7th June "Shortish Archie day leaving Lui Xia Jia after a Chinese breakfast find I quite like them- cabbage, cucumber, seaweed, pakchoi, mushroom soup - & green tea! Amazing drive through hills - At times the road straddled the ridge - The landscape was how I imagined China - hills with terraces right to the top - tops of hills flattened - terrace after terrace with irregular shapes - mist clinging to the valley sides - It was like this is the "real China" but only in my imagination. The Taklamakan is just as much part of China (or not) as the China of my imagination. Saw my 1st tea plantations -........"
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| These photos (taken from Archie as we made our way through the mountains) are the landscapes that I was thinking were "real China". |
The diary entry continues: "The villages we passed through were on the whole Hui (Muslim) tolerated but not entirely accepted. Then to Linxia for lunch with R&J - mutton broth with noodles - (I seem to remember it being rather cold and damp but the portions of the mutton broth were just what was needed for it being cold and damp - and the portions were huge and delicious. As I write a little tastebud memory comes over me at 9 months on and many 1000s of miles in distance!) Arrived Labrang mid afternoon - The town is in turmoil - New builds everywhere in preparation for the Han Chinese who will be moved here to change the ethnic balance- Tibetans [appear] the majority at present but over the next year or so this will change. It took Archie [very skillfully manoeuvred by Dion through a space barely wider than Archie!] 3 goes to get to the hotel because the streets were closed- The street the hotel is in + the side gate one are just masses of mud. There are engineering works going on as I write. There seems to be a "get it done all at once" regardless of an inconvenience to the local population. The town is very geared towards pilgrims and tourists. Monks everywhere though not the 1000s previously - monks in tourist shops - monks on mobiles - monks in taxis- Pleasant meal with J&Y."
8th June "Visit to monastery - some beautiful statues- ..." We were well guided and able to ask questions about many topics to do with the monastery and Buddhism - however we were not able to ask about the Dalai Lama - Although the monks would say that they do not resent that they are not allowed to speak of the Dalai Lama I still got the impression that there is a degree of resentment. And although they should not speak openly about him I am sure he always "has a place in their hearts" or that "he is always with them". The current Panchen Lama and the Living Buddha are both government appointees.
Labrang Monastery
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| Walking the prayer wheels |
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| Prayer wheels |
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| A valued member of the community! A "dzo" |
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| Other members of the community included these people I rather liked ................. |
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| ...... waiting patiently for the next festival! |
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Sculpted yak butter flower and below a "yellow hat" lama. |
A roof decoration and ..........
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| ................. for a lintel. |
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| The monastery complex |
"... The visit round the monastery was followed by lunch with Y&J - then a walk round the holy circuit with all the prayer wheels & a visit to the convent. Unfortunately the convent was closed but as I was going down I realised that K, S, Y & JC were not following me. I thought they might have found a nun with the key so I went back to find them (a "call of nature" in a nearby gully which I used too!) ... I was finding it a bit difficult to get up the steep hill and was going rather slowly- the next thing 2 hands were firmly placed on my buttocks & I am propelled up the hill by a nun! Much hilarity, laughter, etc. Then back down the circuit. Some pilgrims were prostrating their way round the circuit wearing wood mitts and aprons (thick protective fabric)- Down to the town for a very pleasant pancake and real coffee (Chinese arabica) (after leaving Iran coffee had been in short supply as no way was I going to bolster up Nestle prducts and that is all there seemed to be) Supper with K, S & Y. Met some of the other Drago crowd. We met up with other trucks here in Xihe and also in Xian, though I must admit I cannot remember where this truck had come from - possibly coming up from India and on its way west.
9th June "S organised a charabanc tour to the Ganjia grasslands. Left town & headed out to the hills. Up a very steep switchback road onto the plateau. The minibus driver was very understanding & stopped so we could have a walk. Then on to the 2000 year old walled town of Gan Ju Bajiao. Quick look round + a guide demonstrated the double moated walls (all in sign language/gesture and a stick to draw with). And here they are!
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| The 2000 year old walled town and ................ |
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| ......... our guide! |
"........ The plateau is very open & undulating- Wide open grey skies - Some snow capped peaks behind the first layer of surrounding mountains - Saw lots of sheep- more horses here + a few nomad tents.
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| Grassland lanscape. |
"........ Then on to a monastery- Saw the Buddhas & Bodistavas, etc. then asked to move round clockwise - the monks were chanting - some walked past. S said she felt v. uncomfortable [it was one of those situations where I had a "what is the etitqutte for walking past chanting monks" moment, for to have turned round and gone out of the temple anticlockwise would probably have caused more offense than walking past the monks while they chanted.] I decided to compromise & to walk past the chanting monks but to bow - did so with some respons until I got round the corner where a group of monks were texting on mobiles! S & K & I had a laugh as S had decided the same compromise! Lunch outside the monstery saw a monk on a moped and 2 small novices playing with a toy car! ......... " And here is one of them.
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| The prayer wheels here all bright and shiny. (I took several sets of prayer wheels on "continuous" and when set up as a slideshow you can see the prayer wheels turning!) |
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| A "dzo" -a cross between a yak and a cow. |
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| This small chap had a very proud father - note the "split" trousers that kids have in China. Nappies are expensive and a luxury in many places in the world. They seem to be very efficient and work well because everyone is used to using them. Mothers/grandmothers, etc. appear to be tuned in to what is happening with the baby and know when it wants to pee, etc. I only saw 2 "accidents" the whole time I wasin China. And obviously there is a lot less pollution with these trousers as there are no nappies to throw away or to clog up landfills. |
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| Tibetan national dress with the long sleeve |
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| On the way back from the stroll - you can see the stupa near the monastery on the extreme left-hand side of the photo. Continuing I write "...... Then a walk further up the valley to see the view- quite beautiful high mountains some covering in trees - a sharp cleft valley with caves - swooping buzzards- a cuckoo- marmots & lots of sheep." On returning to Xihe I note that I had a good meal with some of the others.  |
I note that we are now at altitude again - perhaps not very high in the scheme of things but still enough to get breathless easily and to need to take things slowly. Having completely recovered from that UTRI I was managing OK and when walking out on the grasslands I had to remember to pace myself so as not to go too quickly. It was so very interesting being in this part of China because having just left Central Asia (and I include Xinjiang Province as being Central Asia) before having time to get a feel for China we were back in a part of the country which, although not strictly the Autonomous Region of Tibet certainly was part of Tibet in landscape and culture. One of things that I noticed was the extraodinary likeness in dress as well as features to some South American Indiginous People. The streets in Xihe (the town where the Labrang Monastery is situated) were very bright with lots of colourful clothes and people in traditional dress.
Here I am trying out the prayer wheels!
(Thanks to G who kindly took this video for me.)
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