Tibetpedia

Tag: Mekong River

  • Yulshul (Yushu)

    Yulshul (Yushu)

    Mostly inhabited by Tibetans, Yushu (ཡུལ་ཤུལ།)  is located in the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in the southern Qinghai province of China. The town, also referred to as Jyekundo (སྐྱེ་དགུ་མདོ།), Gyêgu, Gyêgudo or Jiegu is a multi-ethnic town with Tibetan nomadic residents and Han Chinese traders. Yushu lies at an elevation of 4,000 meters and has the fountainheads of Asia’s three great rivers – the Yellow River, the Yangtze River, and the Mekong River. The rivers are part of the Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve in the region.  Besides the Tongtian River Bridge, a stone column inscribed with the reserve’s name was given by the former president, Jiang Zemin.

    Jyekundo Dondrubling Monastery

    The Jyekundo Monastery is found on a hill overlooking Yushu Town and belongs to the Sakya sect of Tibetan Buddhism. In the past, a Bon Temple was present on the site, but later in 1398, Jyekundo Temple was constructed in its place. It consisted of 16 temples and was home to around 500 monks before the earthquake of 2010 hit the area.

    Gyanak Mani Temple

    About 6 kilometers east of Jyekundo Town is the Gyanak (Jiana) Mani Stone Field which has an enormous collection of carved prayer stones depicting Buddha sculptures ad mantras. There are over 2 million prayer stones stacked on top of each other spread across a square kilometer and reaching a height of 3 meters. Pilgrims from across the region pay a visit to the temple and make koras of the stone pile.

    Temple of Princess Wencheng

    Located 20 kilometers south outside of Yushu Town, the temple honors  Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty when she was on her way to Lhasa in the 7th century. Every Tibetan New Year, devotees visit the temple and perform a kora. The area surrounding the temple consists of thousands of prayer flags and offers picturesque views of the grasslands below and snowy mountains far away.

    Yushu Tibet - Small
    Row of stupas in Yushu

    Qinghai Yushu Horse Racing Festival

    Every year on 25th July, a Horse Racing Festival is held in the grasslands of the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in the Qinghai Province for sturdy Khampas to display their sportsmanship. The Yushu Horse Racing Festival is attended by Tibetan nomads across the Kham region, who set up tents for the week-long festivities. The warm weather transforms the valley into lush green spaces ideal for camping and horse racing. Apart from the traditional horse races, there is also folk singing and dancing, Buddhist ceremonies and various other sports and activities as part of the festival. Tibetan herbs and handicrafts are also widely sold during the event. Women dress in their best traditional gowns and ornaments, while monks are seen clad in red robes. The tribal men wear robes with tiger stripes or panther skins.

  • Kawa Gabo

    Kawa Gabo

    Highest Peak

    On the border of Zayu, Zogang, and Deqen County in Yunnan lies Kawa Gabo(ཁ་བ་དཀར་པོ།), the highest peak along the Meili Xue Shan, or the “Mainri Snowy Range”. As a whole, this peak and range are a part of the much larger Hengduan Shan, which borders the eastern side of the Tibetan Plateau as well as western Sichuan. With six peaks that reach over 6,000 meters and twenty more permanently covered in snow, the massive collection of mountains sits between the Lancangjiang River and the Salween River.

    Meili Snow Mountain 1.0
    Stupa in front of Kawa Gabo Mountain.

    History of the Climb

    The Kawa Gabo peak itself reaches 6,740 meters, and with dangerous vertical cliffs, it has created near impossible conditions to reach the summit. Numerous attempts have been made over the years, only to meet with tragic results. The primary attempt made by the Joetsu Alpine Club from Japan in 1987 had failed early on. Three years later the Academic Alpine Club from Kyoto University, paired with a Chinese unit, drew large protest from the Tibetans because of the mountain’s significance to their culture and religion. After moving ahead with the climb in spite of protests, the team was met with an avalanche on the night on January 3, 1991; all 17 individuals were presumed dead. The same club returned just five years later in 1996 to give another attempt, but had failed just as their predecessors.

    And finally, an American team guided by Nicholas Clinch made several unsuccessful attempts on different peaks along the mountain between 1988 and 1993. After years of failed attempts, death, injury, and protest, the government banned any future attempts in 2001.

    Kawa Gabo
    The sun hitting Kawa Gabo mountain.

    Protests Surrounding Kawa Gabo

    Tibetan Buddhists believe this mountain to be the spiritual home of the warrior God Kawagarbo and throughout Tibet, it is visited by over 20,000 visitors each year looking to make their 240 kilometer pilgrimage around the peak. The ancient shamanistic religion, Bön, believed in a world filled with good and evil spirits, many of which are still recognized and relevant today.

    Years of protests of climbing parties was due to the fact that Tibetans believe Kawagarbo will abandon them if any human reaches the peak. Stepping foot here would unleash disasters upon their villages and leave them unprotected by the Gods; this was not something the Tibetan people took lightly.

    The Retreating Mingyong Glacier

    From the east of Kawa Gabo, lies the sacred Mingyong Glacier, reaching into the Mekong River valley below. To signify its importance to their religion, two temples have been built on its lower edge.

    One of these temples however, Taizi Temple, holds a significance to the scientific community as well. It has been a key factor in observing the almost 7% decrease of the Mingyong Glacier annually. Many believe this is due to the warming climate in Deqin over the years. This climate shift’s impact on Mingyong Village’s water supply, as well as its considerable effect on the natural biodiversity of the area, has sparked the Chinese government to take control of the ecological systems in the area in an attempt to slow down the rate of melting. So far they have been successful in their efforts.