As the exiled Dalai Lama called for an inquiry – and his aides said up to 80 people died in the Lhasa unrest – reports of brushfire protests in farflung Tibetan communities have emerged. In Xiahe, 750 miles from Lhasa, Tibetan monks apparently expected “an uprising” several days before violence broke out, according to a foreign visitor who said he’d felt “unwelcome” because of the jittery vibes and left the city , which is in Gansu province, quickly thereafter.

Protests erupted in Xiahe Friday, with as many as 4000 monks and lay persons marching from near the Labrang monastery – some waving banned Tibetan flags --  to nearby Xiahe where they pelted government offices and police vehicles with rocks and debris. Violence continued Saturday, leaving the city littered with broken window-glass and swarming with riot police kitted out with helmets, shields and batons.   Today the Gansu provincial governor Xu Shousheng called the protests “a planned and organized destructive activity”. (Xu happened to be in Beijing attending the annual session of the parliament, which by chance brought a number of quoteworthy provincial officials within the reach of the foreign media which are desparately trying to cover the news.)

Reporting on the Tibetan turmoil remains a frustrating exercise for most foreign journalists.  (As for domestic media, only a brief report by the state-run Xinhua News Agency, and carefully selected snippets of video on CCTV, have appeared so far.) A few Western correspondents slipped into Xiahe Saturday afternoon, just before authorities started blocking foreigners’ access to the area. One of them said by phone from Xiahe today that the overwhelming number of shield- and baton-wielding security personnel on the streets numbered “in the hundreds, if not more than a thousand.” Another Western journalist who reached Xiahe Saturday, Lindsay Hilsum of UK’s Channel 4, said she and a colleague had been barred from travelling to Labrang today by riot police who banged their batons against their shields in “quite a menacing” manner.

At a press conference in the Indian city of Dharmsala, the seat of his government-in-exile, the Tibetan religious leader the Dalai Lama once again accused Chinese authorities of “cultural genocide” in Tibetan communities under Chinese rule. However he did not add his voice to the growing chorus advocating a boycott of the Olympic Games, slated to kick off less than five months from now in Beijing. "The Olympics should not be called off," he told media, "The Chinese people need...to feel proud of it. Chinese deserves to be a host of the Olympic Games."

Chinese authorities claimed the ferment was tantamount to “sabotage”  that was "masterminded" by the Dalai Lama and his supporters, a charge he denies. Meanwhile Lhasa simmered under a tense but relatively quiet lockdown, enforced by armored personnel carriers broadcasting messages for residents to “maintain order”.  But it was too late to contain the turmoil within the Tibetan capital. Bloodshed has been reported by multiple sources in remote areas of Qinghai and Sichuan provinces, as well as in Gansu.

Here's some background on the unrest spilling over Tibet's borders:

Ancient Tibet was once much larger than today’s Tibet, which is officially called the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). The nearby provinces of Sichuan, Qinghai, Yunnan and Gansu all have sizable Tibetan populations; many if not most of the Tibetans living there have a strong sense of ethnic identity. If unrest takes hold in these areas, it could be a potential nightmare scenario for Beijing.

The Lhasa protests are certainly the first major anti-Beijing street demonstrations since a military crackdown in 1989. However, as far back as last October, one tourist who was visiting Xiahe at the time recalls seeing monks take to the streets of the Gansu province city. They were celebrating the U.S. Congress’ awarding to the Dalai Lama of a Congressional Gold Medal in the presence of President George Bush. The tourist, who did not wish to be named for security reasons, says between 100 and 200 mostly young monks let off firecrackers in Xiahe at dusk on Oct. 22, where the old town meets the new town, and carried a Buddhist icon into the street.

       A line of 20 riot police "gradually moved in" on the monks, backed up by soldiers and firetrucks, she says. There was "a Monty Python moment" as a dribble of water failed to quench the fire-crackers, then turned into a gusher and drenched the firecrew. There was no violence. The crowd of young monks responded to a word from their elders as the riot police moved forwards, and left the area. "To me it almost felt like an agreement; they knew they were pushing the limits and [knew] exactly how far they could go", she says. "It wasn't an out of control situation." However, it was frightening. Nearly five months later, she says: "I feel scared just saying this to you because the police were quite nasty".

That background helps illuminate the most recent unrest in Xiahe. As with events in Lhasa itself, accounts of clashes outside the TAR are sketchy and hard to confirm. (And there are reports of unrest in the TAR but outside of Lhasa, as well.)

Numerous eyewitnesses have described the protests on Friday and Saturday by monks from Labrang monastery, a 300-year old pilgrimage center not far from Xiahe. About 600 clergy marched to the Sangchu County local government headquarters on Saturday where they held a prayer meeting and protest with the support of local people, according to the pro-independence Phayul website. Mobile phone video posted on its website shows two wide streets blocked by – at a conservative estimate - 1,000 chanting, cheering Tibetans. Most appeared to be lay people in brown, long-sleeved Tibetan coats, though monks' red robes can be seen too. Phayul reports that police fired tear gas and live rounds, although this is not shown in the video. The report gives no details of casualties. Separately, the Free Tibet Campaign says 20 people have been arrested during protests near Labrang. There are unconfirmed reports of four deaths.

     Meanwhile, according to the latest information received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, People’s Armed Police opened fire this afternoon on a demonstration by as many as “thousands” of Tibetans near Kirti Monastery in Aba county, Sichuan province. At least seven people, including monks, were reported killed. Hundreds of people are reported to have been injured.

Even if authorities manage to suppress further protests in such areas, a whole new front for unrest will open up soon.  In two weeks the Olympic torch relay will kick off, bringing torch-bearers to every province in mainland China – including Tibetan cities and the summit of Mt. Everest.  Tibetan exiles oppose the route to the roof of the world – and have already managed to pull off high-profile pro-independence demonstrations at Everest base camp and on the Great Wall outside Beijing. (Activists abseiled down the monument unfurling a gigantic poster that read: “One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 2008”). You can be sure Chinese authorities will be scrambling to try to prevent their Olympic aspirations -- the Games' slogan is “One World, One Dream” -- from becoming a nightmare.