Our trip to Nanyigou Valley had s misty color because of the foggy weather. 5 km outside Mainling Zong County, we saw a road sign pointing that Nanyigou was ahead. Shortly after that a village of Monba ethnic group came into our sight. It was a stockade village on a green mountain. In between yards…

Mira Mountain is the boundary between Lhasa and Nyingchi. After we drove across the mountain top we reached Nyingchi. At this place at an altitude of 5019 meters, what welcomed us were the prayer flags fluttering in the cold wind, as if thousands of people were chanting the prayer “Om Mani Padme Hum” in a…

At its prime time, Drigong Ti Temple on top of a mountain had 180,000 monks practicing in the monastery. Many of them had to lodge in grottoes, simple state stone sheds or small tents because of the huge number of these monks. The temple was burned in wars, and together with it the drying up…

These flowers of delphinium grandiflorum by the roadside travelling from Lhasa to Kathmandu were very charming and attracted us immediately. Their leaves are deeply lobed with 3 to 7 toothed, pointed lobes in a palmate shape. The main flowering stem is erect, and varies greatly in size between the species, from 10 centimeters in some alpine species,…

The Brahmaputra Grand Canyon (Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon) is one with the highest altitude in the world. Its depth and length also rank No.1 in the world and is said to be “the last unexplored region of the human world”. Self sponsored, 8 people have successfully crossed the canyon all by themselves– the 1st time…

At one dawn in May, when the mountains in distance were covered with light blue mist and Potala Palace wore a dark veil, the morning sun spread its golden light on the age old golden roof of the palace. The whole atmosphere was particularly tranquil and serene, like that of the heaven. In this quiet…

The car, after leaving Lang County, crossed the bridge on the Ya River and started to pass through the canyon. I saw bull boat for the 1st time not far away from the county. The boatman sat inside and rowed the boat briskly with 2 oars. We were reaching Lang County when Suolang, who was…

Having driven for 40 kilometers on 318 national highway, we came to Draksum-tso, meaning Conggo Lake, is one of the largest freshwater barrier lakes at an altitude of 3460 meters in the Tibetan east. It is also a famous holy lake of the Red Hat Buddhism. In the middle of the lake, 100 meters from…

The closer we got to Lhamo Latso Lake, the more solemn we became. In Tibetan Buddhism, Lhamoi Latso is the requiem lake of the Guardian Deity–or Palden Lhamo, the protectress of Dalai Lama. Historically, on April 15th of the Tibetan Calendar, every Dalai Lama would lodge in the Chokorgye Monastery and meet with Palden Lhamo.…

Along the way from the Mt. Budangla, alpine grasslands and highland gorges appeared one after another. The deep ravines, snowy mountains and grasslands were decorated by brown plains, flocks of cattle and stand-alone Tibetan yards–everything seemed to be antediluvian. Sewu is the word for crow in Tibetan language. The Sewu Hot Spring, also called Crow…