Published: 17th July, 2007
Forty years ago, during China’s Cultural Revolution, Tibet’s famous Potala Palace was in danger of being destroyed by the infamous Red Guards.
Now, tourism is threatening the palace due to large numbers of visitors descending on the small country.
The red and white palace quickly becomes full of religious pilgrims who compete with tourists for visitation rights.
The task of safeguarding the palace is now likely to be even harder, with the opening on July 1st of a new railway linking Tibet to 1.3 billion people in mainland China.
