NOBLE FAMILY

Among the rich people in the village, Gonpo Tashi is the most envied and revered by his neighbors.

Gonpo, aged 65, is a nephew of the fourteenth Dalai Lama and guards the Dalai Lama birthplace.

Gonpo has served for one public office for 13 years, offering advice to the county government.

He and his wife live on both his salary and generous donations from followers of the Dalai Lama.

Gonpo has a son and three daughters, two out of whom are members of the Communist Party of China.

In reverence for the clan that raised a "big shot" worshipped by the Tibetan communities, "nobody ever inquired about the income of the Gonpo family," Tsihen said.

Although the Chinese government has lambasted the Dalai Lama's "attempts to separate Tibet from China", it invested nearly 380,000 yuan in rebuilding his former residence in 1986, 27 years after he went into exile.

Since then, Gonpo poured hundreds of thousands of yuan into the house renovation. Now, the courtyards have a two-storey wooden building and a prayer hall.

Driving a Mazda sedan and using a Motorola cell phone, Gonpo seems well adapted to the modern lifestyle.

However, he still spends nearly four hours a day in the wooden building. At dawn, he chants prayers and worships his uncle; in the evening, he burns incense and cleans rooms.

On the first floor of the building is a chanting hall to accommodate visiting pilgrims, and on the second floor lies a bedchamber Gonpo prepared for his uncle the Dalai Lama. Outside the chamber stands a customized, bright yellow throne, which cost Gonpo 20,000 yuan, and photos of the Dalai Lama with hand-written inscriptions.

"The Dalai Lama is a top living buddha," Gonpo said. "Everything must be prepared in line with the religious rituals."

In the 1990s, Gonpo visited twice his uncle, who gave him Buddha sculptures, photos, a monk robe and pieces of Thangka, a traditional Tibetan painting.

"I miss him very much," he said. "I will feel greatly satisfied if his body can sit on this throne at least once."

Gonpo also said he believed the soul of the Dailai Lama had returned to his hometown for many times.