Extract from “Seven Years in Tibet”, Heinrich Harrer, (1954) I noticed an unusual number of Chinese on the sports ground. They are easily distinguishable from the Tibetans though they belong to the same racial family. The Tibetans are not markedly slit-eyed; they have pleasant, refined faces and red cheeks. The rich Chinese costumes of the past have in many cases given way to European suits, and many Chinese, in this respect more progressive than the Tibetans, wear spectacles. Most of the Chinese in Lhasa are merchants who maintain prosperous trade relations with their own country. They enjoy living in Tibet, and many settle down permanently in Lhasa. One reason for this is that most Chinese are passionate opium smokers, and there is no explicit prohibition of opium smoking in Tibet. Sometimes a Tibetan, seduced by the example of the Chinese, takes to the opium pipe. If he does, he is likely to be punished. There is no danger that opium smoking may become a national vice. The vigilance of the authorities is far too keen. They already consider tobacco smoking to be a vice and control it very closely and, though one can buy any sort of cigarette in Lhasa, there is no smoking in offices, in the streets, or at public ceremonies. When the monks take control in the Fire-Hound-Year they even forbid the sale of cigarettes. That is why all Tibetans are snuff takers. The laity and the monks use their own preparation of snuff, which they find stimulating. Everyone is proud of his own mixture, and when two Tibetans meet, the first thing they do is to take out their snuffboxes and exchange a pinch of snuff. Snuffboxes, too, are a subject for pride. One finds them in all materials from yak horn to jade. The hardened snuff taker spreads his dose on his thumbnail, sniffs it up, and then blows a cloud of dust out of his mouth, and never dreams of sneezing. If anyone burst out into a fearful sneeze, it was always I, and the company never failed to laugh.
I’m actually planning a trip to Kathmandu, Nepal, at the beginning of August. I know there is a large group of Tibetan refugees and asylum seekers in Nepal. It will be interesting to see if snuff taking is still common amongst the Tibetans. There was some discussion about this on another thread: I think most of the snuff taken by the Tibetans is Indian in origin. Let’s see if I can pick up a large box of Dholakia White or 6 Photos Cheetah while I’m there!
What are you going to have in your snuff box for them to try as that whole meeting and exchanging snuff pinches sounds really a perfect thing to do. Firedrac? FOJ maybe? I’ve even started blending those two at 1 to 3 parts. Have a nice trip you lucky sod. Glad I’m not in temptation range of the opium but I can do the coughing clouds of toast. You might find them sucking away on Chinese E-Cigs?
What are you going to have in your snuff box for them to try as that whole meeting and exchanging snuff pinches sounds really a perfect thing to do.
Hmm. I was thinking of taking a couple of 25 gram tins of Toque Quit, just in case I don’t find any local supplies. It would be interesting to see how people respond to it.
You might find them sucking away on Chinese E-Cigs?
Haha. That would be very sad. I hope not.
Extract from “Seven Years in Tibet”, Heinrich Harrer, (1954) “One reason for this is that most Chinese are passionate opium smokers, and there is no explicit prohibition of opium smoking in Tibet.”
Ah… Smoking opium… Happy days 
That sounds like a great trip. I was there about 15 years ago, trekked up to Annapurna base camp and did a bit of the circuit. One of the best trips I’ve done. Not that I’ve done that much, but Nepal was great. Didn’t see the Tibetans but was more of a smoker then than a snuffer…
I think Tibetans live mainly in one of the large towns near Kathmandu. I walked up to Annapurna base camp a few years ago. Pretty walk, isn’t it? But most of the people on that stretch are Hindus, not Tibetans. If you do the full Annapurna circuit, the people around Kagbeni and Muktinath are some kind of group related to Tibetans, although they don’t follow the Dalai Lama. I don’t remember seeing any of them using snuff, but this was before I used it myself, so I wasn’t paying close attention.
Well, @I_snuff_therefore___, it looks like at least not ALL of them are into e-cigs! Have a look at this photo. Lhasa Snuff Vendor
Haha! This utube clip is quite funny. Lhasa - Snuff Watch two grown men crying when The Unemployed Life team tries some local product in Lhasa, Tibet.
They certainly gave it a good snort. I would have loved to have tried it. Definitely have bought a pile. Fun to let the locals try an e-cig too. Loving Rick Stein on his curry tour of India on the BBC at the moment. Getting some good tips and I love making a curry. Funny something very emotional I find about it when he’s tasting all these meals with the guides or people who make the food or own the establishments also the location where he does the cooking is fantastic. Really makes me feel a longing to be somewhere like that.
I’m just wondering if it’s Indian snuff as we know it, with offerings like Dholakia White and 6 Photos Cheeta, or whether it’s all home made, or a mixture of both. Certainly the piles of snuff in the bowls in the first photo I posted don’t look like a standard prepackaged item.
Haha! This utube clip is quite funny. Lhasa - Snuff Watch two grown men crying when The Unemployed Life team tries some local product in Lhasa, Tibet.
My god! Those old men must have noses of steel to take snuffs like that in that manner.
Something to be said for experience!!!
I hope everybody eventually gets around to reading “Seven Years In Tibet”… It’s a GREAT book!