Dalai Lama visits Vancouver

The Dalai Lama arrived in Vancouver Thursday for a three-day visit to promote a new peace and education centre in the city —a facility that will be named after him.

Tibet's71-year-old exiled spiritual leader, who is known for having a sense of humour, spoke to reporters about the Canadian government'sdecision earlier this year to grant him honorary citizenship.

"I come from snowland. So Canada is also similar. So I feel great honour to become an honorary citizen. A few thousand Tibetans settled in this country very happily. I now also become one of them."

He went on to do a little standup comedy routine, asking reporters what the rights of Canadians are so he could take advantage of them. The responsibilities, he joked, are not as interesting to him.

He also expressed sadness that the Chinese government has chastised Canada for the honorary citizenship. He is only the third person to receive the honour.

The Dalai Lamawonthe Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for hisstruggle for Tibetan autonomy from China and his pursuit of peace. He fled Tibet in 1958, when China annexed it.

The Dalai Lama willalso take part in a series ofpublic discussions in Vancouver over the next few daysabout how to incorporate peace, tolerance and compassion into people's daily lives.

He was last in B.C. in April 2004, as part of a Canadian tour.

The Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education, scheduled to open in 2009 in Vancouver, will be the first of its kind in the world.