Tibet is OUT!

I've just been informed by our agent, China Focus, that Tibet is now formally closed to all foreign tourists and is likely to be closed throughout the month of May when we will be in China. It will very likely be closed to all tourism until after the Olympic games in August for fear of additional disruption by activists politicising the Olympic games as a means to demonstrate for Tibetan autonomy in opposition to the political domination and exploitation of Tibet by the government of China. This age old struggle has been going on since the 1950's when the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, was forced out of the Potala Palace and into exile in India. From time to time the underlying tension erupts into violent demonstration and this is one of those times. Although Tibetan goals in China are generally supported by the Western world, it's unfortunate that the Olympic Games, an international sporting event, are being politicised worldwide by these Tibetan activists.