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Whether it’s called the Hidden Country, Shangri-La or the Rooftop of the World, Tibet is breathtaking. Visitors to the almost 12,000-foot-high capital invariably experience altitude sickness. And although winter daytime temperatures plunge to minus forty degrees (both Centigrade and Fahrenheit), high-altitude sunshine can still cause sunburn.

For centuries, Tibet remained isolated and independent from the rest of the world. In 1950 Communist China bombarded and took over the country. The invaders had no tolerance for Buddhism and during the next decade robbed or destroyed thousands of monasteries and shrines. The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s famed spiritual leader, fled to India.

Forced resettlement scattered six million Tibetans across China. Teaching the Tibetan language was forbidden to a whole generation. Approximately 2.4 million now live in their homeland, but in Lhasa they are said to be outnumbered and marginalized by Han Chinese. Through the years an estimated one million Tibetans have died in protests and revolts. Talking politics can still fetch a 20-year prison sentence. Even foreigners are occasionally arrested and accused of passing on information to the Dalai Lama.

Tourism was discouraged for many years, but Lhasa is now a trendy destination for Chinese tourists who marvel at the city’s unusual quality of light. Others who wish to visit-usually limited to adventurous mountain-climbers-must obtain a Chinese visa.

Perhaps 80 expatriates live in Tibet; half are students, others are mostly English teachers or aid and development staff. Foreigners’ strange clothes and facial characteristics-like their large noses-are still rare enough to draw the stares of crowds on the street. Foreign children are poked and prodded.

Mike Patterson (a pseudonym), an expat who calls Tibet home, says that when he first arrived less than ten years ago the city had no public transportation. Now taxis and other cars clog the streets along with four-wheel drive vehicles, jostling carts and yaks. The fanciest cars are driven by government officials.

“You could draw a line through Lhasa, with Tibetans and Chinese living in different areas,” Patterson said. Shops are filled with Chinese imports. Most people now own TVs because the government is keen for everyone to get “Chinese cable” propaganda, even in remote places. Refrigerators and washing machines are becoming common, and mobile phones are the new status symbol.

A few Internet cafés exist, but only expatriates can get special permission to use the Internet in their homes. “We use it knowing full well that they [the official censors] read everything,” Patterson said. “They keep a pretty tight watch, and certain websites are blocked.”

Central heating has yet to make its way to Tibet. Like other residents, Patterson uses a small fireplace in his house to burn dried yak dung. Usually this succeeds in warming the room temperature to only one degree below zero.

On the positive side, improved living conditions have raised Tibetan life expectancy from an average 36 years, half a century ago, to 67 years. But incomes vary drastically. Nomads and farmers who are weather-dependent and whose yak herds may die in severe snows, may only earn the equivalent of US$50 for a year’s labor. A university teacher’s salary can reach $300 a month.

Alcoholism and domestic violence run high, Patterson said. Lhasa is run in the old Communist style as in the days of China’s Cultural Revolution, with over-employment and weekly factory meetings.

Village life, however, is basically unchanged. The most common foods are dried yak meat and tsampa-roasted corn crushed to powder and eaten raw or mixed with butter, and salty butter tea to wash it down. Many country people still practice polyandry-women taking multiple husbands. This custom is cost-efficient, not empowering to women, as several brothers, for instance, share a wife. “Many children don’t know who their real father is,” Patterson said. Such a marriage cannot be registered in Lhasa so it doesn’t happen so much in the city.

Despite the severe political and religious repression, Patterson says the influence of the Tibetan Buddhist monastic system remains profound. People are not allowed to have photos of the Dalai Lama. Houses are regularly checked. But they are allowed to visit temples and go on pilgrimages [Lhasa has several famous sites]. Patterson knows of several men who prostrated themselves for thousands of kilometers over a period of two to three years from their hometowns to Lhasa.

Hopelessness, superstition and bondage abound, Patterson said. Every day, people consult astrological charts before going anywhere or doing anything. “They are a people afraid of the dark,” he said. “Even the way their houses are built reflect their fear of demons, with low doorways and high sills to keep out the ‘walking dead.’ There are many demon-possessed people, but some are considered good, consulted for their ability to choose auspicious days and times.”

In 1892, pioneer missionary Hudson Taylor declared that “to make converts in Tibet is similar to going into a cave and trying to rob a lioness of her cubs.” Today’s challenge is no easier. A few Christian workers have settled in Tibet since the 1980s. Perhaps a few dozen Tibetans meet in one or two small fellowships in Lhasa. But any attempts to share Christ are fiercely opposed by both Communist officials and Buddhist monks.

The vast majority of Tibetans have never heard the gospel. Complicating matters is the diversity of people groups speaking 60 different dialects.

Pray that more ways will be found to bring these who have lived for so long “afraid of the dark,” into the kingdom of light.

Debbie Meroff is a photojournalist based in London.