Tibetan Studies is attracting not only local people from the Tibetan ethnic group in western China but also Han people, China's major nationality, from other parts of the country, and even learners from abroad.

The Tibet University in Lhasa, capital city of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, has become the largest cradle for would-be researchers in Tibetan Studies, according to Vice-Chancellor Lobsang Namgyai, Sr.

The largest institution of higher learning in Tibet, the university now accommodates more than 5,000 students, of which 950,or nearly 20 percent, are in the Department of Tibetan Studies, Lobsang Namgyai, Sr., said.

Besides locals, the total students in Tibetan Studies include 361 students of Han nationality and 31 learners from the United States, Germany, Japan, Sweden, Italy, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan Province of China, the vice chancellor added.

The student recruitment from outside Tibet is attributable to the glamour of the Studies on Tibet itself and the university's sound teaching and researching system in this regard. Meanwhile, the location of the university is also seen as an advantage for learners and researchers to study almost every aspects of Tibet, allowing them access to the Tibetan culture and daily life of the Tibetan people.

The university has arranged curriculum for graduates specializing in Tibetan language and literature, the history of the Tibetan minority and traditional Tibetan paintings and music. This year it will join hands with Sichuan University based in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, in enrolling Ph.D candidates in Tibetan Studies, according to Lobsang Namgyai, Sr.

There is a state-level research institute of Tibetan Studies in the university.
 
(Xinhua News Agency June 14, 2004)