Tibet today

Tibet's oldest woman, Arme Tsering, celebrated her 118th birthday Monday at home in the northeastern suburbs of Lhasa.

The 14th Dalai Lama often says, "I am just a simple Buddhist monk - no more, no less." His Holiness is anything but that - for on the surface he is the very embodiment of worldly success.

As one of the top three best-known carpets in the world, Tibetan carpet-making has a long history that spans more than 600 years.

Tibetologist Jean-Paul Desimpelaere visited Tibet in December and told Radio86 about the situation in the region and the capital Lhasa one year after the riots that rekindled the debate over the Dalai Lama.

Two days before the first anniversary of the deadly riots that rocked Lhasa, life appears normal in the holy city, with crowds of pilgrims to the Potala Palace and major monasteries, and businesses gearing up for a prosperous year.

Why does a book I've never read and a movie I've only seen once linger in my mind? Quite simple, really, now that I think about it. They were about a place called Shangri La, a real paradise on earth.

The Tibetan women's social status has risen substantially since the democratic reform was launched in Tibet 1959.

Yangdron quietly stands by as her mother, dressed in a cotton-padded Tibetan costume, crawls across the ground and kowtows in front of the Potala Palace in downtown Lhasa.

On March 10, 1959, the Dalai Lama and his supporters started an armed rebellion in a desperate attempt to preserve Tibet's feudal serfdom and split the region from China.

In the second part of our interview with Tibet expert Jean-Paul Desimpelaere, we learn more about the development of this contested territory from a sociological and historical viewpoint, touch on the riots that took place in March of last year, and take a look at Tibet's image in the media.