Source: CCTV.com

03-26-2009 16:20

Meanwhile, Lhasa Hotel, another engineering marvel of the 43 projects, was built in 1985. It is still the most famous hotel in Lhasa. In the beginning of the Reform and Opening Up process, there were no decent hotels in Lhasa. Without any actual infrastructure to back it up, the Reform and Opening Up process would be nothing but hot air. Therefore, the 43 projects were expected to be completed as soon as possible. And also done in such a way to showcase good quality. One fsection of the main structure of the Lhasa Hotel took only seven days to build. That was regarded as a miracle on the plateau.

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The 43 projects, including Lhasa Hotel, Tibet Stadium and Lhasa Theater were affectionately referred to by the local people as the “43 Pearls of the Plateau”. Beyond infrastructure, the central government also invested a great amount of money in the 1980”s to renovate a large number of Tibetan temples and relics.

Muya Chukyi Gyentsen is a leading expert on the ancient architecture of Tibet. During the campaign to restore order out of chaos he was responsible for maintaining several temples that had been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. The Samye Monastery was one of them.

The Samye Monastery was first built 1,200 years ago. An ancient Tibetan text describes it as marvelous and unique. But Muya’s grainy video and single black-and-white photograph, show something very different.