DHARAMSHALA, MAY 16: Chinese police have arrested at least eight people in connection with black marketing tickets to visit the Potala Palace, the home of the Dalai Lamas, in the Tibetan capital Lhasa, according to GuChuSum former political prisoners’ movement based here.
A UNESCO heritage site, Potala palace is an important destination for tourists from not just Mainland China but also around the world. Upon discovering that Chinese agents make huge profits out of ticket sales illegally, local Tibetans reported the matter to the police who started its investigation.
Chinese authorities have found out that agents illegally make from 50 Yuan to 400 Yuan by standing in queue at the ticket sales counter for tourists.
Lhasa Public Security Bureau officials have arrested fifteen Chinese agents including people with names such as Liu, Xung, Zhang and Wang who were waiting for prospective buyers around the ancient monument that is the most visited sites in the Tibetan capital. The arrested Chinese agents had accepted the charges saying they made 30 to 150 Yuan per ticket. However, they were released after being detained for a week.
Construction of the Potala’s White Palace bagen during the lifetime of the great 5th Dalai Lama in 1645, on the site of King Songtsen’s Gampo’s 7th century palace, and the Dalai Lama occupied it three years later when he moved his seat of government from Drepung Monastery, on the outskirts of Lhasa.
