The Tibetans began with a public meeting bearing aloft a picture of their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in Dharamsala, northern India.

After a public meeting, they also held prayers and burned incense sticks, before offering up traditional white scarves to the Dalai Lama's picture.

They chanted anti-Chinese slogans demanding freedom for Tibet, including "Tibet for Tibetans!", "Long Long Dalai Lama!"

After the meeting, they tried to walk towards the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu to hand over a protest letter but were stopped by riot police, the witnesses added. There was no violence.

The Tibetans were also to hold a candlelight vigil late Wednesday. More than 25,000 Tibetans live in Nepal as refugees. Most of them fled their homeland after the failed 1959 uprising against China's rule over Tibet.

Hundreds of them still traverse the treacherous Himalayan passes in the north of Nepal every year in a bid to reach Dharamsala and meet the Dalai Lama. Almost all the Tibetans aspire to meet the Dalai Lama, the 14th god-king, at least once in their lifetime.

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Last updated: 11-Mar-99