Beginning from Mount Qomolangma, the highest mountain in the world, a group of tourists started a 14-day journey in Southwest China's Xizang autonomous region, telling stories of the spectacular landscapes, brilliant culture and colorful life of this plateau region.
This was a special tour organized by the Publicity Department of the Xizang Committee of the Communist Party of China, China Media Group, the Xizang Department of Culture and Tourism and other organizations. The tour members included socialites and influencers from home and abroad.
The journey was launched on Oct 11 in Pasum village in the city of Shigatse, which is located at the foot of Mount Qomolangma. The launch event was marked by a grand gala called On the Top of the World, featuring a show combining poetry recital and concert.
Renowned Chinese alpinist Xia Boyu was at the event, reciting a poem named Himalaya with the poet Chen Renjie and other tour members. Xia is a legendary figure in the world's mountaineering sport, who was the first one to climb the peak of Qomolangma with prostheses.
Norodom Jenna, the 13-year-old Cambodian princess, sang a song with a local children's chorus at the event. The song called Say Hi Together features greetings in different languages of the world.
On Oct 16, the tour group arrived in Chamdo city in the southeast of Xizang, beginning a four-day trip that covered regions of Markham, Gojo, Kharub and Pashoi. Chamdo is an important hub of the ancient Tea-Horse Road, a trade route that links Xizang with other Southwest China provinces like Sichuan and Yunnan.
The Chamdo trip started with a tour of the ancient salt field in the Naxi ethnic township in Markham county.
Located at the junction of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces and the Xizang autonomous region, Naxi township in Markham is rich in the mineral. Its salt production techniques are one of the oldest in the world and have been well preserved.
The traditional salt production craft was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage item in 2008 and the ancient salt field was listed as a key cultural relic in 2013.
A local official told the tour group that the rough terrain and steep mountains along the Lancang River limited farming. As a result, people in the township, as well as others in the neighborhood, would barter for the necessities of life, using salt as payment.
"Today, the situation is dramatically different, but villagers still produce salt using the ancient methods because it's part of their culture. Many people still want to buy the handmade salt," the official said.
Palden Dondrup, a local musician in Chamdo, volunteered to serve as a tour guide for the group, showing them to sites of salt production and introducing the ancient techniques.
On the following day, tour members visited the county of Gojo, which is renowned for Awang sheep, a variety unique to the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. They were then treated to a lamb feast.
On Oct 18, the tour group visited the Karma Valley Scenic Area in Chamdo's Kharub district. The site is viewed by veteran tourists as a "hidden pearl" of Xizang, featuring both colorful ethnic culture and the enticing landscapes of snow mountains, grasslands and highland barley fields.
To the surprise of tour members, the scenic area is also full of artistic goods. They said they were astonished when they saw the stylish artworks produced and exhibited by the studios of traditional arts like thangka, lacquerware and bronze ware.
On their last day in Chamdo, the tour members visited the village of Laigu in Pashoi county. The village is surrounded by the picturesque Ra'og Lake, several snow-capped mountains and six glaciers collectively known as the Laigu Glaciers, which are among the world's top three glacier groups.
After touring the glaciers, the members wrapped up the day by visiting Ra'og Lake in the late afternoon. To their delight, they were lucky enough to have a view of the legendary "Sunset on the Golden Mountains" as they saw the snow mountains turn gold against the setting sun.
From Oct 20-23, the tour group returned to the city of Shigatse, exploring the local natural wonders, cultural heritage and characteristic produce over four days.
In Tibetan language, Shigatse means "wish-fulfilling manor". The city is home to five of the world's 14 peaks with altitudes above 8,000 meters, including the highest, Qomolangma. It is also source of the Yarlung Zangbo River — an international river that empties itself into the Bay of Bengal.
The Yarlung Zangbo valley there is called the granary of Xizang as it is the largest production base of highland barley in the world. With five land ports linking Nepal, Bhutan and India, the city is the foreign trade hub of Xizang. It is also one of cradles of Tibetan culture.
The tour group's first leg in the city was the Mingzhu Lake Park in the city's Samdrubze district, where they watched performances of Tibetan Opera, a UNESCO World Heritage item, and the Cham dance, a national intangible heritage item.
They visited Lhaze county on the second day, where they were treated to a local performance called Duixie. The popular folk art that combines rhythmic folk dance, singing, storytelling and the playing of plucked instruments has been passed down the generations orally for more than 700 years, without any written record until 2008 when Duixie was included on the protection list of China's oral and intangible cultural heritage.
They paid a visit to Nyalam county on the third day, exploring the Mount Qomolangma Natural Reserve. In the village of Lhapu, they had an encounter with Padhkud Tso, the largest lake in the reserve. There they had an overwhelming view, with the tranquil lake reflecting the snow-covered Shishapangma, a mountain 8,027 meters high.
The township of Gyirong was the tour group's last leg in Shigatse, where members visited two characteristic villages, Gyiphuk and Darman.
Gyiphuk is a village that was destroyed during the 2015 Nepal earthquake. But rapid reconstruction over the past few years have given it a new lease on life. It has emerged as a tourist destination with an idyllic landscape. Nineteen of the total 39 households there are now operating bed-and-breakfast businesses.
Darman is a village mostly dwelt in by the ethnic Darmans. The Darmans said they are the offsprings of the Gurkhas in Nepal. They stayed on the Chinese side of the border for several generations for historical reasons, living an impoverished life until they were offered Chinese citizenship in 2003. The naturalization brought a fundamental change to their lives and the residents now enjoy improved livelihoods and a steady increase in incomes.
Upon their arrival, the tour members found that this village is now an emerging tourist destination, offering them a chance to experience its novel culture while enjoying the imposing views of the Himalayas.
On Oct 21, the tour group arrived in Ngari prefecture, starting a two-day trip that covered Burang and Zada counties.
In Burang, the tour group visited Khorchak, a village that borders India and Nepal. Khorchak was included on the list of China's famous traditional villages in 2019. The village is home to the Khorchak Monastery, a Buddhist temple originally built in the year 996, which is regarded as one of the sources of the Bka-gdam-pa sect of Tibetan Buddhism.
Their Burang trip also included visits to Mount Gang Rinpoche and Mapham Yutso Lake. The two sites, also known as Mount Kailas and Lake Manasarovar, are the revered mountain and lake for believers of a number of religions including Buddhism, Bon, Hinduism and Jainism.
In Zada county, they visited the Guge Kingdom ruins, which are located on a mountain in Zhabran village 19 kilometers west of the county seat of Zada.
The Guge Kingdom was founded in the 10th century and survived for about 700 years before mysteriously disappearing. For decades, the ruins of the Guge Kingdom have attracted numerous tourists, archaeologists, photographers and explorers from around the world. The wall paintings, clay statues and carvings in the ruins are regarded by researchers as valuable material evidence for the study of the culture and arts of that period.
The tour group also visited Xiayigou, the core area of the Zada Clay Forest. The unique landform is a result of the Himalayan orogeny and wind and rain erosion over millions of years. It features piles of clay earth resembling various and vivid shapes like temples, watchtowers, pagodas and castles. The Xiayigou area is the best representative of the landform, in terms of shapes and colors.