Follow us on TWITTER: http://twitter.com/cnforbiddennews Like us on FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/chinaforbiddennews Tibet Tourism Bureau, suddenly issued an emergency regulation, specifying tour buses must carry no more than 20 people, to also be equipped with one police officer, starting from 0:00 on Aug. 19. On Chinese Internet, it was said Tibet has stopped all tourism. Netizens questioned if the load limit will prevent any major traffic accidents, and why this urgent notice was suddenly issued. Hong Kong's newspaper, Apple Daily and Oriental Daily have both reported Tibet Tourism Bureau's urgent notice on Aug. 21. CCP mouthpiece, Xinhua, also reported this urgent notice on Aug. 21 from Tibet Tourism Bureau. Starting from 0:00 o'clock on Aug. 19, all Tibet tour groups are required to limit loading to 20 people per bus, including a tour guide, driver and police guard. Each tour bus driver must register with the Transportation Bureau and Public Security along with the bus. Even the contracted groups must modify the trip accordingly. A domestic Chinese citizen helped to confirm the news. Mainlander, Mr. Zhang: "It is said to load 17 people to each bus. I believe that's the 20 people limit, minus the driver, tour guide and the police. That makes 17 people." This information was released earlier online but with a slightly different version. Human rights activist, Bei Feng, posted a blog on Aug. 20 stating, "All tour groups are cancelled in Tibet." In the urgent notice posted by Bei Feng, it stated, load limit of 20 people, starting Aug. 19 at 0:00, all tour groups and individual tourists not arriving in Tibet are cancelled." Tourism industry also told Apple Daily, due to the urgent notice, no more tourist groups are permitted and current bus services can only carry 20 people, many people are thus trapped in Nyingchi prefecture. Earlier, on Aug 9 and 18, two serious car accidents occured in Tibet; the police also opened fire against the Tibetan protestors on Aug 12 leaving at least 10 people injured and two people killed. This urgent notice thus triggered much speculation about the timing. Is it for traffic safety, for the maintenance of stability, or other reasons? Tibet Religious Foundation Chairman Dawa Tsering: "What I have heard is no more than 20 people are allowed in one tour bus. Previously an accident involved a bus with more than 40 people inside." Netizens commented that a vehicle load limit of 20 people can not fundamentally prevent the occurrence of major accidents in Tibet. There are also netizens who joked, so many airplanes have crashed, the load limit should also be limited to 20 people too. There are tourists in Tibet indicating online, that the new regulation has limited the speed from Lhasa to Nyingchi to 40 mph, with check points every dozen kilometers apart. It took 13 hours to travel the 400 kilometer journey. A Taiwanese netizen indicated, that rather than for "traffic safety", it is more of a "full control measure." Staff at the Tibet Tourism Bureau told NTD, Tibet travel approval has continued, however, the change of 20 people limit, has led to substantial increases in travel costs. Therefore, part of the travel agency decided to suspend the tour plans. 《神韵》2014世界巡演新亮点 http://www.ShenYunPerformingArts.org/

• published: 22 Aug 2014
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