Circumambulating the Jokhan temple in the Lhasa city centre is the old settlement of Nepalese Newars, some of whom have been involved in business in Lhasa for generations.

Along this stone-paved street, which is called Bharkor and is kept off limit to vehicles, is a small two-storeyed house of Syamukapu, the most famous of all Nepalese traders. This was the name given to Bhajuratna Kansakar, who was the first Nepalese to start bulk trading between Kathmandu and Lhasa.

Ratna Kumar Tuladhar, who now runs the shop, said that Bhajuratna was given the name Syamukapu, meaning 'the man with white cap', by the Tibetans because he was in mourning when he came to Lhasa to start business.

The house, which is more than 100 years old and built during the period of the 13th Dalai Lama, is now a heritage site. In fact, the whole street has been declared a heritage site. Tuladhar said that as the facade of the house has to remain original, he changed the inside according to Newari style for his convenience. There is even a picture of Maniharsha Jyoti, brother of Bhajuratna, with Chairman Mao.

Tuladhar said he had been in Lhasa for the last 20 years, but comes to Kathmandu occasionally — the last time was five years ago. He does business in Nepalese handicrafts, mainly metal crafts. Earlier, it was vegetable ghee, foodgrains and clothes. After trade began to grow through Khasa by trucks, this business has come down drastically.

Ratna Kumar said that there are about 300 people of Nepali origin in Lhasa majority of them offspring of Nepalese married to Tibetan women. Tuladhar himself is married to a Tibetan. The reason, many Nepalese took Tibetan wives was because Nepalese women were not permitted in Lhasa.

He said there were more, but many left for Nepal during the Cultural Revolution. "Now, there are only two families who are original Nepalese, and the rest are 'cross breeds'," he said.

But being true to their homeland, they have not taken Tibetan citizenship. "They can become Tibetan citizens, but they prefer to remain Nepali," Tuladhar said. They are living with Nepalese passports and many of them are very poor. The Nepalese have formed a welfare fund, 'Nepali Dukha Niwaran Kalyan Kosh' to look into their plights and Tuladhar is the treasurer of the fund.

He recalls the Nepalese celebrating festivals like Dashain and Tihar. "The whole street used to be closed to Tibetans, when we celebrate the festivals."

The chairman of the fund is Dharma Ratna Tuladhar. At 75, he is the oldest Nepalese living at Bharkor. He came to Lhasa in 1942 AD (2000 BS), when he was about 12 as Banauta (a domestic servant) as an illiterate. He was told by his family to get some education and he went to Calcutta, where he studied till Matriculation and returned to Lhasa in 1947. He said his brothers still live in Ason of Kathmandu and are in ghee business.

He has two children — a son and a daughter — from his Tibetan wife. The son is in America and the daughter is in Nepal. He still recalls coming to Lhasa on horseback through Kalimpong of India. He has a shop at Bharkor where he trades on clothes made in Nepal.

However, the new trend is Nepalese going to Tibet for work, both legally and illegally. Indra Khadka of Biratnagar was one of the first Nepalese to come to Lhasa for work in 1996. He and another Nepalese Rajan Khadka of Okhaldhunga work as chef in the Hotel Himalaya.

There were seven Nepalese working in Lhasa in 1997 and the number is increasing every year, Indra said. Lately, there are 30 to 40 Nepalese working with work permit in Lhasa and they work in hotels and restaurants, and as barbers. Two Nepalese boys and three girls have opened a haircutting saloon near Potala Palace.

Huang, Head of the Reforms and Development Bureau of Tibet, said that Nepalese living in Tibet are enjoying allowances from the government. They are even exempted from business taxation, he said.

This reporter, as member of a delegation of Nepalese journalists to Tibet last week, met two Nepalese in their late teens or early 20s. The said they come to Lhasa about three months ago and work in a restaurant.

But Indra said that some unscrupulous ones are into bringing Nepalese into Tibet to work illegally. "Nepalese get visa for 180 days and when the visa expires the workers are sent back and new ones are brought in," he said.

Living in Lhasa is cheap, he said. "One can rent a three-room flat for 100 to 150 Yuan and even buying an 8-room apartment costs only about 200,000 Yuan." Similar, flat in Kathmandu does not come for less than Rs. 5 million. Khadka earns about 4,500 Yuan a month.

But he said those facilities are only for those who come legally. One has to get permit from the municipality to rent a house and there is regular checking. The Royal Nepalese Consulate in Lhasa has record of 368 Nepalese living in Tibet, but it estimates about 500 Nepalese are in Tibet.

Bharat Regmi, deputy consul at the consulate also said that the trend of Nepalese coming to Lhasa for work is increasing. He said currently there are 100 to 150 Nepalese working in Tibet. He said some manpower companies are sending Nepalese to Tibet without contract and work permit. "We are bringing this to the notice of the concern authority in Kathmandu," he said.