On afrigid night over six decades ago, as artillery fire echoed in the distance and Chinese forces encircled the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, a 23-year-old monk disguised as a soldier slipped quietly out of his palace.

Today, he’s a frail 90. But in March 1959, in his early 20s, the 14th Dalai Lama undertook perhaps one of the most difficult journeys of his lifetime — fleeing Tibet under the cover of darkness, disguised as a soldier,

By Laurie Chen and Krishna N. Das BEIJING/DHARAMSHALA, India (Reuters) -Weeks before the Dalai Lama ruled out China's role in choosing his successor, President Xi Jinping met a Tibetan Buddhist monk installed three decades ago by Beijing as the faith's No.