The butchers' shops on Beijing Road were re-opening yesterday but residents of the politically charged Tibetan capital have started to grumble about a new threat - inflation.

At one of the modest stores, opening for the first time since rioting in Lhasa on March 14, two women complained loudly about the price of yak meat, which sold for Rmb11 per half-kilo before the riot but was priced at Rmb13.50 ($1.92, €1.22, 96p) yesterday. "We are being ripped off," one said.