China's Xi visits Tibet for first time as president
Xi's July 21-22 visit - the first to Tibet by a Chinese leader in three decades - comes as the country faces increased security concerns as a result of clashes with India and the withdrawal of U.S.-led troops from Afghanistan.
The visit also shows the ruling Chinese Communist Party's confidence in having established order and gained support in the once-restive region, analysts say.
Xi flew into the city of Nyingchi on Wednesday and took a train to the Tibetan capital Lhasa the following day along a section of the high-elevation railway being built to link the mountainous border region with Sichuan province.
In Lhasa, Xi visited a monastery and the Potala Palace Square, and "inspected ethnic religion work" and Tibetan cultural heritage protection, according to Xinhua.
The palace is the traditional home of Tibetan Buddhism's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who is in exile and has been branded a dangerous separatist by Beijing.
State television network CCTV showed a Tibetan woman wiping away tears as she joined a crowd of people dressed in traditional costume clapping enthusiastically to welcome Xi.
Xi instructed local provincial officials to work towards making people in Tibet identify more with the "great motherland, Chinese people, Chinese culture, the Chinese Communist Party and socialism with Chinese characteristics", according to Xinhua.
He also said that only when the people "follow the party" can the "rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" be realised.
