For multiple centuries, people living on the ‘Roof of the World’ were allowed to carry on with their way of life, barring a few odd skirmishes with their neighbours. Various Chinese imperial dynasties had a light touch approach, applying the concept of suzerainty, which meant exercising military and political control but allowing autonomy in local customs, traditions and even the legal system. This was to change about a decade after Mao’s Communists took power in 1949.