HH DL in Mongolia…

I’ve spent the past three summers in Ulaanbaatar doing research (and studying Mongolian at the National University of Mongolia), so I’ve visited my share of Buddhist monasteries, nunneries, and temples in Mongolia. So I read with interest today that China has asked Mongolia to bar the upcoming visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama (my chihuahua and I once had a private audience with him at Harvard). According to Mongolian monks at Gandan monastery (pictured above and below), his visit is for religious purposes only. When the Dalai Lama visited Mongolia in 2006, China temporarily cancelled flights between Ulaanbaatar and Beijing. It remains to be seen how China will react this time…