Litang sits at over 4000m elevation in the middle of a wide, treeless alpine valley, inhabited at this time of year by semi-nomadic Tibetan herders and their yaks, sheep, and a few cattle. Clusters of tents are everywhere, with motorcycles, which seem to have largely replaced horses for herding duty, alongside. The tents are black (made of woven yak fur), white (probably canvas), and blue (issued by the government as temporary shelters in earthquake-ravaged areas, but apparently co-opted by the herders for this purpose). The tents and animals go right up to the edge of town, and yaks freely roam the streets, along with the ubiquitous Tibetan dogs. Litang is known for its early August horse festival, which was over by the time we got there. However, we were told of some horse events happening, so
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