My trip to the Tibetan Region in Yunnan, China
Ju's serious article about Tibet the other day triggered me to add this post and show you some pictures of the beautiful Yunnan Province of China, where I visited among other places the Tibetan region in that province. The Tibetan region has a very beautiful name: 香格里拉 (Shangri-la) and it well deserves the name.
1. Tibetan children with their lambs.
When I jumped out of our car, the first thing came into my mind when seeing them was: they were sooo cute! Shy and lovely kids. That’s why I was surprised when they told us we would have to pay them 2 Chinese Yuan for each photo we were going to take. Well, that’s what tourism has taught them.
Later we realized that 2 yuan is for per photo and per kid! :))) Never mind, still, they are too cute ;)
The brothers.
Their skin color is of that typical dark and red due to the lack of oxygen and excess sunlight exposure caused by the high latitude.
2. A Tibetan temple 松赞林寺.
I had to stop from time to time to rest myself when climbing up the staircase. As it’s more than 4000-meter-high latitude and my heart was not strong enough to keep the same pace as I was in Shanghai.
A typical Tibetan style doorframe seen around the temple with beautiful vivid color.
Main entrance of the temple.
Bucket-sized Tibetan prayer wheels (转经桶) with engraved mantra, lined up along walking paths around the monastery. The lection books are kept in the buckets, and turning the wheels symbolizes one's read through the lections...Tibetan people believe good karma will be created by spinning the wheels.
3. At a Tibetan family’s home.
We visited local people’s home (of a typical Tibetan style). Now it becomes quite touristic, it’s open to visitors every night with entrance fee. Some snacks and shows were included in the entry fee. Still, it’s a very nice and special experience.
The snacks:
- A typical local tea (酥油茶), tastes slightly salty (the light brown liquid in the bowls)
- A very strong alcohol (青稞酒) used to welcome guests and is believed to be good to remove your terrible headache caused by the high altitude. It worked well for me J (in the two small cups). It was so strong that I felt it burning all the way from my tongue, throat to my stomach.
- Powder made of 青稞 (in the wooden bowl, looks like ash to me). When eating it, you are supposed to put some in your hand, mix with sugar and eat together with the tea. It was strange at first, but I liked it.
- Some cheese! Un-expected, but very nice J
- And the other two, I don’t really know what are they…
The show
Tibetan guys are known for their dance. It’s very masculine, with strong rhythm and drastic movements. I love the dance a lot. Quite impressive and sexy/hot from my point of view ;)
With one of the sons of the family, who’s also the moderator of the show that night.
Toasted yak.
Toasted yak: 1000 Chinese yuan per piece.
Toasted lamb: 500 Chinese yuan per piece.
(I apologize if you don’t feel comfortable seeing this pic or if you are a vegan.)
I have to say it tasted great, not fat at all and very tender.
BY