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LISA MULLINS: As you heard in Matthew's story, it was 50 years ago that Chinese troops crushed an uprising in Tibet and the Dalai Lama fled to India. Today, China's President called for a “Great Wall” against Tibetan separatism. Hu Jintao said China has to develop the region's economy to ensure that Tibet remains stable and secure. That's the official line from Beijing, and that's the line most Chinese buy into. Most, but not all. The World's Mary Kay Magistad reports that some Chinese are embracing Tibetan Buddhism, and in the process learning more about Tibet.

MARY KAY MAGISTAD: Chinese are embracing religion of all kinds in growing numbers. Ms. Zhai is a fashionably dressed 30-something year old strolling down a Beijing street. She says Buddhism interests her. She says she goes to Beijing's Lama temple every once in a while and burns incense. But she says she doesn't know the difference between Tibetan Buddhism, which is what is supposed to be practiced at the Lama Temple, and any other kind. I ask what she knows about the Dalai Lama. She says, “My impression of the Dalai Lama? Not too good. He shouldn't be using religion as a cover to meddle in politics and try to split China.” I ask if she knows how Tibetans view him. She says she hasn't been to Tibet, so she doesn't know. Ms. Zhai is exactly the kind of Chinese person who a growing number of web-savvy, Chinese speaking Tibetan exiles are trying to reach.

SAUNDERS: You have Tibetans here who really use ingenuity and imagination to get through to different Chinese, who contribute to different Chinese blogs and websites, to get a debate going.

MAGISTAD: That's Kate Saunders, with the International Campaign for Tibet. She's currently in Indian mountain town of Dharamsala, home in exile of the Dalai Lama.

SAUNDERS: What they're doing is interacting on a very dynamic level with Chinese counterparts and seeking to set aside the prejudices that Chinese have with Tibetan people. And to share information, experiences, and views. And there's a sense of needing to do this, at a time when Chinese propaganda against the Tibetan people and against the Dalai Lama has really been creating tension in Tibetan areas.

MAGISTAD: The idea of reaching out to ordinary Chinese who have only heard the Chinese official version of Tibet's history comes from the Dalai Lama himself. It includes an effort to reach out and explain Tibetan Buddhism to the growing number of Chinese, especially affluent young urban Chinese who are interested in it. Kelsang Gyaltsen is a close aide of the Dalai Lama's.

GYALTSEN: Among the thousands of thousands of Chinese coming to Tibet as tourists, there are many among them who don't come as tourists but on pilgrimage to Tibet. And many monasteries around Tibet, monasteries that have been rebuilt or renovated, are done by with donations from rich Chinese business people. And there are many young Chinese who seek teachings from Tibetan lamas in China proper.

MAGISTAD: Kelsang Gyaltsen says that's the good news for Tibetans. The bad news he says is that when he was the Dalai Lama's chief envoy for talks with Chinese officials, all he kept hearing from them was that the Dalai Lama's real agenda was to split China. Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said much the same in a news conference over the weekend.

YANG JIECHI: Dalai is by no means merely a religious figure, but a political exile. Our differences are not over religious issues, human rights, democracy or culture. It is a major issue that is about whether we should defend China's unity and prevent Tibet from being separated from China's territory.

MAGISTAD: To defend China at this tense time, the Chinese government has beefed up the number of troops and police in Tibetan areas. It has banned foreign journalists from visiting and has enacted a new law that criminalizes the so-called spreading of rumors – that is, telling the outside world what's happening in Tibetan areas. Since last year's unrest, it has closed Tibetan monastery schools, and pressured monks and other Tibetans to denounce the Dalai Lama. Some Tibetans say this has only strengthened their resolve in exile and has inspired them to further reach out to ordinary Chinese. For The World, I'm Mary Kay Magistad, in Beijing.

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