Losang Bandain was uncertain if his two ramshackle houses in Bargor Street, the 1000-year-old commercial center of Lhasa, would still be standing when he returned to his hometown in 1986.
Bandain fled his home to India in 1959, amid the escalating rebellion of Tibetan serfs, which later led to democratic reforms and the end of serfdom in the region.
"I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the two houses had remained unchanged after so many years," said Bandain, now aged 73.
"Actually most buildings along Bargor Street have remained unchanged," he said. "And Bargor Street is still the same old street, except that it's cleaner and has got more shops."
The street, at the foot of the incense-redolent Johkang Monastery in downtown Lhasa, is known as Tibet's largest marketplace and has a history going back 1,300 years.
Most residences along the street are typical white Tibetan houses with black doors and windows draped with pretty colored curtains. Some 93 courtyards in the area have been listed as cultural heritage sites requiring special preservation.
In recent years, the snow-covered "roof of the world" has opened its arms to crowds of tourists, who have flooded in from every corner of the globe for a glimpse of its charms. They worry that the widespread drive for urban progress might one day change Lhasa's character.
"The government has tried hard to keep the original look of the ancient city," said Doban, vice director of Lhasa's cultural heritage administration, who called their worries "groundless."
Since 1979, the central government has allocated over 300 million yuan (US$36 million) to renovate buildings in downtown Lhasa and preserve their original style, he said.
"Renovation is necessary because most houses here are too shabby," said Ratna Komar Tuladhar, a Nepalese national who has run a store in Bargor Street for the past 20 years. "Some did not have running water or lavatories when they were built."
However, renovations had not changed the original layout of the street or its Tibetan-style buildings, he said.
A French photographer named Maxine has recorded on her camera local construction workers tamping rhythmically with wooden posts close to the Jokhang Temple, chanting in rhythm as they worked.
Maxine said her colleagues had tried to talk her out of coming to Tibet.
"They said the buildings would be different from what I expected," she said. "Fortunately, I didn't listen to them."
"What I've seen in Lhasa and the photos I've taken of traditional Tibetan architecture are evidence of China's efforts in heritage preservation," said Maxine.
The local government has consulted many construction experts over renovating and preserving the old city.
Some 56 old courtyards would be renovated by the end of next year, said Qoi'gyai Gyiancai, a noted Tibetan architect.
Qoi'gyai's suggestion that all buildings rebuilt in a modern style in the 1970s should have their original flavor restored has been adopted by the local government.
When the Jokhang Temple applied to be listed on the United Nation's World Heritage List in 2000, a World Heritage Committee expert warned the temple could be destroyed by a fire in Akang, an adjacent courtyard.
"So, we moved the Akang courtyard two meters southward and built a separate wall for it without changing its original style," said Dainzin Doje, head of the renovation team.
Renovation of the ancient city has brought water and electricity to the old houses, wider roads and more security devices in buildings and public facilities.
"The renovation has not changed Lhasa," said Dainzin. "Bargor Street is still that same old street that mirrors 1,300 years of history."
(Xinhua News Agency July 23, 2002)
