From Wikitravel

Contents 1 Respect or Stay safe? 2 New pass open? 3 Romanisation 4 Restored reversion

Respect or Stay safe?

An anonymous contributor felt that the warning on discussing political issues should be moved from Respect to Stay safe, given the extreme nature of the possible consequences in this case. There is some commentary on my talk page.

I think that Stay safe should cover things like crime and natural disasters; things that a traveler might become an "innocent victim" of, if he/she is not aware of conditions in the country. Respect deals specifically with interaction with the culture and the people, and the consequences (of whatever seriousness) travelers might face in response to their own deliberate behavior.

Opinions?

--Paul Richter 22:55, 9 Dec 2005 (EST)

This might not help, but there should probably be some mention in "Understand" too. It seems to me it is both a cultural issues (ie it could offend some people) that would go under Respect as well as a legal/safety issue (China isn't exactly brimming with Free Speech) which would argue for Stay safe. Is there a way to address these different aspects in different ways in both sections or would that be repeating? Majnoona 00:19, 10 Dec 2005 (EST)

It might be repeating, but I'd say it would still be worth doing. Pashley 19:37, 19 June 2006 (EDT)

New pass open?

India and China have just agreed [1] to re-open a pass on Lhasa-Calcutta route for trade. I do not know if his will be open for travel, but it seemed worth noting here. Pashley 19:37, 19 June 2006 (EDT)

Romanisation

Could we use a non-pinyin romanisation for Tibetan words? Shigatse instead of Xigatse, Chamdo not Qamdo. Tibetan is a much different language than Mandarin and there is no need to reinforce the Chinese claim on Tibet here.

While I am not personally a strong supporter of the pinyin romanization system as I believe most Westerners unitiated into the system will not pronounce the 'X' and 'Q' correctly, but unfortunately it is the pin-yin system that is used on signs in Tibet and therefore will be the one that vistors will need to familiarize themsleves with. And, as Wikitravel operates a 'traveler first' policy, it is this reason that will determine the spelling system adopted, not one's political opinions (no matter how valid they may or may not be) - at least that's how I see it, though I welcome other interpretations/opinions. WindHorse 20 June 06

That makes sense. I can't remember the signs now but I'm sure you're right. My Chinese-made map had pinyin spellings but most Western material uses the more traditional romanisation. I did meet some travellers who were confused by this. "I want to go to Nam-tso Lake, not Nam-co" for example but for them at least this caused no big problems. Also, to be consistent 'ts' is 'c' or 'z' in pinyin and on my Chinese map of Tibet making Shigatse Xigaze (which will probably be read zai-gays by the unintiated).

For travelers using Western material with the traditional romanization of Tibetan names (the Yale or Whales-Giles systems), there are actually redirects in place. For example, anyone typing in Shigatse or Chamdo will be automaticaly directed to the relevant articles. Hope that sufficiently answers your questions and allays your concerns. WindHorse 21 June 06

Restored reversion

So, I restored the following paragraph, incorrect capitalization and all:

After the invasion of Tibet many ten-thousands of Tibetan monks were killed and thousands or monasteries had been destroyed. They are now rebuilt by the chinese government mostly for tourists and filled up with monks who are not always genuine Tibetan Buddhist monks. Be a bit cautious.

I've fixed the grammar and spelling a bit, and I removed the final admonition since it's non-specific. It's probably worthwhile getting some confirmation on those numbers, or maybe taking them out. --Evan 22:17, 18 September 2006 (EDT)

Wouldn't that information and the rest of the text under "Don't" fit much better in Understand, Respect, or possibly Stay Safe? -- Sapphire