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Lhasa mourns young women dead in riots

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-14 22:06

LHASA -- Five bouquets of lily and chrysanthemum, one for each of the five young women who died in the riots exactly a year ago.

"We are here today, to bring you our best regards," murmured Tang Qingyan, manager of the Yishion casual wear outlet in downtown Lhasa. "May you be happy every day in heaven."

Yishion, one of the 908 shops torched by the rioters on March 14, 2008, lost five employees, including four Han nationals and one Tibetan. The women were aged between 19 and 24.

Exactly a year after the tragedy, Tang brought six employees to mourn the dead Saturday on the exposed riverbed of the Lhasa River, whose water has, in the dry season, given way to a huge expanse of sand and cobblestones.

The place was quietly sandwiched between high mountains and the "Sun Island", Lhasa's new development project with restaurants, apartments and villas. The occasional whining chirps of aquatic birds added to people's woes.

Silently, the group laid offerings on the ground: five candles, piles of "paper money", incense sticks, and two strings of firecrackers.

"Here, we've brought you some money, too, so that you won't be short of cash," said Tang as he led four young women and two men to put the "paper money" in a little flame they lit on the ground.

The Chinese traditionally burn "paper money" for the deceased, hoping they would have enough cash in the afterlife.

"Dear sister, I've got your favorite sweater," Zeng Yaoyao sobbed as she put a white sweater in the flame. "Please rest in peace."

Zeng, 20, said she dreamed of her cousin Yang Dongmei Friday night. "I was so excited I ran up to embrace her. Then she said something about her sweater. I woke up in tears."

Of the five dead, Yang, Liu Yan and Chen Jia were still single. "According to the customs in our home province Sichuan, the death of an unmarried daughter is considered evil. They could only be buried in the obscure graveyard far from their homes," said Tang.

The three girls' parents therefore agreed to have their ashes spilled into the Lhasa River. "It's a beautiful place, even better than our home province," Tang said.

Tsering Zhoigar, the only Tibetan girl, was taken to her hometown in Xigaze Prefecture for the "sky burial", the traditional Tibetan burial.

Tsering Zhoigar's close friend Basang joined Yishion after the torched store was revamped and reopened in May. "I used to spend a lot of time with her at her store after work. Now that she's gone, I feel closer to her by doing her job."

Six sales women huddled together on the second floor of the store when rioters set the ground floor on fire. Zhoi'ma, 24, was the only one to escape the fire site at the last minute.

A year after the tragedy, the nightmare still clings to Zhoi'ma, who refused to talk to the media and stayed away from the mourning. "We called many times on her cell phone, but she didn't answer," said Tang. "She told me this morning she was going to mourn her friend Zhoi'gar in the Tibetan way, and at monasteries."

Towards the end of the mourning, the flames spread to burn card-boards they had carefully propped up with cobblestones to contain the fire. With all the offerings burnt, the group threw the bouquets into the river. A young man lit firecrackers before he stood with others, bowed, and paid a silent tribute to the dead.

Four police officers, who had been silently watching the scene, lowered their heads, too. "It's sad indeed. That's why we have tightened security this year to avoid similar tragedies," said one of them, who refused to be named.

Tang still stays in touch with families of the dead.

"These good girls were all their families" breadwinners," he said. "Zhoi'gar worked with me for three years and Yang Dongmei, my wife's younger cousin, worked for a year."

Tang had known Chen Jia, the youngest of the five, since she was a toddler. "Her father is my close friend. Until the day she died, she'd been worrying for her younger brother, who was blind in one eye."

With the government's compensation for Chen Jia's death, her parents had arranged an operation for her brother, Tang said. "Now I hope she'll have nothing more to worry about."

Tang hadn't had the time to get familiar with the other two girls, Liu Yan and He Xinxin, who had worked for a week and three days respectively.

He Xinxin's parents took her home to the central Henan Province after the riots. "Her cousin used to work in Lhasa, but left for home before the new year holidays," said Tang.

"I had planned to take all my 14 employees here to mourn them today, but I didn't want everyone to point to my store and say 'hey, look, Yishion is closed,'", he said. "Together, we'll try to walk out of the shadow soon."