They renamed it Shangri-la

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Hey Folks,

Thats right, some American came to ZhongDian maybe a hundred years ago, and wrote in his very famous book that the city was so perfect, it must be Shangri-la. So, the Chinese, never ones to miss a beat, renamed the homely Tibetan city of ZhongDian, you guessed it, Shangri'la. Since then, tourism has boomed, and everyone is happy, except of course the Tibetans who lived their. As I have learned, even in the more developed parts of their invaded plateau, they still prefer to live in the countryside, raising their yaks, and praying, while entrapreneurial Chinese flock to their cities to sell knives and prayer wheels. This is an interesting country indeed.

So, I have recently returned from Yunnan province. This is the most diverse province in China. It boasts home to 26 of the 56 registered minorities in the country. Unfortunately, this has turned many native cities into some of the largest human zoos on the planet. I have seen more tour guides posing as natives than I ever wanted to. But I covered that in my last email. Today we have something a little more genuine. Of all the minority areas I saw on this adventure, none came across as pure as in the Tibetan countryside.

Gone were the raised eaves of traditional Chinese houses, the one floor buildings, and gone were the relatively pale faces and small frames. What replaced them was truely unique. Tibetan houses are characteristically trapazoidal in shape, where the bottom is the widest part of what would be a cube, but the walls taper towards the top, finishing with a peaked roof with generally stone, not clay tiles. Also, along the roof there are copious amounts of detailed carvings, often painted. The menu of choice also shifted a little. There are few traditional Tibetan restaurants, even here, because, as I must sermise, in the words of a friendly traveler, "Out of the 60 odd countries I've visited, Tibetan food must be the worst." The world reknowned "yak butter tea" consists of very hot, very sour (at least in taste) yak milk, with gobs of thick, oilly yak butter melted inside. It is clear that these people drink this because their harsh climate requires very high caloric intake, but it is similarly clear why this pallete doesn't translate well. The diet also includes alot of yak cheese and yak meat. If you have yet to notice a trend, come out and visit. Fear not, only two of the group got sick after our traditional dinner.

I was also allowed to visit a Tibetan Monestary. I was under the impression that, due to the powers that be, such places wouldn't be open. However, they are, and this experience ranks with some of the most powerful I've had. The hall inside was intricately painted, despite being very dark, with no windows, there were with rows and rows of young monks quietly chanting, or cracking jokes. Our Tibetan guide pointed to a stick at one point, and we learned the risk the young monks were taking in goofing off. We saw different parts of the temple, including very large Buddha carvings, and even a picture of His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Llama himself. I, personally was shocked to see his image, but I guess things have changed a little around here. What was most impressive, to me, was both the quality and quantity of the decorations in the temple.

As many of you know, during the time many Chinese refer to as "the 10 years of terror," or the Cultural Revolution, college and highschool students called Red Guards waged their own war against "the Four Olds." I don't recall what all four of them were, but besides killing their teahers, "struggling" their parents, and most importantly worishping the cult of Mao, they just about destoryed everything they could. Consequently, I came to the temple knowing that between 1966 and 1976, nearly everything in the temple would have been destroyed. This is true for nearly every place in China. The Chinese have remedied this lack of visual history by recreating it, usually for tourism purposes, which usually leads to things that look like they belong in Disneyland. The paintings in that monestary however, they were repainted out of a true religious zeal. That purity commands respect in its own right, and their images displayed it.

Since returning, I have been thrust back into learning Chinese in earnest. My classes have picked up again, the first lesson employed a dialogue about, among other things, a boy who successfully brings Playboy magazine through customs. Our textbook is called "A New China," go figure. I saw WuGuey swimming in a bowl of water in the bathroom, he was dirty, but that was okay my family said. Why? I don't know. I don't know alot of things here, but they're coming. Wish me luck folks, as for know, the journey is just beginning.

Love,
Carl

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