Ｔｈｅ“Ｆｌｏａｔｉｎｇ　Ｐｏｐｕｌａｔｉｏｎ”ｉｎ　Ｌｈａｓａ　Ｃｉｔｙ

Ｙｕ　Ｑｉａｎ

Time here is Running so Slow

Lhasa is also a city with a large transient population. People pour intoLhasa from everywhere - the hinterland, other Tibetan inhabited areas orrural areas close to Lhasa. Although Lhasa is the capital city of the remoteplateau, it has neither any relationship with the phrase "high paced liv-ing" nor faces the problem of "floating labor". However, since the open-ing of the traffic from the railway, the remote city suddenly turned out tobe not so far from the hinterland or even the world. You could read every-where - in newspapers and on the Internet - the phrase "floatingpopulation". The city is experiencing a fast-paced living environment. Justafter the Spring Festival, it was easy to see many strangers as well as friendsappearing on the streets. Those Chinese, ethnic Hui and Tibetans fromother Tibetan inhabited areas, are coming for a winter holiday or return-ing from their hometown, gradually flocking back to Lhasa City while car-rying their luggage,large and small.