A man popularly referred to as "King of monkeys'' telling story to an African Journalist who visited the site during the tour to China's Tibet Autonomous Region. (Photo: Julius Enehikhuere, African journalist)

As a journalist from Africa, monkeys are common and there are so many stories surrounding them. But of late the stories about monkeys were told in the negative in view of the havoc as certain species of them may have caused in Africa. The story of Ebola virus that have killed many people with billions of dollars in economic losses is real.Surprisingly, the story is different in Tibet as locals are happy with large number of monkeys which are their best pal.There are two things driving tourism business in the Munfakunode village in the heart of Tibet: beautiful mountains and a community of over 6,000 monkeys living nearby. According to village leaders, “monkey business” can make good revenue as it has drawn large number of visitors from across the country.“I never saw such a large number of monkeys in my life except in pictures, they are very friendly and do not scare me at all.” said Chen Zeo, a tourist from one of the coastal provinces. The story behind the emergence of the large population of monkeys is quite interesting as told by one of the leaders -- the “monkey king”.Most people of the area are Buddhists and the religion forbids adherents from killing any living thing, the leader said. They started receiving monkeys in droves coming down from the mountains looking for food years back, he remembered.They welcomed them with love and started feeding them and giving them comfort in the area.“There were no threats to their lives as they were protected and no monkeys would be killed and eaten as bush meat,” said the leader.Now the monkeys have brought development to the area as ever more tourists are willing to come to play with those friendly things and learn their story.When the “monkey king” was asked if he knew anything about Ebola virus in Africa, he laughed it off, like “a story for the gods’’.Different species of monkeys have different stories, some may have been cause of virus but others could be a resource of good business.*Julius Enehikhuere is the Assistant Editor-in-Chief of News Agency of Nigeria. He is on a 10-month scholarship with the China Africa Press Centre.

Young tourist guide gives direction and provides support to visitors in Lunfang Village, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. (Photo: Julius Enehikhuere, African journalist)