A Tibetan dream

Taiwanese American Wen Yan's social networking site will bring Tibetans and Chinese together to share personal stories. 

Ask anyone in McLeodganj in Dharamshala for the Common Grounds Cafe and you will be directed to the cosy hangout where people from different continents meet to chat over a cup of Tibetan tea. But the cafe is only the beginning for 27-year-old Wen Yan, who calls herself Taiwanese American, an identity that has helped her marry different cultures. Her grandparents were Chinese refugees in Taiwan and her parents moved to the US when she was six.

Both chefs, they came down to help Wen set up the cafe. Growing up in Minnesota, Wen visited Dharamshala and McLeodganj during school trips and for volunteer work. As she finished college, she began to question her own contribution in the scheme of things. While her brother pursues the good things in life as a real estate agent in the US — "We're very different," laughs Wen — she plans her most ambitious project so far, The Common Grounds Project, a social networking interface for Tibetans and Chinese youth to connect.

McLeodganj has been home for over two years now. How is it living among Tibetans in Dharamshala? She says, "I visited Tibet when I was 19-years-old and could sense the tension when people there spoke to me. They thought I was visiting from mainland China. Here, I am seen more as an American than Chinese. I won't call Dharamshala home, but it's definitely becoming a home away from home." She adds, "The Dalai Lama never turns away Chinese groups who want to meet him. And he stresses on peaceful dialogue between both communities. Things are changing here, from the time five years ago when Tibetans broke a projector in a cinema hall which screened a documentary on the Tiananmen Square protests."

Her website will be a one-stop destination for Tibetans and Chinese looking for news and videos on their lands. Explains Wen, "Last year, several Chinese groups attended the Tibetan support conference in Delhi. Government-level discussions have proved to be useless; it's time for people to discuss their personal stories. You can argue over politics and views, but you can't argue with a person talking about his life, his struggles.

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