As an expatriate, the journey afar from North America back to my motherland, the Tibetan plateau, has always been very special. Just the thought of a trip home uplifts memories of my upbringing in the majestic land where I feel most connected. Spending two months with my loved ones, visiting historic spots, as well as […]
A tall, historic figure, and golden charm once electrified every corner of the Tibetan plateau, he was Tibet’s “Moon”– the 10th Panchan Lama (པཎ་ཆེན་རེན་པོ་ཆེ།, Pictures of him seen here). Tibetans refer to the Dalai Lama and Panchan Lama as the “Sun” and the “Moon”. They are ranked the highest and second highest in Tibetan Buddhism, […]
Continuing the topic of street goodies in Xining (ཟི་ལིང, Silung in Tibetan), the capital of Qinghai Province (ཨ༌མདོ, Amdo in Tibetan), the multitude of food markets along the streets are equally rich and interesting (learn more here at Xining (ཟི་ལིང) Part I: Street Food). One would only need to take a two-minute walk to […]
Xining (ཟི་ལིང, Silung in Tibetan), the city I called home for five years before I left for England, is the capital of Qinghai Province on the Tibetan plateau (see photos of Xining here). The province governs eight prefecture-level divisions – two prefecture-level cities, one Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and five Tibetan autonomous prefectures. One of […]
I’ve finally realized the long-awaited journey to my nomadic family in Tsekog, Zekog or rtse khog (རྩེ་ཁོག Zeku). Rongwo Rongbo (རོང་བོ, Longwu), the Reb gong the Golden Valley, was where we started the trip. Rongwo, the seat of Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and Tongren County, is an ancient town, the heart of renowned Rebgong […]
A day on the grassland with my paternal family—the biggest family reunion I’ve ever attended. Fifty-six families, 180 people total, from two distinctive worlds (agricultural and nomadic), joined together on Mgar-tse’s grassland in Rebgong, Amdo region. They included farmers, animal herders, educators from elementary school to university, small business owners, doctors, students of all […]
[Continuing Klu rol (lürol) Festival part I…] Summer is a festive season in Rebgong, Amdo region on the Tibetan plateau, and Klu rol (lürol ) festival is held yearly in many Tibetan villages and a few Monguor villages between June fifteenth and the twenty-fifth of the lunar calendar. My village, Gling-rgyal (AKA Langjia) is one of the most […]
