Special report: Tibet: Its Past and Present

    LHASA, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Lhasa's temples affected by the riot last month will soon resume religious activities, according to temple management and an official.

    Drepung Monastery, a typical lamasery of the Buddhist Gelukpa sect, will soon hold activities including Buddhist services and debates on Buddhist doctrines five times every month, as before the March 14 riot hit the city, said the temple's administrative director Ngawang Dongjue.

    Tubdain Cewang, executive vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Regional People's Congress, said Lhasa's temples were recovering from the riot, with religious activities returning to order, and would reopen to tourists in near future.

    The official did not specify the date.

    The 950-year-old Drepung Monastery currently has more than 1,200 monks, according to Ngawang Dongjue. Most of those who were involved in the riot were visiting monks.

    Pubu Cering, a monk of the Sera Monastery, said the temple's tourist income had dropped with fewer tourists since the riot.

    Losang Qoipei, a 75-year-old monk of the Sera Monastery, was exhausted and fell in a faint while trying to stop the monks from participating in the riot.