Radio and TV coverage reaches all Lhasa monasteries

Radio and television services have extended to reach all 231 monasteries in Tibet's regional capital Lhasa as of this week, the local government said Wednesday.

A grand ceremony was held at Ganden Monastery in the suburbs of Lhasa Tuesday to mark the full access to TV and radio programs.

Ganden, one of the holy city's three largest monasteries, was the last to gain the access due to its remote location, at least 57 km from Lhasa's city center.

"We have made radio and TV services available to all monasteries in Lhasa," said Zhang Chongyin, chief of Tibet's radio, film and television bureau.

Monks now have access to nine radio channels and 51 TV channels, he said.

The move was part of a massive campaign launched in March 2009 to improve the cultural life of monks and nuns by promoting TV, radio, films, newspapers and other publications.

"I used to listen to the radio to learn what was going on in the world," said Nyima Dondrup, a monk at the Ganden Monastery. "Now I can watch my favorite programs on TV in my dorm. It's faster and more informative."

Zhang said his bureau aims to expand radio and TV coverage to monasteries across Tibet within a year. "Infrastructure construction has been completed in Qamdo and Xigaze prefectures."

He said many monasteries in Lhasa have also set up their own movie projection teams that enable monks to see their desired films.

Under the cultural campaign, a total of 2,000 Tibetan language newspapers are distributed to Lhasa's monasteries daily, including Lhasa Evening News, the People's Daily and Tibet Daily.

As of February, almost all monasteries had set up reading rooms, with a total collection of 170,000 books distributed by the local government for free.

Tibet has more than 1,700 registered monasteries and venues for religious activities with about 46,000 monks and nuns, according to figures provided by the regional government.