With the end of the Thangka exhibition at University of British Columbia in Vancouver on Nov.15，the China Tibetan Culture Week 2014 concluded in Canada，Xinhua reported.

This is the largest people-to-people cultural exchange activity themed on Tibet held in Canada in the recent years, allowing the Canadian people to enjoy the splendor of the Tibetan culture at home, according to China’s Consulate General in Vancouver.

The "China Tibetan Culture Week 2014" started on Nov. 2 and ended on Nov. 15 in Canada, the second event of its kind in Canada since September 2002. It is also the 12th event held in a foreign country following Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Thailand, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Austria, Russia, Poland and Germany since 2001. During the past 13 days, four performances of traditional Tibetan songs and dances, Thangka exhibitions, film screenings have been staged in Vancouver and Toronto co-sponsored by China's State Council Information Office, the People's Government of Tibet Autonomous Region, the Chinese Embassy and General Consulates in Canada. And 13 academic seminars between Tibetologists, doctors of Tibetan medicine and religious figures and their Canadian counterparts, press and overseas Chinese have been conducted in Toronto and Ottawa respectively.

Performances promote Tibetan culture

The Tibet-themed culture week has become a popular event to showcase the traditional Tibetan culture, a real Tibet as well as China’s efforts for preservation of Tibetan culture to the world.

"The Tibetan Culture Week is aimed to provide an opportunity for Canadian people to get a closer look at the Tibetan culture and have a better understanding of Tibet," Dorje Tsedrub, head of the delegation and Vice Chairman of the People's Government of Tibet Autonomous Region said. "Since Tibet’s peaceful liberation in 1951，the Tibetan culture has been well inherited，preserved and promoted through the integration between the traditional and modern elements."

Dorje Tsedrub also briefed over 20 local media in the interviews on the great progress has been made in Tibet’s political, economic, education, medical care, infrastructure, culture, environmental protection and religious aspects.

This year’s event has drawn wide attention of people in Canada. The opening ceremony was attended by representative of Mayor of Vancouver and representative of the Province of the British Columbia as well as 300 Canadian guests. And nearly 2,000 audiences watched the Tibetan-style performances presented by the Lhoka Tibetan Art troupe.

Canadian audiences excitedly claimed that although they used to be lacking in knowledge about Tibet, this movie imparted intriguing information about this mysterious land, and stimulated passion about Tibetan history and culture as Xinhua reported.

Dr. Paul Crowe, Director of David See-chai Lam Center for International Communication is quoted as saying "Understanding the history of Tibet and more complex issues take a lot of efforts, so through films and cultural performances, people can perhaps have their curiosity and interest stimulated so they can perhaps try to find out a little bit more about the area and about its history."

After the documentary entitled "The Roof of the World" debuted at the opening in Vancouver, Jim Hanlon, director of Business Administration Division of Canada's National Laboratory for Particle and Nuclear Physics (TRIUMF) said "I got to learn how the ordinary Tibetan live through this movie and the harmony between man and nature. The documentary aroused my curiosity to go to see Tibet with my own eyes."

Jim Hanlon also said that economic development may impact culture, which is a global issue. The cultural integration and conflict is inevitable, but it is not cultural extinction. What is most important is that the local people should stick to the inheritance of development of their own culture, and that is their responsibility, according to Xinhua report.

"I am very fascinated by the culture and history of Tibet, Thangka painting and the dancing performance. And I think what's interesting is that when two nations first get to know each other, the first communication is always culture," according to Global Business Network Consultant Michael Harding.

Exchanges deepen understanding of Tibet

At a press conference in Vancouver, Tibetologists said to the media that Western knowledge of Tibet spans three periods in history, and now Westerners have better access to different sources about the truth of Tibet from within Tibet.

Palbar Lhamo, associate researcher of the Institute of Contemporary Tibet of the Tibet Academy of Social Sciences said the institute is working on a research project called "Tibet in the eyes of Westerners", in which three periods are established from the 1930s to the 1940s, the 1950s to the 1980s, and from the 1980s until now.

By comparing books published in each of these three periods, we can see clearly that the Westerners’ knowledge of Tibet was rooted in travelogues and diaries written by Westerners in the first period. In the second period, Westerns learned about Tibet from books published by the "Tibetan government-in-exile". In the third period they learned from books and magazines published by both of the Chinese central government and the local government of Tibet Autonomous Region with more objective information. The misperceptions and misunderstandings of the West toward Tibet are a result of their limited texts written by western travelers or Tibetans in exile. For this reason, China has organized "Tibetan Culture Week event and other cultural exchange activities so the international community can hear the truth and voice from a real Tibet."

Phurbu Tsering, director of the Sera Monastery Administration Committee and President of the Lhasa Buddhism Association, also briefed the press on the protection of religion in Tibet.

He said there are 46,000 monks and nuns in Tibet. The state has allocated 46 million yuan in the renovation of religious sites including the grand hall of the Sera Monastery. Since 2005, each monk was allocated 5,000 yuan to renovate his dormitory. Altogether 2.39 million yuan has been appropriated for the project this year. Meanwhile, a total of 2,000 monks were recruited by the monasteries found across the Tibet Autonomous Region. The Tibet Buddhism College was also established in order to cater to the needs of an increasing number of Buddhist followers. And the branch of Tibet Buddhism College was also set up in the Sera Monastery, which not only teaches Tibetan Buddhist canons, but also knowledge of modern science.

Furthermore, a lot of work has been done in the protection of cultural relics, such as the salvaging of the palm leaf manuscripts and Tripitaka. Today all religious activities are conducted in both monasteries and people’s homes. In every Buddhist follower’s house, a niche for the statue of Buddha is enshrined. Sutra streamers can be seen everywhere in Tibet, and people take ritual walks as often as they like.

In response to a question raised by a correspondent from news.stnn.cc, a Chinese newspaper based in Hong Kong, about the extent to which Tibetan cultural week tells the truth about Tibet, Palbar Lhamo, associate researcher at the Tibet Academy of Social Sciences said, "I hope this event could serve as a good opportunity to invite more westerners to come to Tibet and see the truth for their own eyes."

At the symposium at Toronto University, Tibetologists composed of Benpa Lhamo from the Tibetan Academy of Social Science, Purbu Tsering, an eminent monk of Sera Monastery in Lhasa, and Padma Norbu, a professor at the Tibet Medicine School, briefed on the development of Tibet, the history of Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan medicine, and exchanged views with the faculty, who hoped for more academic exchanges would be conducted between the two sides.

The 12 cultural events on Tibet have not only presented a visual feast to the people of other countries, but also left a legacy of helping people in the world see, by their own eyes, what Tibet is really like today.