He does not live at the Panchen Lama’s traditional seat, Tashi Lunpo monastery in Tibet’s Shigatse city, but in Beijing and visits Tibet for a few months each year to meet government officials and take part in religious ceremonies, according to Chinese state media.

The 14th Dalai Lama turns 90 on Sunday and is expected to give his clearest signal yet on how his reincarnation will be determined at the event in Dharamshala, India, where the Dalai Lama has lived since fleeing Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.