The hottest spots in Lhasa for expats and foreign tourists to network and swap info, both online and off, are the two Tibet Summit Fine Art Cafés owned by a 46-year-old American from Ohio.

Owner Doug Wilford opened his first Summit Café in 2006.

Doug Wilford, who speaks Chinese and Tibetan, had lived in Beijing for five years when he began looking for a new business opportunity.

“I saw that China was building a railway to Tibet and would be promoting Lhasa as a top tourist destination,” Wilford explained to The Idiot over a caffe latte at the Summit Café on Danjielin Road. “There were no coffee places here and, as an American who loves risk, I thought it would be a cool place to live and start a company that might take off.”

Wilford, who is married with four kids, now has a fifteen-year contract with the government and is operating at a profit with prices slightly lower than Starbucks outlets in other parts of China. His second Summit Café in the Wenzhou Mall caters primarily to local customers.

Although this is a slow year for foreign tourism due to the permit process now required for entry into Tibet, Wilford is optimistic.

“We’re here for the long term and want to provide a home away from home for foreign tourists,” Wilford concluded. “They need a place to rest, write an email and have a great cup of coffee without any hassle.”

Text: Joel Stratte-McClure

Photo: Martin Hofmann

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About Joel

Joel Stratte-McClure has been a global trekker since the 1970s. He lived in France for over 30 years, working as a journalist, before he turned his attention to a unique life-time-project of walking the shores of the Mediterranean. The first 4,401 kilometers are explored in his inspirational and entertaining first book "The Idiot and the Odyssey: Walking the Mediterranean." The next 4,401 kilometers are covered in the gods-filled sequel, "The Idiot and the Odyssey II: Myth, Madness and Magic on the Mediterranean,” published on Valentine's Day 2013. The last 4,401 kilometers will be discussed in the last book of the trilogy currently entitled "The Idiot and the Odyssey III: Alexander the Great Walks the Mediterranean."