Gong Lajia (also known as Tashi Nyima), an Internet celebrity from Dêgê County, Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, a part of historical Tibet now in the Sichuan province, gained fame for promoting the Tibetan language on Chinese social platforms. He gained tens of thousands of fans on Kuaishou, a social media platform focusing on short videos.
On August 28, as he announced himself in a video, he was arrested by Dêgê County police during a live broadcast. The police abruptly halted his outdoor live streaming. The authorities targeted his live streaming events, notably the “Live Outdoors on the Plateau” series, due to his rising influence and popularity in the Tibetan community. Besides halting his streams, Gong Lajia was detained and beaten from September 1 to 3. He shared his frustration in another Tibetan video on September 7, this time offered also in Chinese, popularized in both Chinese and Tibetan by “Voice of Tibet.”
Gong Lajia has been creating online Tibetan content through games, quizzes, and educational activities, often held outdoors. Using the “Chinese-Tibetan-English New Everyday Vocabulary Dictionary,” he quizzed passersby on Tibetan words for new Chinese expressions, rewarding correct answers. During the disrupted outdoor live broadcast, Gong was asking a Tibetan teenager for the Tibetan term for red and white sugar. The video shows many Tibetan teenagers participating in the event.
In his final video before the police intervened, Gong Lajia announced plans to introduce new Tibetan vocabulary events across historical Tibet. However, he has not been able to host live events since August 28. He voiced his frustration with the authorities, emphasizing that he had not broken any laws or regulations.
Gong Lajia was born in Dêgê County and received a Buddhist education at a local temple from a young age. Upon completing his studies there, he moved to Chengdu, where he continued learning Tibetan while selling coffee on the streets. With the emergence of live broadcast, Gong Lajia decided to use this platform to promote the Tibetan language, quickly gaining popularity in Tibet.
Besides being a socially influential content creator, Gong has engaged in numerous charitable activities, such as fundraising for impoverished hospital patients and purchasing livestock from butchers to set them free. His actions have motivated many of his followers to join in acts of compassion and charity.
