Tibet not what the West thinks it to be

When I visited China in 2006 for the first time, I had the same preconceived notions about the country as most Westerners. In fact, I was a bit scared to get off the plane because I thought that in a "totalitarian" state where everybody was under surveillance, all my movements would be monitored.

But I could not have been more wrong. People, including policemen, were friendly and ready to help.

After delivering my lectures in Dalian, Liaoning province, and Shanghai, I spent one month traveling around China with my wife. I sought the help of a Chinese friend to book air tickets and get hotel reservations. Where would we go? I wanted to see her reaction when I said "Lhasa", capital of the Tibet autonomous region. "No problem," said my friend. I got the same answer when I told her that we also wanted to go to the Xinjiang Uygur and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions and Yunnan province.