“More than a dozen lamas stormed into a briefing by a temple administrator to cause chaos,” Xinhua reported, adding, “The media tour soon resumed.”

The reporters were also shown a detention center, which housed some of the rioters, and an assistance center for those who lost homes or businesses in the violence.

At the assistance center, Li Kunjian, a small-scale businessman from outside Chongqing in central China, told reporters he took out a 120,000 yuan (US$17,200; euro11,000) bank loan last year to move to Lhasa with his wife to open a store.

On the night of March 15, he said a crowd of up to 200 Tibetan men and women rampaged through his neighborhood and set his small shop on fire. Li and his wife were forced to jump to safety from the second floor of the building.

“We never thought this kind of thing would happen and leave us with nothing,” he said.

Interviews at the detention center were closely monitored, as police acted as interpreters for Tibetan prisoners who spoke little Mandarin.

Luoya, who like many Tibetans uses just one name, admitted burning down a motorcycle shop in Dazhi county, just east of Lhasa.

“All my friends were setting fires so I joined them,” the 25-year-old said. He was arrested about five days after the rioting, but he did not say how he was caught.

He said he hoped for greater leniency by talking to reporters.

Reporters spoke to Luoya through bars of his cell as a policeman stood behind him. The deputy head of the Lhasa Public Security Bureau was also in the room.

When asked about relations between Tibetans and Chinese in Lhasa, Luoya said: “There are no relations.”

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