Qinghai Journey
Tserin Lhagyal smiled paternally as the tiny infant tottered toward the outstretched hand and coaxing voice of her mother, a young bronze-faced woman clad in a colourful chuba, the wraparound robe traditionally worn by Tibetan men & women.
Daughter of the local deer farmer, the year old infant presented the future of Tibetans in this remote region of Qinghai, an area long isolated from outside influence, but now experiencing a transformation as contact with the wider world increases. In the large communal living room milk tea was being served to the guests, the grandmother filling the stove with dried yak dung, the eldest daughter seated on the one bed in the room, cooing to the youngest child, a toy guitar hanging on the wall, a dusty beat-up stereo sitting on the shelf, evidence of the mercantile world beyond the vast plateau & high craggy peaks of the Amnye Machen mountain range.
Several kilometres to the east, in the valley below Guri Monastery, workmen are sitting idle at the construction site for a new school, a complex that is to be a centre of Tibetan learning for young children in the region. Tserin Lhagyal is the Rinpoche at the monastery, overseeing the funding & construction of this educational venture, but as with so many projects it is foundering, transport costs proving to be a severe drain on fast depleting resources. Undeterred, Tserin Lhagyal is visiting some local homes to tell residents about progress and the benefits it will bring the local community. "It is essential that the young children learn about their history and culture," he says, "as in order for the next generation to survive, the Tibetan people must retain their identity and language". The people in the room nod and voice assent. The Rinpoche is a quiet spoken man, his large frame deceptive in this respect, a jovial smile and placid exterior hiding the resolute conviction inherent in his character. Like many Tibetans he is aware of change, the pull of the city and economic gain, and the difficulty involved in ensuring the next generation stay in order to develop the region.
Guri Monastery sits at an altitude of 4100 metres, 800 kilometres from the provincial capital Xining. Leaving the smoggy city the asphalt road stretches into the distance, an endless expanse of rolling hills unfolding on either side, the landscape speckled with black tents, plumes of dust rising behind motorcycles in the distance. Yak and herds of sheep graze the grasslands beneath the drifting clouds. Desertification is evident, a result of overgrazing, wind whipped sand chokes the grass by the side of the road, but efforts are underway to halt the desert's progress and saplings waver in the wind on the hillside. The denuding of Tibet caused the Yangtze to flood in 1998, drowning 4,000 people, a tree planting frenzy ensued, and only time will tell if this seemingly feeble gesture of defiance will prevail over the encroaching desert & powerful elements of the plateau.
But the sheer willpower of Beijing is not easily defeated. The 'Develop the West' program is intended to modernize the lagging economy of Western China - to fill this open territory with millions of Chinese now living in economically deprived parts of China. There is evidence of change at every turn of the head and all along the road hundreds of workers, faces covered to protect lungs from the searing red dust, build the network of roads that is to open this region to the rest of China & in turn the world. In a Herculian effort, stones are broken and meticulously assembled into huge retaining walls, steaming hot tar is spread over the slowly lengthening road, Mongols, Chinese & Tibetans dig, drill, hammer, bringing civilization to this wilderness, mile after mile of roads spreading westward across the plateau.
Today, turning off the smooth main road a track of sort's winds its way across the barren terrain for several kilometres, deteriorating into a simple dirt track before the peaks of the Amnye Machen massif come into view. Sitting in the shadow of the mountain is the town of Tawo Zholma & beyond Guri Monastery. "It will not be long before tourism arrives in this area & the young people must be ready to protect their spirit" said Tserin Lhagyal, "to be able to adjust to change, but still embrace their heritage." This seems to be the factor in all the elements of change, maintaining a balance, between the new modern world & the old customs, between the Chinese language - essential if a person is to get ahead - and the Tibetan language, between the development of tourism and the fragile environment, whatever the future holds this region today is unspoiled.
The monastery is a focal point in the area, the faithful arriving each day, pilgrims clad in dust-coated chubas and Mao-style padded blue jackets, circumambulating the shrines and temples, always clockwise, passing loops of well worn prayer beads through their fingers, striving for millions of repetitions, twirling prayer wheels around, around, around. Inside Rinpoche Tserin Lhagyal sits cross-legged, young monks move silently around the room, proffering hard sweets, buttered tea, fruit, pepsi-cola, to the guests, all courtesy of the lama's followers - including some wealthy Chinese from as far a field as Shanghai. Outside the peaks of the distant mountains are shrouded in cloud, a light drizzle falls, smoke rising from the adjacent buildings, in the courtyard below a battery and solar panel wait for the sun, a toy car lies discarded on the wall, the future lama, a seven year old boy, plays tag with his older sister, the playful shouts in stark contrast to the low chants coming from the room behind.
The signs of contemporary culture can be seen at every glance, but the impact of tradition and religion is overwhelming, permeating every aspect of life. In the region surrounding the monastery outcroppings of rock are covered with the Buddhist mantra chiseled in bas-relief: Om Mani Padme Hum… Om Mani Padme Hum… "Hail to the Jewel in the Lotus", and prayer flags - red, green, white, blue, yellow - are strung across gorges, tied to rocks, skeletal trees, weather-beaten shacks, tattered they flutter their prayers to the cold wind. Below the monastery the torrents of the icy Niwagu River divide the valley, the burrows of gopher-like mammals pock the terrain, small pieces of paper covered in prayers fly up in circular eddies, their power activated by the wind.
For centuries the Golok people of Tibet had resisted change, defying the Chinese & remaining isolated from the outside world, the territory was considered inhospitable and of little value. Fearsome warriors, the bands of nomadic horsemen were able to embark on raids and then retreat into the high mountain gorges to escape detection. Today, subdued and leading a sedentary life, many of the Golok still remain isolated from the outside world, leading a nomadic existence, hunting, herding shaggy yaks across the barren terrain, following the seasons to different pastures, the family eating meat, butter and yoghurt, gathering each evening to stretch before the warm stove, mutton ribs shredded with a hunting knife passed from hand to hand, living in a tent woven from coarse black wool, barely getting by from one harsh winter to the next.
Travelling back from the deer farm the road reaches a high pass - beyond the snowy peaks of Amnye Machen glint in the sunlight, distant rain clouds hang threatening in the sky. Tserin Lhagyal steps out of the jeep to make offerings to the protector deity, Machen Pomra and safe passage for the pilgrims completing the circuit around the range - at 6,282 metres Amnye Machen is the second holiest mountain in Tibet, the surrounding area ancestral homeland of the Golok and birthplace of the Dalai Lama. In the previous year the district received a steady trickle of mostly Western tourists, mountaineers, expedition groups, adventure tours and spiritual wanderers - and it is the landscape which lures the visitors, the immediate vicinity providing spectacular hiking trails and the chance to join Tibetans as they complete the circuit, a week long trek with the stunning backdrop of snow-streaked mountains for company.
The future may see a greater influx of settlers and tourists alike, the towns of Chuwarna & Xiao Dawu, either side of the mountain range, are already seeing a boom in construction and development, schools, housing, a small hospital, general stores. Whether or not people will stay remains to be seen, the lowland Chinese find the altitude and the dry, cold climate unwelcoming. In the town of Chuwarna a young Chinese doctor from Xining explained that he would stay for three years and then return home, "the weather here is too terrible, the winter's unbearable and there is nothing to do." No satellite dishes adorn the rooftops, no running hot water, no hotels; wandering guests are housed in a compound built for the construction workers, to some this is an idyllic, unpolluted, virgin land, a week without a shower is a small sacrifice to pay for the experience of such beauty, but its allure is of the sort which is only beautiful if you can leave after briefly admiring its beauty, to go somewhere where there are hot showers and cool drinks. To an outsider to stay any length of time is a penance and this fact may yet save the region, slowing the rate of development and allowing the fragile local culture and environment to gradually acclimatize to modernization.
Conditioned by Buddhism to accept their lot in this world, the local people have for a long time endured hardship, waiting for happiness in the next life, but now many Tibetans are actively seeking change and taking the upper hand. Preserving the Tibetan language will play a pivotal role in this enterprise, and to this end 'Ai Xin' (Charity) school at Guri Monastery will aid in the regions development. Supported by the government in Beijing the school will teach fifty young children English, Art, Tibetan Culture, and computer studies, preserving tradition while embracing the uncertain future. "People here have always depended on yak and sheep, it is a hard life," said Tserin Lhagyal, "but the future depends on the education of the young people and the blessing of Machen Pomra".
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