Warren W. Smith, a historian at [[Radio Free Asia]], commented in 2015 that tourism is turning Tibet into a theme park, and used Nyingchi's "fake Tibetan" villages as an example of Chinese "fantasies about primitive Tibetan society".<ref>Warren Smith, ''Origins of Middle Way policy'', (25 March 2015), https://sites.google.com/site/tibetanpoliticalreview/articles/originsofthemiddlewaypolicy|title=ORIGINS OF THE MIDDLE WAY POLICY - Tibetan Political Review}} quotation: ''Tourism is aimed at turning Tibet into something like a theme park where Chinese can go to indulge their fantasies about primitive Tibetan society'' ... ''Theme parks and cultural performances are being developed in Lhasa where Chinese tourists can experience an unthreatening version of Tibetan culture and an altered version of Tibet history in which Tibet has “always” been a part of China. Fake Tibetan “model villages” are being built in lower areas of eastern Tibet like Nyingtri in Kongpo where Chinese tourists can live in Tibetan houses and be entertained by Tibetan singers and dancers. Tourist numbers reached almost 13 million in 2013 of whom 99 percent were Chinese. The perpetual presence of so many Chinese tourists in Lhasa significantly alters the population balance and cultural dynamic.''</ref>