Report on China: Part Four
Lhasa and Chongqing
By: Zeren Earls - Jul 04, 2008
Lhasa
Getting up at 5 in the morning, we caught a 7:40 a.m. flight to Lhasa, capital of Tibet at 12,000 feet. To acclimate our bodies to the sudden change in altitude, we took pills starting the day before. To shorten the red tape at the border, we traveled with only one carry-on bag each leaving our suitcases back in Chengdu. Upon arrival Susan got the special entry visa for us. It was thrilling to finally see the blue sky and bright sun for the first time since arriving in Shanghai. The clear, dry air and the majestic mountains in the distance confirmed that I was indeed at "the roof of the world". It felt wonderful.
Soldiers in camouflage uniforms guarded the airport, 65 km from Lhasa. Our Tibetan guide welcomed us in the name of Buddha and handed us each a white silk prayer shawl as we settled in our seats. He taught us a few Tibetan words, such as "tho qiu qiu", meaning "thank you", then gave us basic information, i.e. that unlike in Mainland China one tips the toilet lady in Tibet. We passed by a large image of Buddha carved into the mountainside, fields of poppies, mustard plants, poplar trees on river banks, many greenhouses and housing developments with traditional red doors. Chinese flags on buildings waved in the wind. Festival flags in five colors symbolizing the elements- white for clouds, yellow for earth, red for fire, blue for sky and green for water- stretched across the main road; they were vestiges of the celebration two weeks earlier honoring the 40th anniversary of Tibet's "liberation" by the Chinese in 1965.
Once at the hotel, we all drank lots of water and took a nap to chase away the effects of altitude change. I had a slight headache when I woke up, but felt fine after taking aspirin. A lecture by a Tibet University professor enlightened us about Tibetan geography, history, religion, customs and politics. The north is the largest and highest area, as well as the coldest year-round. The east, at 9000 feet, is the lowest, with forests and green mountains, where it is warmer and humid. The Han Chinese settled in this area. The central part, at 9-12,000 feet, is the agricultural region. It is also the hub of culture and religion, where the largest cities are congregated, including Lhasa with a population of 400,000. There are 4.9 million Tibetans in all of China; 2.7 million live in Tibet.
Tibet is one of five autonomous regions in China. The local government follows the laws of the central government, which controls entry into Tibet. Tibetan nobles and the Dalai Lama controlled Tibet until the latter left for India in 1959. "Dalai' meaning "ocean" in Mongolian, when combined with "Lama" implies, "boundless as the ocean"; he was both the spiritual and political leader. During the Cultural Revolution in the 60s and 70s many temples were destroyed. However, the practice of religion now appears to be free. 90% of Tibetans follow Tantric Buddhism through meditation and prayer. Based on actions in this life one may go to heaven or come back in descending order as denizen, human, animal or hungry ghost; or end in hell.
The five funerary customs are: Stupa burial, which is reserved for the Dalai Lama and preserves the body; cremation for the well off; water burial for the commoner, whose body is wrapped and thrown in water; internment for the diseased; and sky burial, where one waits three days for the body and soul to separate, followed by burning, powdering, scattering of the bones and offering of the flesh to vultures.
The art of painting is an important part of Tibetan religion and culture. Thanka painting formerly taught by monks is now offered in the university's art department. Thanka brings good luck; its images often depict a mandala (a square within a circle), Buddha and bodhisattvas representing long and healthy life. The biggest one hangs in the temple and comes out during the New Year's festival. Small ones hang in homes. At the end of her lecture Professor Nima presented us each with a prayer wheel, like those initially used by people, who could not read the scriptures. Hidden in the ornate body is a paper prayer; the clockwise spins determine the number of prayers.
The Jokhang Temple, built to house the 7th century Buddha statue of Jowo Sakyamuni, is the first and holiest temple in Tibet. Every Buddhist is expected to visit this temple at least once in their lifetime to worship the founder of Tibetan Buddhism. Outside pilgrims prostrate themselves in reverence to the sacred site and move on their hands and knees to get close to it; inside thousands of yak-butter candles flicker beneath the enlightened gaze of the golden Buddha as crowds press near him. The khora is a clockwise circling of the temple, which is also surrounded by the Barkhor Bazaar, a series of shops and stalls that cater to pilgrims and tourists. We walked clockwise through the market gazing at jewelry, textiles, spices and prayer flags that carry written prayers sent to the gods with the winds.
Owning a yak is a sign of wealth in Tibet. This horned animal with long, shiny black hair provides food for the table, milk for dairy products, hair for awnings and blankets, horns for combs and jewelry and a tail for dusters. They also race during festivals. A big statue of two golden yaks shimmers in the sun in downtown Lhasa, which means "holy land" in Sanskrit, the root of the Tibetan language. So it was no surprise that our visit to a local family took place over yak-butter tea, which we enjoyed in the sunroom of a building, home to four generations. After the milk is churned, the butter is mixed with water and salt, and then added to black tea with sugar. We sipped our tea as we nibbled on snacks spread before us: puffed rice and wheat, roasted peas and beans, dry dates and cookies. On the way out we saw the meditation room with Buddha statues and a thanka painting.
A highlight of the trip was the visit to the private De Ji Orphan School, where children from 12 days to 13 years lived. Upon our arrival, the children greeted us by shaking hands one by one, as each said, "welcome to my home". The owner's son hosted us, as his mother had gone to the monastery to have the newborn blessed. The children sang for us in English and took us by the hand, to show their dorms and classrooms. With a child at each hand I saw the bunk bed shared by the two to keep warm, and then looked at the drawings they proudly pointed to hanging on the wall of the classroom. Walking me back to the bus, the children rubbed their hands against my cheeks in a downward motion, which is the customary way of saying goodbye instead of hugging. So moved by the warmth of these children, I was comforted to know that Grand Circle Foundation, the charitable arm of Overseas Adventure Travel, supported this orphanage.
Dinner that evening was at a local restaurant, where we had a choice of a Chinese or Tibetan buffet. Opting for the latter I was amazed at the variety of yak dishes, from dumplings to sausages. My favorite was the yak yogurt with a rich creamy flavor. The following folklore show with regional dances included masks, "yaks" and herders.
Fully acclimated to the altitude, we climbed another 400 feet to the Potala Palace, the former residence of the Dalai Lama and the center of government. Perched on Red Mountain, it was built in the 17th century atop the original 7th century site. The thirteen-story structure boasting over a thousand rooms is divided into the Red and White Palaces with sweeping views of the city and the surrounding peaks. Their richly decorated roofs have glistening golden domes. We stood in front of the Dalai Lama's balcony, where he greeted the people, then visited his meditation room, the library for old scriptures and the eight tomb stupas from the 5th to the 13th Dalai Lama. Built as a holder of the soul and relics, the stupa is wrapped in pure gold. Protected during the Cultural Revolution, the palace possesses many riches, including studded objects in coral, turquoise, gold and silver. Accepted to UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1994 it has a limit of 1200 visitors a day, including locals, who arrive with plastic bags full of yak butter to keep the chapel candles burning. We have a beaming group photo with the palace as a backdrop.
Our visit to the Sera Monastery was yet another fascinating experience. Home to the largest Gelugpa sect, Sera, which once had 7,000 monks, now has 600. Built in 1419, it has three monastic colleges attended by aspiring monks, who come here after primary school and stay through retirement. Daily starting at 3 p.m. the monks gather in the courtyard to debate Buddhist philosophy. We timed our visit to coincide with the debate and were able to watch monks, including young boys, engage in boisterous conversation. In pairs or in groups monks in crimson robes settled down, the questioner standing and the others seated, and began conversing, while also using exaggerated hand gestures that determined the acceptance or rejection of the given response. While we did not understand what they were debating, the animated conversations were engaging to watch.
Next we went to the printing house and watched a monk print scriptures on both sides of dampened paper using inked blocks. The originals were kept in cases behind glass. In one of the chapels we observed another monk blessing a 7-month-old baby by dotting his nose with black ink, rubbing his forehead on the stone in front of the Buddha, and then carrying the baby to several other Buddha statues for a similar blessing. A visit to the monks' living quarters completed the tour of Sera.
As a parting souvenir from Tibet I picked up a small toy yak for Iris at the airport. Our Tibetan guide Champa bade us farewell with Buddha's blessings. My window seat was next to a two-star Chinese officer. Shortly after we buckled in, the pilot announced that our flight would be delayed until he got clearance from the control tower, which turned out to be two hours. My young seat mate got restless and began taking pictures with his telephone/camera, first of the photos in the in-flight magazine, then of the other grounded planes visible from the window by reaching over me. Since we could not communicate verbally he did not bother to ask permission. When he started to sing, I stopped reading.
Finally our 10 a.m. flight took off at noon. We rose over Lhasa, surrounded by mountains cloaked by stubby green grass and villages snuggled against them. The clouds appeared like puffed cotton under the brilliant sun and periodically broke up to views of the river snaking down below. Using gestures, my Chinese friend suggested I take pictures, which I did. Lunch arrived: yak meat with celery and green peppers accompanied by rice.
Chongqing
Back in Chengdu we transferred to a bus for a five-hour ride to Chongqing, where we boarded the ship for our Yangtze River cruise. To get there we traveled southeast on a two-lane highway lined with cabbage patches, small lots of farmlands, terraced vegetable gardens, brick farmhouses with rooftop terraces, and lotus pools amidst wet rice fields. Because of its location in this fertile area, Chongqing, meaning "Double Happiness", is China's largest municipality, with a population of 33 million, 6 million of whom live in the urban core. As we approached the city, new towns with apartments filled the landscape. Laundry hung in the balconies of each as if this was washday for all. At 6 p.m. children walked home from school alongside tree trunks painted white to be visible to traffic.
An impressive concrete and steel tollgate ushered us into the mountain city, which is also the center of China's heavy industry. In the rush hour traffic we inched our way along with citrus loaded trucks, cars and motorcycles, toward the concrete landscape of high rises barely visible in the thick fog. A monorail above ground speeded by, while long lines of people waited at the bus stop to get home. Finally, after dinner at a local restaurant we were at the dock to board our ship, the Victoria Star, owned by a Chinese American in New York City. Suddenly a large crowd of porters surrounded us, pleading to carry our bags. We had to descend several flights of stairs and pass through other cruise ships to reach ours. At the end of a very long day it felt good to settle in our cabins with a river view.