A French writer says a visit to Tibet makes it obvious that the culture there is not being destroyed and there is freedom of religion. "The signs are written in Tibetan. The temples and monasteries are full and people do pray in the streets. Religion is omnipresent," French writer and Tibet researcher Maxime Vivas told reporters Thursday.

Such things would be impossible, Vivas said, if the Tibetan culture was being destroyed and the freedom of religion restricted.

Vivas, who spoke at a press briefing on his new book "Not So 'Zen': The Hidden Side Of The Dalai Lama," talked about the purpose of writing the book and a real Tibet in his observation.

It's been awhile since news reports about Tibet in France were almost all in the same key, said Vivas, who also is a journalist. His confusion and curiosity concerning Tibet prompted him to travel to Tibet in the summer of 2010 with a number of other French journalists.

As soon as Vivas returned from the trip, he started independent research on Tibet and the Dalai Lama.

Seeking to paint a true picture of Tibet, he had read a plenty of documents and gathered opinions of all sides. And the result of his research has given birth to his new book, which will be released Aug. 18.

Vivas enumerates in his book a large quantity of words of the Dalai Lama and his supporters, many of which are self-contradictory. He said he intends to use their own words to kill their lies.

Meanwhile, Tibet under the Dalai Lama's reign was no paradise at all, Vivas said, citing words from the Dalai Lama's memoirs to prove that the peasants back then were deprived of all human rights and had to do very heavy work. Even a slight show of disobedience would subject them to cruel punishment.

"The Dalai Lama said that he had been forced to leave Tibet before he could have time to carry out social reforms, but according to his memoirs, at that same period, he had time to think about building a new palace in addition to the Potala Palace," Vivas said.