Last year's new goodies included Tibet Grass brand ginseng-berry juice, a sorghum liquor called Tibet Fragrant Spring and Tibetan Highland barley wine. Trendies in Shanghai can shop for Tibetan jewelry at boutiques just off the glitziest commercial street. At the Traditional Tibetan Medicine Hospital in Beijing, director Renwang Ciren spent a recent morning tending to the ailments of six air-force officers. Not satisfied with merely importing Tibetan culture and commerce, Chinese are increasingly making the tourist trek to Tibet itself. They multiply the impact of the many Chinese who have moved to Tibet in the past decade and now constitute more than half of Lhasa's population.
Tibetan exiles argue that the influx dilutes the culture.
Interest in Tibet comes at a critical time. The Dalai Lama is 65, and it's unclear if anyone can unite the fractured community of Tibetan exiles after he dies. The identity of Tibet's second-highest religious figure, the Panchen Lama, is disputed. He has become the exile community's greatest hope for leadership. Even so, Labrang teems with 2,000 monks and many pilgrims, who are often Chinese.