Ah, the old accoutrements of modern civilization bait n' switch! How shrewd. Reuters is reporting that the Chinese government is going to make it rain something fierce on the Tibet Autonomous Region, to the tune of 300 billion RMB ($47 billion USD) over the next four years. The figure more than doubles the 138 billion RMB spent on Tibet from 2006 to 2010. more ›

• Like the citizens of Shenzhen where the incident occured, we're not quite sure what to think about the so-called "pigeon bomb" that occured last week, killing one unlucky bird and causing zero harm to humans. We understand that terrorism is still a hot topic, what with the recent bombings in Russia, but we're not sold on the idea of a Jihad pigeon. We're going with "spontaneous pigeon combustion" on this one.[China Geeks]
• Speaking of terrorism, do y'all remember how the UK recently released that old Libyan dude who bombed a Pan Am 747 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988 because he was decimated by cancer and didn't want to "die in jail"? If you also remember Hu Jia and his Olympics-disrupting hijinks from a couple years ago, you'll be interested to know his wife is using the same tactics to petition for his release. Though his sentence is only three-and-a-half years and it's questionable to some that he even committed a crime, Mrs. Hu insists her husband is suffering from a "grave illness" and wants him out, stat. [The Guardian]

Now that the various politically sensitive anniversaries are over in the region, Tibet has been reopened to foreign tourists. China Daily said on Sunday that a group of 11 German travelers had arrived in Lhasa for a six-day tour and would be seeing various key scenic spots before leaving for Nepal. They are the first officially allowed visitors since February, near the start of the Tibetan New Year - which was unofficially boycotted by Tibetans over the government crackdown on riots last year. Source: AP more ›

• Tibet's Tense Anniversary [Council on Foreign Relations] "China views Tibet as a backward, feudal, and superstitious society, which has progressed democratically and economically under Chinese rule. Yet human rights watchdog groups regularly cite Chinese abuses in Tibet."
• Lhasa peaceful and quiet on major Tibet anniversary [Xinhua] "The holy city of Lhasa was quiet and peaceful Tuesday, the day marking 50 years since Tibet's democratic reform and the 14th Dalai Lama's flee from his homeland... The life of the average Tibetans seems unaffected even under close watch by foreign press on this special date. There are as many taxies, pedicabs and buses on the roads as usual. Taxi and pedicab drivers, mostly migrants from the neighboring Sichuan Province and central Henan Province, would slam the horn when they saw a potential passenger at roadside."
• Heavy security as Tibetans mark Dalai Lama's exile [Reuters] "China tightened security across ethnic Tibetan areas on Tuesday, aiming to head off potential unrest on the sensitive 50th anniversary of a failed uprising that prompted the Dalai Lama's flight into exile."

• China opens bidding on moon probe technology [Reuters]"China will open competitive bidding so that domestic schools and institutions can help build crucial parts of the country's moon exploration craft, an official newspaper said on Wednesday."
• China launches satellite TV channel to train students, teachers and migrant workers [Xinhua] China Education Television (CETV) is to open a new satellite channel to offer educational services and vocational training for primary and middle school students, teachers, and migrant workers beginning on March 2.

Tony Cheng of Al-Jazeera pays a visit to Zhongdian County (中甸县) — which was renamed Shangri-La (香格里拉县) in 2001 to attract tourists — and finds that it is far from the mystical, harmonious valley as described by the British author in his 1933 novel Lost Horizon. Although the town is located hundreds of miles away from Lhasa, where riots earlier this year threatened to spoil the show for the Beijing Olympics, a heavy, military presence is on hand to ensure that violence doesn't break out again. more ›

NOTE: The opinions expressed in "Opinionist" columns are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Shanghaiist. more ›

We told you about the chaos happening simultaneously in Dharamsala, India and Lhasa, Tibet, and it looks like we're only at the start of something big, very big. Here are snippets of a conversation with a friend who is resident in Lhasa, but has since left the city to live in the countryside till some semblance of stability returns:

"It's like war out there – there are soldiers everywhere" more ›