Losar<\/a>, is normally the most festive holiday of the year, when Tibetans burn incense, make special dumplings and set off fireworks. But this year, Tibetans have declared a moratorium on celebrating their own holiday, saying they will instead observe a mourning period for people killed last year during protests against Chinese rule.<\/p>\nThe 15-day holiday begins Wednesday, and as it approaches, tensions are rising. In the last few weeks, the Chinese government has closed large swaths of western China to foreign visitors — not just Tibet itself, but parts of provinces with large Tibetan populations.<\/p>\n
Nearly a year after the violent demonstrations reportedly left more than 120 dead, Tibetans are trying a novel technique for nonviolent protest. “Say No to Losar,” as the campaign is called, was launched by Tibetan groups in Dharamsala, India, the Dalai Lama’s home in exile.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Los Angeles Times reports on Tibetans’ boycott of the traditional new year festival in honor of those killed in the violence in last year’s rioting: The Tibetan New Year, or Losar, is normally the most festive holiday of the year, when Tibetans burn incense, make special dumplings and set off fireworks. But this year, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[20,34,5],"tags":[7767,3533,6582],"class_list":["post-34309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-human-rights","category-society","tag-losar","tag-tibet-culture","tag-tibet-protests","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n
China Expects Tibet to Celebrate, or Else<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n