‘Higher learning’: Of scriptures and football at a Tibet college

Students at Tibetan Buddhist College, one of Earth’s highest places of learning, study under Xi Jinping’s benign gaze.

Maroon-robed Tibetan nuns vigorously debate Buddhist precepts, while monks dash across an artificial grass pitch on the roof of the world to kick a football. The Tibetan Buddhist College, one of the highest places of learning on the planet, has more than 900 students who study Mandarin, English and political studies. It all takes place under the benign gaze of China’s President Xi Jinping, whose portrait festoons the college, which is tucked into a hillside at least 3,600 metres (11,800 feet) above sea level.