"Sometimes I still think about my father and my childhood but I have a better life now," said Norbu Tsering. He is an illegitimate child of the Phalha family that once wielded great influence as aristocrats in the old feudal Tibet.

Norbu Tsering was born in 1945. His father owned Phalha Manor (Pala Manor). Located in Paljor Lhunpo Village near Gyantse County, this was one of feudal Tibet's 12 great manors. Today the property is a well preserved cultural relic that offers visitors an insight into the aristocratic lifestyle of days long gone.

Phalha is an abbreviation for the Phakue Lhakhang family. Norbu says that the progenitor of the aristocratic line in Tibet was a Bhutanese chief. Civil strife in Bhutan caused him to move to Tibet with his family. In due course he rose to an important position as a local official.

In the old feudal system of Tibetan aristocracy, Phalha was one of the five major Dukedoms. In social status they ranked second only to successive Dalai Lamas. The ebb and flow of fortunes over some 300 years saw five members of the family rise to prominence playing important roles in the feudal government known as the "Kalon"

"My mother was a servant in the manor. She was beautiful in those days and she and my father became lovers," said Norbu. "They had three children, my brother, my sister and myself. She was eventually raised to the position of Seneschal of the Manor."

Norbu Tsering's father had been married to a woman from an aristocrat family when he was just seven years old. His mother had been "required" to marry the male Seneschal of the Manor. "Although we were not accepted by the aristocrat family on account of my mother's lowly birth, we could still stay with our father and our lives were free from worry," said Norbu.

When democratic reform came to Tibet in 1959, Norbu's father who was then the owner of the manor, left Tibet along with the Dalai Lama to live in exile. "My father died in Switzerland in 1982 after an illness. My sister studied in the Central University for Nationalities. She is now retired from a local authority post and lives in Xigaze City. My brother moved to America in 1985," said Norbu.

Norbu's mother had another four children with the male Seneschal. Of these, two are dead; one is in Jiangre village, and the youngest lives with Norbu's family. "My wife Joura and I married in 1979. She is a good woman. After my younger brother moved in, we shared Joura. We have three sons," said Norbu.

This sort of polyandry (more than one husband) has been part of the pattern of marriage relationships within the Phalha family for many years. What's more, such marriage patterns were once common not only in aristocratic families, but also in the general population of Tibet.

"There were many reasons for this," Norbu explained. "It could prevent the family's lands and servants from being dispersed. They could keep the inheritance intact and hold on to political power and economic privileges."

In 1997 Norbu Tsering was elected as a member of the 9th Gyantse County Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. His family is now a leading light in the tourist industry in Paljor Lhunpo Village.

"In the old days, servants were treated harshly and had to endure a very inadequate standard of living. Their labor helped provide their masters with a grand lifestyle while they themselves lived in dark and overcrowded conditions with a lack of amenities that can hardly be imagined in a modern society. But things are quite different now. Those who would once have lived under conditions of serfdom can now enjoy a happy life in their own houses. They are reminded of the past when they see examples of the shabby old houses that remain as relics of the old days.

"Today the people can breed cattle, horses, and sheep of their own. This is something they could never have dreamed of just fifty years ago. I believe we will all go on to enjoy even better lives in the future," said Norbu Tsering holding his grandson in his arms.

(China.org.cn, 17thcongress.org.cn by staff reporter Wu Nanlan in Tibet October 8, 2007)