Photos:: Tibetans in Aba, China

Dongtuk, a Tibetan monk now living in Dharamsala, India, considered self-immolation after his best friend committed suicide by that method, as many Buddhists have in acts of protest against the Chinese government.

Monks walk along the main road in Aba, where many of the businesses are owned and operated by non-Tibetan Chinese.

Kirti Gompa is one of the Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in China’s Sichuan province.

Tibetan Buddhist monks gather at Kirti Monastery, founded in 1472, in Aba, China.

Amdo Delek is an amateur historian working as a custodian at a Tibetan exile school in Dharamsala, India.

Yang Jin, 32, a Buddhist nun since the age of 19, left, and Sang Jijie, 39, make a living as construction workers. Tibetans earn half as much as Chinese majority ethnic Han workers.

In Aba, advertisements tout a new housing development. The Chinese government is urging nomads to settle in communities where they have access to housing, healthcare and other services.

Tour buses deliver visitors to an overlook in Aba for a glimpse of the Tibetan plateau. Unlike the majority Han Chinese, Tibetans face travel restrictions.

In the Hongyuan area of Aba prefecture, construction is underway on a new airport to serve increased Chinese tourism to the area.

Liu Young, 41, toils as a construction worker on a home-building site in Jiuzhi City, China.

A new housing development is promoted in Aba.

Chinese soldiers in downtown Aba.

Ze Huajia, left, and Djuko ride in Meiruma village, outside Aba. Despite the Chinese government’s efforts to settle nomads, many continue to pursue their traditional lifestyle.

Tibetan ranchers gather in Aba to vaccinate their yaks in a corral recently built by the Chinese government.

Outside the town of Aba, government-issued plastic tents are now more prevalent than the bulkier traditional tents made of black felt.

A girl guides yaks as they plow a field near Aba.

A man herds his yaks in Aba prefecture. The local government has given out tents, as well as lumber to build pens for yaks, and freed up grant money for Tibetans to make additions to their homes.

A woman milks a yak.

Kezha, 37, and his son Man Ma Da Zhen, 2, attend a prayer meeting in the town of Anqu.