11th Panchen Lama visits homes of Tibetan farmers

　　XIGAZE, Tibet, July 23 (Xinhua) -- The 11th Panchen Lama visited a village in Xigaze Thursday and held Buddhist services in the Tibet's second-largest city.

　　Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu, one of the two most senior living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism, was attended by the more than 200 people living in Labu village in Nanmulin County.

　　The 11th Panchen Lama Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu (2nd L), one of the two most senior living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism, is welcomed by residents at Labu village in Nanmulin County, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, July 23, 2009. The 11th Panchen Lama visited Labu village in Xigaze Thursday and held Buddhist services in the region's second largest city.(Xinhua Photo)

　　During the visit to the poor family of Cering, the Panchen Lama brought them food and cash. Cering lives with his wife and an orphaned niece.

　　"Your parents have passed away, but you need to study hard," he said to the 10-year-old girl. "Your life will get better with care from the government."

　　The 11th Panchen Lama Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu (L) visits a farmer's home at Labu village in Nanmulin County, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, and gives touch-head blessing to the wife of the farmer on July 23, 2009. (Xinhua Photo)

　　The 19-year-old also urged county officials to better take care of poor families and children like Cering's niece.

　　The Panchen Lama also visited a family of 15 that earned 250,000 yuan (36,590 U.S. dollars) last year.

　　He later gave touch-head blessings to hundreds people in the village and from nearby villages.

　　The 11th Panchen Lama Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu (R) gives touch-head blessings to people in the villages and from nearby villages on July 23, 2009. (Xinhua Photo)

　　The 11th Panchen Lama arrived in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, on July 14 and traveled to Xigaze on July 19.

　　At a meeting with Zhang Qingli, secretary of the Regional Committee of the Communist Party of China, on July 15, he said Lhasa had undergone great changes since his last visit two years ago.

　　The average income of Tibet's farmers and herdsmen rose 15.6 percent year on year to 1,156 yuan in the first half of the year, the regional agriculture and animal husbandry department said Thursday.

　　Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu was approved by the central government as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama in November 1995 after a lot- drawing ceremony among three candidates in the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa.

　　Drawing lots from a golden urn to decide the final choice of the reincarnation of a high lama has long-been a tradition in Tibetan Buddhism.