion to healthy cultural activities. This would also present a new socialist Lhasa with happiness, harmony, vitality and vigor to the world.

J: Is it the dance that people perform during the mornings and the nights?

Qi Zhala: Yes.

Currently the standard perform during the mors become a mass activity and a peculiar landscape of Lhasa.

J: I heard you are also rehearsing the opera Princess Wencheng.

Qi Zhala: That is our fourth project; we are trying to promote the large-scale live show Princess Wencheng in order to enrich the history of cultural tourism in Lhasa.

In October 2012, the tour version of the opera was finished; in August 2013, the live-action version of the opera officially started on the stage. Currently, Princess Wencheng has become a visual feast for the cultural tourism in Tibet and a profoundly beautiful landscape.

J: The central government has proposed to establish Lhasa as a world tourist destination, what version of the op

Qi Zhala: We will implement the requirements from the central government establishing Lhasa as a world tourist destination by building up tourist and cultural innovation gardens.

We have also established the Lhasa Cultural and Tourist Investment Company, which is in charge of the management of the construction of the innovation gardens and has invited the world first-class designing team to design the layouts of the gardens. Currently, some enterprises are willing to invest more than RMB5 billion into the gardens and a series of key cultural industrial construction projects have already started.