On May 13, 2013, the official Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily published an article on page four of its hard copy edition entitled "Lhasa's Old Town 'Big Demolition Big Construction' False (For Confirmation - See the Truth Behind the Uproar" (拉萨老城“大拆大建”不实（求证·探寻喧哗背后的真相）). Some excerpts:
On May 4, a Weibo claimed "Our Lhasa is on the Verge of Destruction! Please, Save
Lhasa!" It also posted a photo of "big demolition big construction," and criticized the excessive commercialization of Lhasa's old town.
Is there any truth to the claims of large scale demolition of the cultural relics and buildings in the old town? Is Lhasa becoming overly commericialized? The People's Daily's investigative journalists took these questions the heart of the Lhasa old town - Bakuo Street District - for in-depth research to "seek proof."
. . . .
Lhasa city conducted surveys regarding the protective construction of the old town which found 96% of residents supported it and 91% of small retailers understood the need to relocate their stands.
The heart of this construction is to better protect the style and features of Lhasa's ancient city, protection and renovation work includes the protection of historic buildings, the renovation of traditional buildings, reforming the appearance of new structures and installing energy saving doors and windows in people's homes." According to Wang Jian, chief architect at the Tianjin Housing Construction Appraiser Design Institute, planning departments have undertaken large scale surveys of structures in the old town, and at the same time have invited many Tibet architecture experts to provide guidance throughout the process in order to achieve genuine "renovate the old as if it were the old."
5月4日，有微博称“我们的拉萨快被毁了！救救拉萨吧！”并贴出“大拆大建”的照片，指责拉萨老城被过度商业开发。
大拆大建老城文物、建筑等内容是否属实？拉萨被过度商业化了吗？带着这些疑问，人民日报“求证”栏目记者走进拉萨市老城区的核心——八廓街区一探究竟。
. . . .
针对老城区保护工程，拉萨市专门开展了问卷调查，有96%的居民群众支持，91%的商贩摊主理解摊位搬迁工作。
“工程的核心是更好地保护拉萨古城风貌，保护修缮工作包括文物建筑的保护、传统建筑的修缮、新建建筑的整改和居民家安装节能门窗。”天津市房屋鉴定建筑设计院首席建筑师王健说，设计部门对老城区的建筑进行了大量的测量，同时邀请许多藏族建筑专家全程指导，真正做到了“修旧如旧”。
These screenshots were taken on May 12, 2013, and show a search on Sina Weibo for:
- "Our Lhasa" (我们的拉萨) returns 12 results.
- "Lhasa is on the Verge of Destruction" (拉萨快被毁了) returns 1 result.
- "Our Lhasa is on the Verge of Destruction" (我们的拉萨快被毁了) returns no results, just a censorship notice.
