The ongoing Shoton Festival shows the world not only the smiles of Tibetan people, but also the preservation and development of Tibetan culture, which is completely different from the Dalai clique's propaganda.

Some people who accepted the Dalai Lama's defamatory statement of "culture genocide" in Tibet blindly believe that development and modernization is to assimilate the uniqueness of Tibetan people and that Tibetan culture will be impaired and finally be destroyed.

In fact, in many other places in the world, even in the United States and West Europe, such phenomenon can be seen -- an ancient ethnic group and culture died out or will perish in a short or medium term.

However, we don't need to worry about the extermination of Tibetan culture, because the modernization of Tibet is totally different from that in many other countries and regions.

While modernization and traditional culture exist in harmony in Tibet Autonomous Region, religion and secular groups are also thriving thanks to the Chinese government's efforts in protecting Tibetan culture and religion, such as renovating monasteries and ethnic architectures there and popularizing Tibetan language.

When western people appreciate the spirit and material culture in Tibet,  would they think about one thing: should the great people who have created the magnificent culture have the right to enjoy modern civilization which the Tibetan people have also contributed a lot?

However, some foreign media outlets with political intentions criticize the Chinese government, like the topic of wielding economic tools to divert local attentions from politics and assimilate Tibetan culture.

Such criticism, almost made instinctively, makes it doubtful whether the commentators have really been to Tibet themselves. Otherwise, why do they keep voicing a clichéd perspective no matter what changes have taken place in reality?

Anyone who's been to Tibet will be amazed by the solid, established system of Tibetan culture. It permeates every aspect of Tibetan life, such as diet, medicine, language, entertainment and so on. This is also why Tibetan culture has survived massive social shake-ups in the past millennium. Its vigor should not be underestimated.

Most important of all, no ordinary Tibetans is willing to live in a backwater museum to be exhibited to foreign visitors who can appraise how well their culture is "preserved."

Like every other ethnic group, Tibetans are interacting with other economies to infuse new vigor into their own community. Economic growth and cultural prosperity are not in opposition. Instead, they boost each other and Tibetan culture has got great benefits from Tibet's development.