The castle lies in Gyangze, one of the four major cities in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, and was the site of major battles between Tibetans and the invading British army.

Crowds of visitors now climb to the mountaintop and have their photographs taken in front of cannons and the castle's crumbling walls.

A Tibetan interpreter said a lot of Chinese and foreign tourists visit the castle daily, with the maximum of 50 in peak season and a minimum of 20 in off season.

In the winter of 1903, a British force of 3,000 troops set out from India for the second round of attack on Tibet. They were met by Tibetan soldiers and militiamen.

The British troops, equipped with machine guns and cannon, opened fire on some 1,000 Tibetan soldiers armed with knives, firelocks and pikes. The fighting turned so fierce that local lamas volunteered for service. In the end, those Tibetan soldiers who did not die in battle survived the encounter by jumping off a cliff.

The Gyangze Memorial Museum now exhibits some of the firelocks and pikes used by Tibetan soldiers as well as British shells and bullets to demonstrate the disparity in technological levels between the two sides.

The museum's most impressive item on display is a cannon, presented by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), which was used in the battle against the British. The Chinese characters engraved on the cannon are still clearly readable.

After the British army won the battle at Gyangze, the troops occupied Lhasa where they killed 4,000-5,000 Tibetan people, set fire to a number of lamaseries, looted many valuable relics and forced the local government into signing the "Lhasa Treaty."

The concoction of "Tibetan Independence" was set forth after the British troops invaded Tibet in 1888 and 1903 respectively. It was not a question in all previous imperial dynasties since Tibet became part of China in the 13th century.

Chilai, director of the Zongshan Development Office, said the ruined battlefield had received more than 50,000 visitors, half of whom came from Britain, Italy and the United States. The annual ticket sales from tours exceeded 120,000 yuan last year.

(People's Daily 05/09/2001)