Tibet

context: Tibet (i/tᵻˈbɛt/; Wylie: Bod, pronounced [pʰø̀ʔ]; Chinese: 西藏; pinyin: Xīzàng) is a region on the Tibetan Plateau in Asia. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Qiang and Lhoba peoples and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han Chinese and Hui people. Tibet is the highest region on Earth, with an average elevation of 4,900 metres (16,000 ft). The highest elevation in Tibet is Mount Everest, earth's highest mountain rising 8,848 m (29,029 ft) above sea level.
qas: answers: Mount Everest
question: What is the highest elevation in Tibet?

answers: Asia
question: Which continent contains Tibet?

answers: 16,000
question: What is the average elevation of Tibet, in feet?

answers: 29,029
question: How many feet above sea level does earth's highest mountain rise?

answers: Tibet
question: Where is the traditional homeland of Monpa, Qiang, and Lhoba peoples?

context: The Tibetan Empire emerged in the 7th century, but with the fall of the empire the region soon divided into a variety of territories. The bulk of western and central Tibet (Ü-Tsang) was often at least nominally unified under a series of Tibetan governments in Lhasa, Shigatse, or nearby locations; these governments were at various times under Mongol and Chinese overlordship. The eastern regions of Kham and Amdo often maintained a more decentralized indigenous political structure, being divided among a number of small principalities and tribal groups, while also often falling more directly under Chinese rule after the Battle of Chamdo; most of this area was eventually incorporated into the Chinese provinces of Sichuan and Qinghai. The current borders of Tibet were generally established in the 18th century.
qas: answers: 18th century
question: When were the current borders of Tibet established?

answers: 7th century
question: When did the Tibetan empire emerge?

answers: Sichuan and Qinghai
question: Which Chinese provinces used to be the eastern part of Tibet?

answers: Battle of Chamdo
question: Which battle left parts of Tibet under Chinese rule?

context: Following the Xinhai Revolution against the Qing dynasty in 1912, Qing soldiers were disarmed and escorted out of Tibet Area (Ü-Tsang). The region subsequently declared its independence in 1913 without recognition by the subsequent Chinese Republican government. Later, Lhasa took control of the western part of Xikang, China. The region maintained its autonomy until 1951 when, following the Battle of Chamdo, Tibet became incorporated into the People's Republic of China, and the previous Tibetan government was abolished in 1959 after a failed uprising. Today, China governs western and central Tibet as the Tibet Autonomous Region while the eastern areas are now mostly ethnic autonomous prefectures within Sichuan, Qinghai and other neighbouring provinces. There are tensions regarding Tibet's political status and dissident groups that are active in exile. It is also said that Tibetan activists in Tibet have been arrested or tortured.
qas: answers: 1959
question: In what year was the Tibetan government abolished?

answers: 1912
question: In what year did Xinhai revolt against the Qing dynasty?

answers: western and central Tibet
question: Where is the Tibet Autonomous Region?

answers: Battle of Chamdo
question: Which battle led to Tibet's incorporation into the People's Republic of China?

context: The economy of Tibet is dominated by subsistence agriculture, though tourism has become a growing industry in recent decades. The dominant religion in Tibet is Tibetan Buddhism; in addition there is Bön, which is similar to Tibetan Buddhism, and there are also Tibetan Muslims and Christian minorities. Tibetan Buddhism is a primary influence on the art, music, and festivals of the region. Tibetan architecture reflects Chinese and Indian influences. Staple foods in Tibet are roasted barley, yak meat, and butter tea.
qas: answers: subsistence agriculture
question: What is the economy of Tibet dominated by?

answers: tourism
question: What has recently become a growing industry in Tibet?

answers: Tibetan Buddhism
question: What is the dominant religion in Tibet?

answers: yak meat
question: What is a staple food in Tibet?

answers: Chinese and Indian
question: Which two cultures does Tibetan architecture reflect?

context: The Tibetan name for their land, Bod བོད་, means "Tibet" or "Tibetan Plateau", although it originally meant the central region around Lhasa, now known in Tibetan as Ü. The Standard Tibetan pronunciation of Bod, [pʰøʔ˨˧˨], is transcribed Bhö in Tournadre Phonetic Transcription, Bö in the THL Simplified Phonetic Transcription and Poi in Tibetan pinyin. Some scholars believe the first written reference to Bod "Tibet" was the ancient Bautai people recorded in the Egyptian Greek works Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (1st century CE) and Geographia (Ptolemy, 2nd century CE), itself from the Sanskrit form Bhauṭṭa of the Indian geographical tradition.
qas: answers: Bod
question: What is the Tibetan name for the area?

answers: Bautai
question: Which ancient people were mentioned in the first written reference to Bod "Tibet"?

answers: central region around Lhasa
question: What area did Bod originally refer to?

context: The modern Standard Chinese exonym for the ethnic Tibetan region is Zangqu (Chinese: 藏区; pinyin: Zàngqū), which derives by metonymy from the Tsang region around Shigatse plus the addition of a Chinese suffix, 区 qū, which means "area, district, region, ward". Tibetan people, language, and culture, regardless of where they are from, are referred to as Zang (Chinese: 藏; pinyin: Zàng) although the geographical term Xīzàng is often limited to the Tibet Autonomous Region. The term Xīzàng was coined during the Qing dynasty in the reign of the Jiaqing Emperor (1796–1820) through the addition of a prefix meaning "west" (西 xī) to Zang.
qas: answers: Zangqu
question: How is the ethnic Tibetan region referred to as a modern Standard Chinese exonym?

answers: Zang
question: How do the Chinese refer to Tibetan people, language, and culture?

answers: Qing
question: During which dynasty was the term Xizang first used?

answers: qū
question: Which Chinese suffix means "area, district, region, ward"?

context: The best-known medieval Chinese name for Tibet is Tubo (Chinese: 吐蕃 also written as 土蕃 or 土番; pinyin: Tǔbō or Tǔfān). This name first appears in Chinese characters as 土番 in the 7th century (Li Tai) and as 吐蕃 in the 10th-century (Old Book of Tang describing 608–609 emissaries from Tibetan King Namri Songtsen to Emperor Yang of Sui). In the Middle Chinese spoken during that period, as reconstructed by William H. Baxter, 土番 was pronounced thux-phjon and 吐蕃 was pronounced thux-pjon (with the x representing tone).
qas: answers: Tubo
question: What is the best-known medieval Chinese name for Tibet?

answers: 7th century
question: When did the name for Tibet, Tubo, first appear in Chinese characters?

answers: William H. Baxter
question: Who reconstructed Middle Chinese spoken from the 7th century to the 10th century?

context: Other pre-modern Chinese names for Tibet include Wusiguo (Chinese: 烏斯國; pinyin: Wūsīguó; cf. Tibetan dbus, Ü, [wyʔ˨˧˨]), Wusizang (Chinese: 烏斯藏; pinyin: wūsīzàng, cf. Tibetan dbus-gtsang, Ü-Tsang), Tubote (Chinese: 圖伯特; pinyin: Túbótè), and Tanggute (Chinese: 唐古忒; pinyin: Tánggǔtè, cf. Tangut). American Tibetologist Elliot Sperling has argued in favor of a recent tendency by some authors writing in Chinese to revive the term Tubote (simplified Chinese: 图伯特; traditional Chinese: 圖伯特; pinyin: Túbótè) for modern use in place of Xizang, on the grounds that Tubote more clearly includes the entire Tibetan plateau rather than simply the Tibet Autonomous Region.[citation needed]
qas: answers: Elliot Sperling
question: Who is an American Tibetologist?

answers: Tubote
question: What name for Tibet most clearly includes the entire Tibetan plateau?

answers: Wusiguo
question: What is another pre-modern Chinese name for Tibet?

context: The language has numerous regional dialects which are generally not mutually intelligible. It is employed throughout the Tibetan plateau and Bhutan and is also spoken in parts of Nepal and northern India, such as Sikkim. In general, the dialects of central Tibet (including Lhasa), Kham, Amdo and some smaller nearby areas are considered Tibetan dialects. Other forms, particularly Dzongkha, Sikkimese, Sherpa, and Ladakhi, are considered by their speakers, largely for political reasons, to be separate languages. However, if the latter group of Tibetan-type languages are included in the calculation, then 'greater Tibetan' is spoken by approximately 6 million people across the Tibetan Plateau. Tibetan is also spoken by approximately 150,000 exile speakers who have fled from modern-day Tibet to India and other countries.
qas: answers: approximately 6 million
question: How many people across the Tibetan Plateau speak 'greater Tibetan'?

answers: approximately 150,000
question: How many people who have fled modern-day Tibet are considered to be exile speakers of Tibetan?

answers: political reasons
question: Why are Dzongkha, Sikkimese, Sherpa, and Ladakhi considered to be separate languages?

context: Although spoken Tibetan varies according to the region, the written language, based on Classical Tibetan, is consistent throughout. This is probably due to the long-standing influence of the Tibetan empire, whose rule embraced (and extended at times far beyond) the present Tibetan linguistic area, which runs from northern Pakistan in the west to Yunnan and Sichuan in the east, and from north of Qinghai Lake south as far as Bhutan. The Tibetan language has its own script which it shares with Ladakhi and Dzongkha, and which is derived from the ancient Indian Brāhmī script.
qas: answers: Classical Tibetan
question: What is written Tibetan base on?

answers: Tibetan empire
question: What influenced the consistency of the written Tibetan language?

answers: ancient Indian Brāhmī script
question: From what was the Tibetan language's script derived?

context: The earliest Tibetan historical texts identify the Zhang Zhung culture as a people who migrated from the Amdo region into what is now the region of Guge in western Tibet. Zhang Zhung is considered to be the original home of the Bön religion. By the 1st century BCE, a neighboring kingdom arose in the Yarlung valley, and the Yarlung king, Drigum Tsenpo, attempted to remove the influence of the Zhang Zhung by expelling the Zhang's Bön priests from Yarlung. He was assassinated and Zhang Zhung continued its dominance of the region until it was annexed by Songtsen Gampo in the 7th century. Prior to Songtsän Gampo, the kings of Tibet were more mythological than factual, and there is insufficient evidence of their existence.
qas: answers: Amdo region
question: Where did the Zhang Zhung people migrate from?

answers: western Tibet
question: Where did the Zhang Zhung people migrate to?

answers: Zhang Zhung
question: What is considered to be the original home of the Bon religion?

answers: Drigum Tsenpo
question: Which Yarlung king attempted to remove the influence of the Zhang Zhung?

answers: Songtsän Gampo
question: Who was the first factual king of Tibet?

context: The history of a unified Tibet begins with the rule of Songtsän Gampo (604–650 CE), who united parts of the Yarlung River Valley and founded the Tibetan Empire. He also brought in many reforms, and Tibetan power spread rapidly, creating a large and powerful empire. It is traditionally considered that his first wife was the Princess of Nepal, Bhrikuti, and that she played a great role in the establishment of Buddhism in Tibet. In 640 he married Princess Wencheng, the niece of the powerful Chinese emperor Taizong of Tang China.
qas: answers: Songtsän Gampo
question: Who founded the Tibetan Empire?

answers: Princess Wencheng
question: Who did Songtsan Gampo marry in 640?

answers: Princess of Nepal, Bhrikuti
question: Who was Songtsan Gampo's first wife?

answers: parts of the Yarlung River Valley
question: What did Songtsan Gampo unite?

context: In 821/822 CE Tibet and China signed a peace treaty. A bilingual account of this treaty, including details of the borders between the two countries, is inscribed on a stone pillar which stands outside the Jokhang temple in Lhasa. Tibet continued as a Central Asian empire until the mid-9th century, when a civil war over succession led to the collapse of imperial Tibet. The period that followed is known traditionally as the Era of Fragmentation, when political control over Tibet became divided between regional warlords and tribes with no dominant centralized authority.
qas: answers: 821/822 CE
question: When did Tibet and China sign a peace treaty?

answers: Jokhang temple in Lhasa
question: Where does a bilingual account of Tibet and China's peace treaty exist?

answers: mid-9th century
question: When did a civil war over succession lead to the collapse of imperial Tibet?

answers: Era of Fragmentation
question: What followed the collapse of imperial Tibet?

answers: political control over Tibet
question: What was divided between warlords and tribes with no dominant centralized authority?

context: The Mongol Yuan dynasty, through the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs, or Xuanzheng Yuan, ruled Tibet through a top-level administrative department. One of the department's purposes was to select a dpon-chen ('great administrator'), usually appointed by the lama and confirmed by the Mongol emperor in Beijing. The Sakya lama retained a degree of autonomy, acting as the political authority of the region, while the dpon-chen held administrative and military power. Mongol rule of Tibet remained separate from the main provinces of China, but the region existed under the administration of the Yuan dynasty. If the Sakya lama ever came into conflict with the dpon-chen, the dpon-chen had the authority to send Chinese troops into the region.
qas: answers: Mongol Yuan
question: Which dynasty ruled Tibet through a top-level administrative department?

answers: great administrator
question: What was a dpon-chen?

answers: Mongol emperor
question: Who confirmed the dpon-chen?

answers: Sakya lama
question: Who was the political authority of the region?

answers: dpon-chen
question: Who held administrative and military power?

context: Tibet retained nominal power over religious and regional political affairs, while the Mongols managed a structural and administrative rule over the region, reinforced by the rare military intervention. This existed as a "diarchic structure" under the Yuan emperor, with power primarily in favor of the Mongols. Mongolian prince Khuden gained temporal power in Tibet in the 1240s and sponsored Sakya Pandita, whose seat became the capital of Tibet. Drogön Chögyal Phagpa, Sakya Pandita's nephew became Imperial Preceptor of Kublai Khan, founder of the Yuan dynasty.
qas: answers: Tibet
question: Who managed religious and regional political affairs?

answers: Mongols
question: Who managed structural and administrative rule?

answers: Mongolian prince Khuden
question: Who gained temporal power in Tibet in the 1240s?

answers: Imperial Preceptor of Kublai Khan
question: Who founded the Yuan dynasty?

context: Between 1346 and 1354, Tai Situ Changchub Gyaltsen toppled the Sakya and founded the Phagmodrupa Dynasty. The following 80 years saw the founding of the Gelug school (also known as Yellow Hats) by the disciples of Je Tsongkhapa, and the founding of the important Ganden, Drepung and Sera monasteries near Lhasa. However, internal strife within the dynasty and the strong localism of the various fiefs and political-religious factions led to a long series of internal conflicts. The minister family Rinpungpa, based in Tsang (West Central Tibet), dominated politics after 1435. In 1565 they were overthrown by the Tsangpa Dynasty of Shigatse which expanded its power in different directions of Tibet in the following decades and favoured the Karma Kagyu sect.
qas: answers: Between 1346 and 1354
question: When was the Phagmodrupa Dynasty founded?

answers: disciples of Je Tsongkhapa
question: Who founded the Gelug school?

answers: minister family Rinpungpa
question: Who dominated politics after 1435?

answers: Karma Kagyu
question: What sect did the Tsangpa Dynasty of Shigatse favor?

context: The 5th Dalai Lama is known for unifying the Tibetan heartland under the control of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, after defeating the rival Kagyu and Jonang sects and the secular ruler, the Tsangpa prince, in a prolonged civil war. His efforts were successful in part because of aid from Güshi Khan, the Oirat leader of the Khoshut Khanate. With Güshi Khan as a largely uninvolved overlord, the 5th Dalai Lama and his intimates established a civil administration which is referred to by historians as the Lhasa state. This Tibetan regime or government is also referred to as the Ganden Phodrang.
qas: answers: 5th Dalai Lama
question: Who is known for unifying the Tibetan heartland?

answers: Güshi Khan
question: Who helped the 5th Dalai Lama?

answers: Lhasa state
question: What did the 5th Dalai Lama and his intimates establish?

answers: Ganden Phodrang
question: What is the Tibetan goverment referred to as?

context: Qing dynasty rule in Tibet began with their 1720 expedition to the country when they expelled the invading Dzungars. Amdo came under Qing control in 1724, and eastern Kham was incorporated into neighbouring Chinese provinces in 1728. Meanwhile, the Qing government sent resident commissioners called Ambans to Lhasa. In 1750 the Ambans and the majority of the Han Chinese and Manchus living in Lhasa were killed in a riot, and Qing troops arrived quickly and suppressed the rebels in the next year. Like the preceding Yuan dynasty, the Manchus of the Qing dynasty exerted military and administrative control of the region, while granting it a degree of political autonomy. The Qing commander publicly executed a number of supporters of the rebels and, as in 1723 and 1728, made changes in the political structure and drew up a formal organization plan. The Qing now restored the Dalai Lama as ruler, leading the governing council called Kashag, but elevated the role of Ambans to include more direct involvement in Tibetan internal affairs. At the same time the Qing took steps to counterbalance the power of the aristocracy by adding officials recruited from the clergy to key posts.
qas: answers: 1720
question: When did the Qing dynasty begin to rule in Tibet?

answers: 1724
question: When did Amdo come under Qing control?

answers: 1728
question: When was Kham incorporated into neighboring Chinese provinces?

answers: Qing
question: Who restored the Dalai Lama as a ruler?

answers: Kashag
question: What was the governing councel called?

context: For several decades, peace reigned in Tibet, but in 1792 the Qing Qianlong Emperor sent a large Chinese army into Tibet to push the invading Nepalese out. This prompted yet another Qing reorganization of the Tibetan government, this time through a written plan called the "Twenty-Nine Regulations for Better Government in Tibet". Qing military garrisons staffed with Qing troops were now also established near the Nepalese border. Tibet was dominated by the Manchus in various stages in the 18th century, and the years immediately following the 1792 regulations were the peak of the Qing imperial commissioners' authority; but there was no attempt to make Tibet a Chinese province.
qas: answers: 1792
question: When did the Qing Qianlong Emperor send a large Chinese army into Tibet?

answers: push the invading Nepalese out
question: Why did the Qing Qianlong Emperor send a large Chinese army into Tibet?

answers: Twenty-Nine Regulations for Better Government in Tibet
question: What was the Qing reorganization of the Tibetan called?

answers: 18th century
question: When was Tibet dominated by the Manchus?

context: This period also saw some contacts with Jesuits and Capuchins from Europe, and in 1774 a Scottish nobleman, George Bogle, came to Shigatse to investigate prospects of trade for the British East India Company. However, in the 19th century the situation of foreigners in Tibet grew more tenuous. The British Empire was encroaching from northern India into the Himalayas, the Emirate of Afghanistan and the Russian Empire were expanding into Central Asia and each power became suspicious of the others' intentions in Tibet.
qas: answers: 1774
question: When did George Bogle come to Shigatse to investigate prospects of trade.

answers: Jesuits and Capuchins
question: Who came to Tibet from Europe?

answers: 19th century
question: When did the British and Russian empires begin encroaching on Tibet?

context: In 1904, a British expedition to Tibet, spurred in part by a fear that Russia was extending its power into Tibet as part of The Great Game, invaded the country, hoping that negotiations with the 13th Dalai Lama would be more effective than with Chinese representatives. When the British-led invasion reached Tibet on December 12, 1903, an armed confrontation with the ethnic Tibetans resulted in the Massacre of Chumik Shenko, which resulted in 600 fatalities amongst the Tibetan forces, compared to only 12 on the British side. Afterwards, in 1904 Francis Younghusband imposed a treaty known as the Treaty of Lhasa, which was subsequently repudiated and was succeeded by a 1906 treaty signed between Britain and China.
qas: answers: 1904
question: When did a British expedition to Tibet invade the country?

answers: 13th Dalai Lama
question: With whom were the British hopeing to negotiate?

answers: 600
question: How many Tibetan troops died at the Massacre of Chumik Shenko?

answers: 12
question: How many British troops died at the Massacre of Chumik Shenko?

answers: Francis Younghusband
question: Who imposed the Treaty of Lhasa?

context: After the Xinhai Revolution (1911–12) toppled the Qing dynasty and the last Qing troops were escorted out of Tibet, the new Republic of China apologized for the actions of the Qing and offered to restore the Dalai Lama's title. The Dalai Lama refused any Chinese title and declared himself ruler of an independent Tibet. In 1913, Tibet and Mongolia concluded a treaty of mutual recognition. For the next 36 years, the 13th Dalai Lama and the regents who succeeded him governed Tibet. During this time, Tibet fought Chinese warlords for control of the ethnically Tibetan areas in Xikang and Qinghai (parts of Kham and Amdo) along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. In 1914 the Tibetan government signed the Simla Accord with Britain, ceding the South Tibet region to British India. The Chinese government denounced the agreement as illegal.
qas: answers: 1911–12
question: When did the Xinhai Revolution topple the Qing dynasty?

answers: Dalai Lama
question: Who declared himself ruler of an independent Tibet?

answers: 1913
question: When did Tibet and Mongolia conclude a treaty of mutual recognition?

answers: 1914
question: When did the Tibetan government sign the Simla Accord with Britain?

answers: illegal
question: Why did the Chinese goverment denounce the accord?

context: After the Dalai Lama's government fled to Dharamsala, India, during the 1959 Tibetan Rebellion, it established a rival government-in-exile. Afterwards, the Central People's Government in Beijing renounced the agreement and began implementation of the halted social and political reforms. During the Great Leap Forward, between 200,000 and 1,000,000 Tibetans died, and approximately 6,000 monasteries were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. In 1962 China and India fought a brief war over the disputed South Tibet and Aksai Chin regions. Although China won the war, Chinese troops withdrew north of the McMahon Line, effectively ceding South Tibet to India.
qas: answers: Dharamsala
question: Where did the Dalai Lama's government flee to during the 1959 Tibetan Rebellion?

answers: between 200,000 and 1,000,000
question: How many Tibetans died during the Great Leap Forward?

answers: 6,000
question: How many monasteries were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution?

answers: 1962
question: When did China and India fight a war over South Tibet and Aksai Chin?

answers: north of the McMahon Line
question: To where did Chinese troops withdraw?

context: In 1980, General Secretary and reformist Hu Yaobang visited Tibet and ushered in a period of social, political, and economic liberalization. At the end of the decade, however, analogously to the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, monks in the Drepung and Sera monasteries started protesting for independence, and so the government halted reforms and started an anti-separatist campaign. Human rights organisations have been critical of the Beijing and Lhasa governments' approach to human rights in the region when cracking down on separatist convulsions that have occurred around monasteries and cities, most recently in the 2008 Tibetan unrest.
qas: answers: 1980
question: When did Hu Yaobang visit Tibet?

answers: 1989
question: When did monks in the Drepung and Sera monasteries start protesting for independence?

answers: started an anti-separatist campaign
question: What did the government do when it halted reforms?

answers: 2008
question: When was the most recent Tibetan unrest?

answers: human rights
question: For what have the Beijing and Lhasa goverments been criticized?

context: Tibet has some of the world's tallest mountains, with several of them making the top ten list. Mount Everest, located on the border with Nepal, is, at 8,848 metres (29,029 ft), the highest mountain on earth. Several major rivers have their source in the Tibetan Plateau (mostly in present-day Qinghai Province). These include the Yangtze, Yellow River, Indus River, Mekong, Ganges, Salween and the Yarlung Tsangpo River (Brahmaputra River). The Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, along the Yarlung Tsangpo River, is among the deepest and longest canyons in the world.
qas: answers: Nepal
question: On which border of Tibet is Mount Everest located?

answers: 29,029
question: How tall, in feet, is Mount Everest?

answers: Tibetan Plateau
question: Where is the source of the Yangtze river?

context: The Indus and Brahmaputra rivers originate from a lake (Tib: Tso Mapham) in Western Tibet, near Mount Kailash. The mountain is a holy pilgrimage site for both Hindus and Tibetans. The Hindus consider the mountain to be the abode of Lord Shiva. The Tibetan name for Mt. Kailash is Khang Rinpoche. Tibet has numerous high-altitude lakes referred to in Tibetan as tso or co. These include Qinghai Lake, Lake Manasarovar, Namtso, Pangong Tso, Yamdrok Lake, Siling Co, Lhamo La-tso, Lumajangdong Co, Lake Puma Yumco, Lake Paiku, Lake Rakshastal, Dagze Co and Dong Co. The Qinghai Lake (Koko Nor) is the largest lake in the People's Republic of China.
qas: answers: Mount Kailash
question: Which mountain is a holy pilgrimage for both Hindus and Tibetans?

answers: Lord Shiva
question: Who do Hindus believe lives in Mount Kailash?

answers: Khang Rinpoche
question: What is the Tibetan name for Mount Kailash?

answers: Qinghai Lake
question: Which lake is the largest in China?

context: The atmosphere is severely dry nine months of the year, and average annual snowfall is only 18 inches (46 cm), due to the rain shadow effect. Western passes receive small amounts of fresh snow each year but remain traversible all year round. Low temperatures are prevalent throughout these western regions, where bleak desolation is unrelieved by any vegetation bigger than a low bush, and where wind sweeps unchecked across vast expanses of arid plain. The Indian monsoon exerts some influence on eastern Tibet. Northern Tibet is subject to high temperatures in the summer and intense cold in the winter.
qas: answers: 18 inches
question: What is the average annual snowfall in Tibet?

answers: Indian monsoon
question: What weather pattern exerts some influence on eastern TIbet?

answers: intense cold
question: What are winters like in Tibet?

context: The main crops grown are barley, wheat, buckwheat, rye, potatoes, and assorted fruits and vegetables. Tibet is ranked the lowest among China’s 31 provinces on the Human Development Index according to UN Development Programme data. In recent years, due to increased interest in Tibetan Buddhism, tourism has become an increasingly important sector, and is actively promoted by the authorities. Tourism brings in the most income from the sale of handicrafts. These include Tibetan hats, jewelry (silver and gold), wooden items, clothing, quilts, fabrics, Tibetan rugs and carpets. The Central People's Government exempts Tibet from all taxation and provides 90% of Tibet's government expenditures. However most of this investment goes to pay migrant workers who do not settle in Tibet and send much of their income home to other provinces.
qas: answers: lowest
question: Where is Tibet ranked among China's 31 provinces on the UN's Human Development Index?

answers: increased interest in Tibetan Buddhism
question: What has increased tourism to Tibet in recent years?

answers: all taxation
question: What is Tibet exempt from?

answers: sale of handicrafts
question: From which area does tourism bring the most income?

context: From January 18–20, 2010 a national conference on Tibet and areas inhabited by Tibetans in Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Qinghai was held in China and a substantial plan to improve development of the areas was announced. The conference was attended by General secretary Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang, all members of CPC Politburo Standing Committee signaling the commitment of senior Chinese leaders to development of Tibet and ethnic Tibetan areas. The plan calls for improvement of rural Tibetan income to national standards by 2020 and free education for all rural Tibetan children. China has invested 310 billion yuan (about 45.6 billion U.S. dollars) in Tibet since 2001. "Tibet's GDP was expected to reach 43.7 billion yuan in 2009, up 170 percent from that in 2000 and posting an annual growth of 12.3 percent over the past nine years."
qas: answers: 2010
question: In what year was a national conference on Tibet held in China?

answers: CPC Politburo Standing Committee
question: Members of which committee attended the conference?

answers: 2020
question: By when does the plan call for improvement of rural Tibetan income?

answers: education
question: What does the plan call for all rural Tibetan children to receive for free?

answers: about 45.6 billion
question: How much, in US dollars, has China invested in Tibet since 2001?

context: Historically, the population of Tibet consisted of primarily ethnic Tibetans and some other ethnic groups. According to tradition the original ancestors of the Tibetan people, as represented by the six red bands in the Tibetan flag, are: the Se, Mu, Dong, Tong, Dru and Ra. Other traditional ethnic groups with significant population or with the majority of the ethnic group residing in Tibet (excluding a disputed area with India) include Bai people, Blang, Bonan, Dongxiang, Han, Hui people, Lhoba, Lisu people, Miao, Mongols, Monguor (Tu people), Menba (Monpa), Mosuo, Nakhi, Qiang, Nu people, Pumi, Salar, and Yi people.
qas: answers: six red bands in the Tibetan flag
question: How are the original ancestors of the Tibetan people represented?

answers: ethnic Tibetans
question: What has the population of Tibet primarily consisted of?

answers: India
question: Which country has a disputed area with Tibet?

context: Religion is extremely important to the Tibetans and has a strong influence over all aspects of their lives. Bön is the ancient religion of Tibet, but has been almost eclipsed by Tibetan Buddhism, a distinctive form of Mahayana and Vajrayana, which was introduced into Tibet from the Sanskrit Buddhist tradition of northern India. Tibetan Buddhism is practiced not only in Tibet but also in Mongolia, parts of northern India, the Buryat Republic, the Tuva Republic, and in the Republic of Kalmykia and some other parts of China. During China's Cultural Revolution, nearly all Tibet's monasteries were ransacked and destroyed by the Red Guards. A few monasteries have begun to rebuild since the 1980s (with limited support from the Chinese government) and greater religious freedom has been granted – although it is still limited. Monks returned to monasteries across Tibet and monastic education resumed even though the number of monks imposed is strictly limited. Before the 1950s, between 10 and 20% of males in Tibet were monks.
qas: answers: Religion
question: What has a strong influence over all aspect of Tibetans lives?

answers: Bön
question: What is the ancient religion of Tibet?

answers: During China's Cultural Revolution
question: When were nearly all of Tibet's monasteries destroyed by the Red Guard?

answers: Before the 1950s
question: When were 10 to 20% of Tibets males monks?

context: Muslims have been living in Tibet since as early as the 8th or 9th century. In Tibetan cities, there are small communities of Muslims, known as Kachee (Kache), who trace their origin to immigrants from three main regions: Kashmir (Kachee Yul in ancient Tibetan), Ladakh and the Central Asian Turkic countries. Islamic influence in Tibet also came from Persia. After 1959 a group of Tibetan Muslims made a case for Indian nationality based on their historic roots to Kashmir and the Indian government declared all Tibetan Muslims Indian citizens later on that year. Other Muslim ethnic groups who have long inhabited Tibet include Hui, Salar, Dongxiang and Bonan. There is also a well established Chinese Muslim community (gya kachee), which traces its ancestry back to the Hui ethnic group of China.
qas: answers: Kachee
question: What are Tibetan Muslims known as?

answers: Persia
question: Where did Islamic influence in Tibet come from?

answers: 1959
question: In what year were all Tibetan Muslims declared Indiana citizens?

answers: gya kachee
question: What is the Chinese Muslim community called?

context: Roman Catholic Jesuits and Capuchins arrived from Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. Portuguese missionaries Jesuit Father António de Andrade and Brother Manuel Marques first reached the kingdom of Gelu in western Tibet in 1624 and was welcomed by the royal family who allowed them to build a church later on. By 1627, there were about a hundred local converts in the Guge kingdom. Later on, Christianity was introduced to Rudok, Ladakh and Tsang and was welcomed by the ruler of the Tsang kingdom, where Andrade and his fellows established a Jesuit outpost at Shigatse in 1626.
qas: answers: 17th and 18th centuries
question: When did Roman Catholic Jesuits and Capuchins arrive in Tibet from Europe?

answers: 1624
question: When did Portuguese missionaries first arrive in western Tibet?

answers: 1626
question: When was Christianity introduced to Rudok, Ladakh, and Tsang?

context: In 1661 another Jesuit, Johann Grueber, crossed Tibet from Sining to Lhasa (where he spent a month), before heading on to Nepal. He was followed by others who actually built a church in Lhasa. These included the Jesuit Father Ippolito Desideri, 1716–1721, who gained a deep knowledge of Tibetan culture, language and Buddhism, and various Capuchins in 1707–1711, 1716–1733 and 1741–1745, Christianity was used by some Tibetan monarchs and their courts and the Karmapa sect lamas to counterbalance the influence of the Gelugpa sect in the 17th century until in 1745 when all the missionaries were expelled at the lama's insistence.
qas: answers: 1661
question: When did Johann Grueber cross Tibet on the way to Nepal?

answers: 1716–1721
question: When did Jesuit Father Ippolito Desideri spend time in Tibet?

answers: counterbalance the influence of the Gelugpa sect
question: How was Christianity used by some Tibetan monarchs?

context: In 1877, the Protestant James Cameron from the China Inland Mission walked from Chongqing to Batang in Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province, and "brought the Gospel to the Tibetan people." Beginning in the 20th century, in Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan, a large number of Lisu people and some Yi and Nu people converted to Christianity. Famous earlier missionaries include James O. Fraser, Alfred James Broomhall and Isobel Kuhn of the China Inland Mission, among others who were active in this area.
qas: answers: 1877
question: When did Protestant James Cameron bring the Gospel to the Tibetan people?

answers: Beginning in the 20th century
question: When did a large number of Lisu people convert to Christianity?

answers: Famous earlier missionaries
question: How were James O. Fraser, Alfred James Broomhall, and Isobel Kuhn involved with Tibet?

context: Standing at 117 metres (384 feet) in height and 360 metres (1,180 feet) in width, the Potala Palace is the most important example of Tibetan architecture. Formerly the residence of the Dalai Lama, it contains over one thousand rooms within thirteen stories, and houses portraits of the past Dalai Lamas and statues of the Buddha. It is divided between the outer White Palace, which serves as the administrative quarters, and the inner Red Quarters, which houses the assembly hall of the Lamas, chapels, 10,000 shrines, and a vast library of Buddhist scriptures. The Potala Palace is a World Heritage Site, as is Norbulingka, the former summer residence of the Dalai Lama.
qas: answers: the Dalai Lama
question: Who used to reside in the Potala Palace?

answers: thirteen
question: How many stories does the Potala Palace contain?

answers: 10,000
question: How many shrines exist in the Potala Palace?

answers: former summer residence of the Dalai Lama
question: What is Norbulingka?

context: Tibetan music often involves chanting in Tibetan or Sanskrit, as an integral part of the religion. These chants are complex, often recitations of sacred texts or in celebration of various festivals. Yang chanting, performed without metrical timing, is accompanied by resonant drums and low, sustained syllables. Other styles include those unique to the various schools of Tibetan Buddhism, such as the classical music of the popular Gelugpa school, and the romantic music of the Nyingmapa, Sakyapa and Kagyupa schools.
qas: answers: Tibetan or Sanskrit
question: In what languages is Tibetan music often chanted in?

answers: recitations of sacred texts
question: What do the chants often contain?

answers: Yang
question: What type of chanting is performed without metrical timing?

answers: classical
question: What type of music comes from the popular Gelugpa school?

context: Tibet has various festivals that are commonly performed to worship the Buddha[citation needed] throughout the year. Losar is the Tibetan New Year Festival. Preparations for the festive event are manifested by special offerings to family shrine deities, painted doors with religious symbols, and other painstaking jobs done to prepare for the event. Tibetans eat Guthuk (barley noodle soup with filling) on New Year's Eve with their families. The Monlam Prayer Festival follows it in the first month of the Tibetan calendar, falling between the fourth and the eleventh days of the first Tibetan month. It involves dancing and participating in sports events, as well as sharing picnics. The event was established in 1049 by Tsong Khapa, the founder of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama's order.
qas: answers: Buddha
question: What is worshipped during Tibet's various festibals?

answers: Losar
question: What is the Tibetan New Year Festival called?

answers: Guthuk
question: What do Tibetan's eat on New Year's Eve?

answers: between the fourth and the eleventh days of the first Tibetan month
question: When is the Monlam Prayer Festival?

answers: Tsong Khapa
question: Who established the Monlam Prayer Festival in 1049?

context: The most important crop in Tibet is barley, and dough made from barley flour—called tsampa—is the staple food of Tibet. This is either rolled into noodles or made into steamed dumplings called momos. Meat dishes are likely to be yak, goat, or mutton, often dried, or cooked into a spicy stew with potatoes. Mustard seed is cultivated in Tibet, and therefore features heavily in its cuisine. Yak yogurt, butter and cheese are frequently eaten, and well-prepared yogurt is considered something of a prestige item. Butter tea is very popular to drink.
qas: answers: barley
question: What is the most important crop in Tibet?

answers: tsampa
question: What is dough made from barley flour called?

answers: momos
question: What are steamed dumplings called?

answers: Butter tea
question: What is a popular drink in Tibet?

answers: Mustard
question: What seed is cultivated in Tibet?