Tibet. Part I. Main detailsMapSeptember 24–27, 2013 Tibet is technically part of China, but everything’s special here. ![]() You have to get a special advance permit in order to come to Tibet, and Tibetans can’t freely travel to other parts of China. They’re regarded as rebellious and ready to attempt secession at any moment. This is why there are police stations every three hundred meters in every Tibetan town or city. They’re marked with Tibetan-style steles with the number 110 and flashing police lights, but the untrained eye could easily mistake them for small shops. ![]() All the signs are in Tibetan and Chinese. ![]() An interesting detail: if there’s a Chinese and Tibetan restaurant next door to each other, the Chinese one will always be empty and the Tibetan one will be packed. ![]() The country is located at an altitude of four kilometers above sea level, so the air is very thin. If an untrained person tries to engage in any sort of heavy physical activity right after arriving, he could easily kick the bucket on the spot. On the bright side, the lower air pressure means you can use the sun’s rays to boil a pot of water in no time: water boils at 90 °C here. This is handy, because there’s a shortage of firewood growing at this altitude. ![]() In addition to postcards and souvenirs, hotel gift shops also sell oxygen tanks. ![]() Despite the best efforts of the Communist Party, Tibetans remain very religious. ![]() Buddhism is a very convenient religion. For example, you can spin a cylindrical wheel that has a piece of paper with a prayer inside. This equates to reading the prayer. ![]() Since a stationary wheel isn’t always available, Tibetans carry around personal handheld wheels. The principle is the same—you spin the wheel and the prayer is recited. ![]() All the old men carry around prayer wheels and prayer beads. ![]() All the old women, too. ![]() My guide, a modern and progressive middle-aged Tibetan, would fall into a trance and recite prayers out loud for hours during our travels. Young people have less time and more things to do, of course. So you’ll often see solar-powered plastic prayer wheels on car dashboards, turning by themselves. ![]() Speaking of energy, all the motorcycles in China are electric now. Just a few years ago, every street was a giant racketing stream of vehicles, and now you can easily get run over by a moped just because you don’t hear it coming. It’s very strange to experience a bunch of scooters rushing past you as though they were a bunch of bicycles going downhill. ![]() The architecture is dominated by trapezoidal forms. ![]() Windows and doorways are always outlined with black trapezoid frames. Windows usually have a cloth awning over them. ![]() The corners of every building are decorated with bunches of twigs and multicolored flags (for auspiciousness). Half the buildings also have a Chinese flag in the center of the facade. ![]() The mountains. ![]() An overpass (the strings of prayer flags remind me of Mongolia and Yakutia). ![]() A lake. ![]() There are painted sculptures of traffic policemen on the roads (we’ve previously seen something similar in North Korea). ![]() Watch out for loose rocks flying out from under other cars. ![]() Sharp turn. ![]() A curious ethnographic fact: Tibetans constantly make noises like they’re hawking up phlegm, but they never spit anything out. Zigzagging road. ![]() Cattle. ![]() An “inhabited locality” sign (we’ve previously seen one like this in Tonga). ![]() Hospitals and pharmacies are marked with a Chinese variation of the cross. ![]() There are special pants for little children with a slit in the back, to save the hassle of taking them off every time the kid needs to use the bathroom. ![]() Greenhouses are constructed in the following manner: a long wall is put up, with two semi-circular walls on either side, and then the whole structure is covered with plastic sheeting. ![]() Both horses and tractors are used to plow the fields. ![]() Everyone is selling pieces of amber with fossilized butterflies. ![]() All right, come on, let’s go already. ![]() |
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Tibet. Part I. Details
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