China and Tibet 2006 - Gyantse

Gyantse is the second largest city within Tibet but it managed to retain much of its tibetan charm. It was only opened to tourist in the last few years so it was relatively unspoilt as compared to Lhasa (capital) and Shigatse (largest city). Many parts of inland Tibet is still closed to independent travellers and you would need some documentation before access is granted. Even getting to EBC wasn't all that easy. We almost didn't make it if we didn't get the help of a super nice tibetan tour guide.

Tibetans carrying goat yak milk on their backs

Tibetan woman collecting yak droppings for fuel

Horse carriages are widely used for transporting goods in rural areas. Always wanted to take a picture like that. Damn happy.

Back to Gyantse, signs of tourism and infiltration of the Han Chinese is already evident in the developed parts of the city. Chinese, like they are all over the world, are extremely entrepreneurial people and many has already moved in to look for business opportunities. Fortunately, we spent most of our time in the tibetan areas instead. In most places in Tibet, you would always find a chinese and a tibetan part. The chinese part is always generic, and like what clifton said, looks exactly similar to any other cities in China, only distinguishable through the Tibetan wordings on the sign board. Most of the children spoke Mandarin. It was compulsory for them to learnt that in school and many Tibetans strongly feel that this is part of the concerted effort of the Chinese government to destroy their cultural resistance. Many are also worried about the impact that the Chinese migrants' lifestyle would have on the Tibetans. As I see it, the cultural dilution has already begun and the lives of many tibetans have already been changed irrevocably.

Everyday scenes

Tibetan houses

Prayer flags. The scriptures written on the prayer flags are considered 'read' once everytime the flag flaps in the wind.

Ah wei gazing at the Kumbum Buddhist temple

Gyantse is famous for its Kumbum Buddhist temple, which we only saw from the outside. The memorable thing about this place is interaction that we had with the Tibetans. It was a bit ironic that the cultural tourist in us were only able to sustain a meaningful conversation with the tibetans children because they spoke mandarin.

The experience was really quite magical. First we started playing with the Tibetan children and later they invited us to their homes. It was the first time that I stepped into one. The children were really hospitable, offering us 'qing ke' tsampa (a paste like dough made of barley, not for the pampered) and also sugar (which they creatively consume as sweets). Later that day, the adults came home and they toasted us with their own 'qing ke' wine. The customary way is to take 3 sips, refilled after each sip, and then 1 full cup. Most of us were quite dumb and didn't get the instructions so we ended up drinking 4 full cups instead. It did come in handy when the weather started to turn pretty chilly when we were about the leave. Overall, it was a really memorable experience.

A really cute pair of twins. The one on the right is a girl.

This kid damn funny. Keep telling me "wo de niu" and "zhao xiang".

Our friendly travel companions with the children

The men

Everyone

It was also a little sad that Gyantse was the last stop for the 2 girls whom we managed to drag with us to Gyantse. They are really kind hearted people and I think its really our fortune to be able to know them. Anyway, more about them in the next post. Writing this entry brings back many wonderful memories and I am really grateful to have Clifton around. Been there, done that... with Clifton.

Notice the bandage. I broke his wrist during arm-wrestling.