Today was the opening ceremony for the Gene Smith Library at the Minorities University in Chengdu (new campus). Scheduled to begin at 11:00, it was actually 11:30 before all of the out of town (Beijing ) dignitaries arrived. The ceremony was actually short with a few medium length speeches. Two parties were being honored - Gene Smith for all his great work and the donation of his collection of Tibetan texts and Thubten Phuntsok who just recently published a new comprehensive Tibetan dictionary. Representing Gene Smith were Tuden Nyima, Jeff Walllman and Paldor of TBRC. Thubten Phuntsok gave his own speech even attempting a Sichuan accent - I was told. After the ceremony we visited the Gene Smith library, on the third floor I believe, which was splendid, with beautiful rooms, decorated in the Tibetan style,
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