This morning was a very early one. We got up at 4 AM and left for the airport at
4:30. Our checked luggage was picked up
last night at 9:30 and taken to the airport at 3 AM this morning. It is really very helpful the way they do
this – an OAT driver takes the luggage to the airport and gets it checked
in. Then he gets the boarding passes for
us so that when we arrive at the airport, all we have to do is go through
security screening (in Chengdu we had two different Security checkpoints) and
then proceed to our gate. Because we
were going to Tibet, we had to have a special license issued by the Chinese
government. Lena went first to present
the license and then we followed. (We
will have to do the same thing when we land in Lhasa.) The flight from boarding to arrival went very
smoothly. We flew on Air China and
during the flight they served a typical Chinese breakfast – roll filled with a
sesame paste, a very bland rice pudding called “congel,” a hard-boiled egg
steeped in tea, and pickled vegetables.
I ate the roll but that was it.
Upon arrival in Lhasa, we got our luggage, proceeded
through another security checkpoint and met our local guide, named Nima
(because he was born on a Sunday and Nima is the word for Sunday). We then drove for about an hour to reach
Lhasa and our lunch restaurant. The Himalayan
Mountains were all around us, but Mt. Everest is about 360 miles away so we
will not be able to see it. As we
approached the Lhasa airport from the air, the view of the tops of the
mountains and the little valleys below was beautiful.
Once our lunch was over, we were driven to our
hotel, The Minshan Hotel. It is a
beautiful hotel, both inside and outside – the best we have stayed in so far
(excluding the JW Marriott in Beijing).
Our rooms are quite comfortable, with fairly soft beds (the beds in the
other hotels were like sleeping on a concrete floor except that the box springs
would poke into you when you laid down).
In each room is an oxygen machine in case it is needed. It is not free – 100 yuan a use ($16), but it
is nice to know that it is available.
Again, as in every other hotel, there are two military style gas masks
in each room. We still have not figured
out what they are for. Certainly not for
smog here in Tibet. The temperature is quite a bit cooler here because of the
12,000, elevation, but today was a beautiful day with lots of sun and blue
skies. At the hotel, Bill and I spent
most of the afternoon resting to try and get acclimated to the altitude. Lena warned us all to rest and drink plenty
of water. Because we both were feeling a
little dizzy and short of breath, we decide to take our altitude sickness
pills. I also got a headache (probably
from dehydration even though I had already gone through 4 bottles of water),
but a couple of Excedrin took care of my head.
One of the side effects of the altitude pills is that it is a diuretic
and you have to go to the bathroom frequently – in the two hours I was trying
to sleep, I had to get up 3 times!
At 5 PM we had a guest lecturer, a professor from
the University of Tibet, come and talk to us about Tibetan culture and
history. She was quite interesting. Below is a synopsis of the information she
passed on to us:
Tibet
is called the roof of the world as it is the highest nation in the world. The elevation in Lhasa is about 12,000’, but
in northwest Tibet the elevation is as high as 15,000.’ The northwest region is inhabited by mostly
nomads who live high in the mountains and raise yak, goats, and sheep. This area also has the smallest population,
but does have many wild animals – bears, antelope, wild yak – in the
mountainous areas.
Eastern
Tibet is the lowest in elevation (about 9,000 meters). It is a forested region where you can find
tigers, monkeys, and many species of birds.
In the past this area became a haven for criminals. Today it is a very popular area for
vacationers. The Han Chinese make up
most of the population.
Central
Tibet (where Lhasa is located) is the center of Tibet’s culture, economy, and
religion. The three largest cities in
Tibet are found in this region. Most of
the historic monasteries – Jokhang Temple (first Temple of Tibet; Potala Palace
(7th century palace); and Sera (8th century and first
monastery in Tibet). The vast majority
of the 3,000,000 people living in Tibet live in this region.
There
are three different dialects in Tibet – Tibetan, Han, and Mandarin (the
official language of China and Tibet) – and it is very difficult to communicate
with one another.
Tibet
has 4,000 – 5,000 years of history. The
First period (King’s Period) was from the 7-9th centuries. This was when written history first
emerges. In the 7th century
the 33rd King of Tibet unified the tribes and formed the 1st
Kingdom. He sent a minister to India to
study, and when he returned, he developed the written script. Buddhism was formally introduced in
Tibet. The 33rd King also
married three princesses – one from Nepal, one from China, and one from
Tibet. He also built the Potala Palace
and the Jokhang Monastery.
The
38th King was famous for building Sera, the first monastery in
Tibet, while the 41st King, a devout Buddhist, enacted laws that
helped boost the rise of Buddhism in Tibet.
He proclaimed that each family must send 1 boy to become a monk. When there was concern about how to support
so many monks, he enacted another law that each family must support 1
monk. As a result of his laws, the power
of the monks was second only to the King.
Before Buddhism was introduced, Bon was the religion practiced by the
original Tibetans. The 41st
King was killed by his brother who was a supporter of the Bon practices and he
then became the 42nd King. He
began to destroy Buddhism in Tibet, but he was, in turn, killed by the Buddhist
monks.
The
Decentralized Period followed and was a time of many separate tribes, kingdoms,
and rulers. As a result there was much
fighting among the various tribes.
In
the 13th Century, the Mongolians unified China (Yuan Dynasty). They also invaded Tibet and it became part of
China, but I still was ruled by its own Lamas.
A special relationship developed between the Mongolian emperor and the
Tibetan Lamas. The Mongolians taught government
techniques to the Tibetans, while the Lamas introduced Buddhism to the
Mongolians.
The
Dalai Lama Period (17th century until 1951) was both a political and
religious leader in Tibet. The Dalai
Lamas helped strengthen Buddhism and saw the expansion of the Potala
Palace. The Dalai Lama was also the
political leader of Tibet. In 1652, the
5th Dalai Lama went to Beijing to meet the 1st King of
the Tang Dynasty. The current Dalai Lama
is the 14th, but he now lives in exile in India. In 1951, the Chinese army “liberated” Tibet
from the rich people who then lost their power and their land. In 1959, the former rich Tibetans, guided by
the Dalai Lama, tried to drive the Chinese Army back to China but were unsuccessful. The Dalai Lama then fled to India. Although now part of China, Tibet is a
Special Administrative Region (SAR) much like Hong Kong.
Almost
100% of Tibetans are Buddhists, but only about 85% are practicing Buddhists
(more and more of the young people do not actively practice Buddhism). In Tibet, being a monk is a lifetime
profession. The number of monks is
decreasing now that all children must go to school for 9 years. In the past, children as young as 7 or 8
would be sent to the monastery to become a monk. They were too young to have formed any other
opinions of what they would like to be, so they accepted the life of a
monk. Once all the children had to go to
school, it was difficult to convince 16 or 17 year old boys that they should
become a monk and be celibate for life.
Today the government supports those monks living in sites listed as
cultural sites. Many Tibetans also help
support the monks in their local temples or monasteries through cash donations
or donations of food.
Today
the Dalai Lama (even in exile) is the most important spiritual leader in Tibet,
but he is not the only one. There are 5
different sects of Buddhism, and each has its own high ranking lama. There is not much difference in the religious
aspects of these sects; it was more political.
The high ranking lamas wanted to keep their own communities or sects so
they could keep their own power.
After the lecture, we left for our dinner at the
Tibetan Steak House. This was one of the
best meals so far. We had a delicious
tomato soup with flat bread, and a variety of dishes that included Chinese
noodles, rice, a beef stew, chicken curry, a broccoli-style vegetable, and
dumplings stuffed with Yak meat. And of
course, our final dish was fresh fruit (at almost every meal so far, watermelon
has been the final dish). We then
returned to the hotel to get a good night’s rest for a very busy day
tomorrow. At the Potala Palace we will
have to walk up 300 steps!
24
Sep, Saturday Potala Palace
We started our day with a visit to the home of a
Tibetan family. The matriarch of the
family, Dolma, was there to greet us and had laid out many Tibetan snacks for
us. The snacks included Yak butter tea
(a very buttery tasting tea), Yak cheese, barley, candy coated peanuts, and
popcorn. The woman did not speak any
English so Nima told us about her home.
She is a Buddhist and had many religious articles in her home in
addition to a beautiful temple room. Her
husband passed away about 12 years ago, and she runs a small Tibetan restaurant
specializing in steamed dumplings. She
also makes aprons and other little items of clothing to help support her
family. Living with her are her son and
his wife, her daughter, and a cousin who also works in the restaurant. By Tibetan standard she has a large house –
almost 3,000 square feet (by my standards that is also large). They have a dog and when we visited the dog
was tied up on the flat roof of the house.
After visiting with her, we made our way to the
Potala Palace. The magnificent
structure, once the seat of the Tibetan government and the winter residence of
the Dalai Lamas, is Lhasa's cardinal landmark. It dominates the hill that it is built
atop. The palace rises 13 stories from
130m-high Marpo Ri (Red Hill) and contains more than a 1000 rooms, including
the Red Palace (where the Dalai Lama once lived), 10,000 chapels, and a
labyrinth of mysterious dungeons. It
took 7,000 workers and 1500 artists and craftsmen more than 50 years to build
the adjoining White and Red palaces.
Until the creation of 20th century skyscrapers, this was the
world’s tallest building. The first
recorded use of the site dates from the 7th century AD, when King Songtsen
Gampo built a palace here. Construction
of the present structure began during the reign of the fifth Dalai Lama in 1645.
It is impressive enough to have caused
Zhou Enlai to send his own troops to protect it from the Red Guards during the
Cultural Revolution.
The Palace is essentially three colors: Red denotes the structures that were built in
the 7th century and are considered the religious center of the
palace; white denotes structures built in the 17th century and are
considered the political center of the palace; and yellow denotes the structure
of the Yellow Sect of Buddhism. The
palace was the seat of government in Tibet from the 7th century
until 1959.
Around the outside of the Palace you see pilgrims
who journey to this sacred Buddhist shrine from throughout Tibet. Many spend months and even years on this
journey and when they reach the palace they prostrate themselves down and up
three times. Our guide said that some pilgrims will actually prostrate
themselves up and down, sliding forward, as they journey the many miles to the
palace
Once inside the Palace grounds, you have to walk up
300 steps to reach the actual Palace. I
tried, but could not get any farther than the first set of stairs. Between my knees and the high altitude it
wasn’t worth pushing myself. Bill did
make it up, and said that whatever I missed in the rooms (no pictures were
allowed), I would see again tomorrow at the Jokhang Temple.
I spent the time with Lena walking around the
beautiful park that surrounds the Palace.
There was a large silver sculpture dedicated to a 20th
century Chinese diplomat stationed in San Francisco in the 1920’s. He was
recalled to Tibet to deal with a corruption scandal in the Qing Dynasty and
brought back with him seeds from the Cosmos flower. You see Cosmos planted everywhere in
Tibet. We also saw Tibetan ladies and
men joining in an impromptu dance in the pavilion.
After the Potala Palace, we left for our optional tour
to the Sera and Papungka Monasteries. Located at the foot of Tatipu Hill in the
northern suburb of Lhasa City, Sera Monastery is dedicated to the Gelugpa or
Yellow Hat Sect, a branch of Tibetan Buddhism, and built in 1419 during the
Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the year the sect’s founder, Je Tsongkhapa, died. The monastery was named Sera which means “wild
rose” in the Tibetan language, because the hill behind it was covered with wild
roses in bloom when it was built. Je
Tsongkhapa was an extraordinary student and teacher and had remarkable powers
of memorization, debate, and meditation.
Ordained at the age of three, he traveled widely to study with his era’s
greatest teachers and to train thousands of monks. He also undertook extraordinarily rigorous
meditation retreats, one of which lasted four years.
The monastery is huge covering an area of 28 acres.
Its main buildings are the Coqen Hall, Zhacang (college) and Kamcun
(dormitory). Scriptures written in gold powder, fine statues, scent cloth and
unparalleled murals can be found in these halls. Colorful debates on Buddhist doctrines are held
here and these employ a style distinctive from those at Lhasa's other famous
monasteries. The monks at Sera are
renowned for their debating skills, and every afternoon you can catch them in
the courtyard challenging fellow monks in philosophical debates. The monks test each other on knowledge of
Buddhist texts and ask each other questions like, “Are you a person?” The respondent’s answers must stand up to the
rigors of logic. We were lucky enough to
get to the monastery in time to see the monks debating. There was much hand slapping and feet
stomping. It was interesting to note
that you could not take pictures with a camera, but you could with a cell
phone!
Coqen Hall, which was built in 1710, is a four-story
building in the northeast area of the monastery. This main assembly hall is
where various rituals are held and is supported by 125 pillars of varying
heights and covers about ½ acre. It consists of five chapels which give honor
to the Maitreya, Sakyamuni, Arhats, Tsong Khapa, and Kwan-yin with one thousand
hands and eleven faces. The delicate Gangyur of Tripitaka in Tibetan is the
proudest possession of the monastery which now holds 105 out of the original
108 volumes. These priceless volumes, the earliest sutras printed by engraving
in China, were presented as a gift by Chengzhu, a Ming Dynasty Emperor.
Zhacang, which means Buddhist College in Tibetan,
acts as the arena for the monks to study the Buddhist Classics. This is where the young boys train to become
monks.
Kamcuns are the dormitories where the monks usually
dine and sleep. The Sera Monastery has around thirty-three Kamcuns which have a
central court-yard. They are comprised of halls to read the doctrine, houses
and tea houses. Each monk has his own
little room. At one time this monastery
was home to 1500 monks; today that number is down to about 800.
After Sera Monastery we drove up a hill to Papungka
Monastery, a smaller, off-the-beaten-path retreat with an excellent view of
Lhasa. The temple area of the monastery
was built in a natural cave in the rocks on the hillside. You literally had to duck-walk to get into the
area. This monastery was used for a
traditional Tibetan “sky burial.” This
was where a mortician, after the body had been blessed at the Jokhang Temple,
would take the body to a hill top, chop it up into pieces, and feed it to the
vultures. After the bones are cleaned,
they are cremated (has something to do with reincarnation). Tibetans believe that death is only the
entrance into another world.
25
Sep, Sunday Jokhang Temple
This morning started out quite chilly – about 45
degrees. There had been some rain
overnight and some of the mountains surrounding Lhasa were snow covered. Fortunately as we left to visit the holiest
site in Tibet, the Jokhang Temple, the sun came out. About six acres in size, it is the ultimate
pilgrimage destination for Tibetan Pilgrims.
King Songtsem Gampo (617 – 650, the 33rd king of Tibet) was the leader
of the Tubo (or Tibetan) Kingdom. He
actively promoted Buddhism in that region and under his reign, Tibet achieved
great progress in social innovation and realized the integration for the first
time. In order to promote friendly
relationships with the neighboring countries, he successively married Princess
Bhrikuti of Nepal and Princess Wen Cheng of the Tang Dynasty. When the two wives arrived there, each brought
a statue of Jowo Sakyamuni. During this
time, most people lived in tents and there were few palaces. To house the Buddha brought by Princess Wen
Cheng, King Songtsem Gampo constructed the Little Jokhang. Jealous of her, Princess Burikuti asked Gampo
to build a Jokhang for her as well. Therefore, in 647 the giant complex was
built.
The Jokhang Temple was built on the former site of a
lake. According to the legend, the lake site was chosen after many failed
attempts to build a temple in the region. Prior to this, every time a monastery
was built, it would collapse. Confused by this phenomenon, Princess Bhrikuti
turned to Wen Cheng for help. Being a learned woman, Wen Cheng told the
Princess that the geography of Tibet was very much like a hag, with the lake at
the heart. In order to build the monastery, Wen Cheng advised they must demolish
the hag by filling and leveling the lake using 1,000 goats to carry soil from a
mountain far away. When the construction work was done, it was called
Ra-Sa-Vphrul-Snang ('ra' meaning goat and 'sa' meaning earth in Tibetan) to
commemorate those goats.
Whether the legend is true or not, this temple
brought Buddhism into this land and became an inseparable part of Tibetan
history and culture. The city of Ra-Sa
grew around the temple and over time, become known as Lhasa, a holy land.
The Jokhang Temple is a four-story timber complex
with a golden top. It adopted the
architectural styles of the Tang Dynasty, as well as those of Tibet and Nepal.
The main hall, over 1,300 years old, is the oldest
shrine of the complex. Above the major
entrance, there is a Dharma Wheel (chakra) flanked by two deer. This represents the unity of all things and
symbolizes Sakyamuni himself. On both
sides of the passageway, paintings showing the building of the temple, and
renderings from the seventh century are adorned on the wall. The statue of Sakyamuni at age 12 sits in the
middle of the hall. It has been gilded many times and decorated elaborately
with jewels typical of Tibet.
The statue of Sakyamuni is a rare treasure. When Sakyamuni was alive, he disagreed with
the idea of “personal worship” and did not allow likenesses of himself to be
created. Only three statues, designed by
he himself, were permitted to be sculpted during his lifetime. The first is a likeness of him at age eight;
the second shows him at age twelve when he was still a prince of India; and the
third is of him as an adult. The statue
kept in the Jokhang Temple is the statue of Sakyamuni at age of twelve. It was presented to the king of the Tang
Dynasty and brought to Tibet by Princess Wen Cheng.
Every morning throngs of Tibetan Buddhist come to
the temple to walk around in a clock-wise fashion, many carrying their small
prayer wheels and softly repeating Buddhist chants. Many people come to the temple and prostrate
themselves three times in front of the entrance. While we were there, we saw a family with a
small child that had walked 800 miles from a neighboring province to pay homage
to Buddha. Inside on the first floor was
the large assembly room where thousand of yak butter candles burn beneath the
enlightened gaze of the golden Jowo Sakyamuni, the 7th century
Buddha statue that the temple was built to house. When we got there, the monks were all
assemble on mats and were chanting. Our
guide Nima said that we were lucky as today (the 25th day of the
month) was one of three holy days in the month.
He also said that this was the first time he had ever seen all the monks
gathered together. We then went to the
third floor where we had spectacular views of the mountains (some snow-covered
with a light snow that had fallen last night in the mountains), Lhasa, and the
Potala Palace. We could look down and
see the hundreds of faithful Buddhist circling the Temple, and many prostrating
themselves before the Temple. What a
glorious sight.
After lunch we visited the Tibetan Museum, the only
museum in Tibet. It chronicled the
history of Tibet from pre-historic times to the Tubo Dynasty and finally to the
incorporation of Tibet into China in the 20th century. It also had sections on the culture and life
of the Tibetans. Reading the plaques
dealing with China’s take-over of Tibetan was like reading Chinese
propaganda. China was Tibet’s savior
from the domineering English and Americans!
For dinner tonight we went to a restaurant that
served yak burgers. They were okay, but
I’ll take a Big Mac anytime over them.
They were quite spicy and very dry.
And of course we all took the lettuce and tomato off the burger as
restaurants wash their fresh food in tap water which contains bacteria that our
systems are not equipped to handle. Even
in the JW Marriott we were told not to drink the tap water, but to use the
bottle water they provided for drinking and brushing our teeth.
26
Sep, Monday Tibet to
the Yangze River Cruise
We left our hotel at 7 AM for the hour drive to the
Lhasa airport. It was still dark and
chilly, but as we drove, the clouds dissipated and the sun came out. On the drive, Nima, our local guide, gave us
a brief history of his life. He was born
in a small village (only 18 families) about 40 miles north of Lhasa. His family were farmers and he was one of
four children. From the ages of 7 – 17,
he was a shepherd. Then, due to some
financial difficulties, he went to Lhasa to try and find work. He said he arrived in the city illiterate (he
had not gone to school) and with no skills other than tending livestock. A man with a construction company gave him a
job as a security guard. After 2 years,
he decided to become a monk. He was a
monk for 4 years, when an opportunity arose that allowed him to work with an
Italian group that was conducting medical research. There he was able to learn to use a computer
and some very basic English. Tourism was
just beginning to pick-up in Tibet, so after the research program ended, he
taught himself some English as applied to become a guide. It took him about 6 years to learn enough
English and Tibetan history to be able to become a local guide with OAT. He has been guiding for OAT for about 7
years. He is married and has one
daughter who is in her last year of high school in a boarding school in
mainland China. He closed by singing us
a Tibetan song that he said he would be unable to translate. It didn’t matter – the song as he sang it was
beautiful. Nima has been the best local
guide we have had so far.
Along the way we came across a herd of farm-raised
yak. The wild yak are located high up in
the mountains. The bus driver stopped
the bus so we could all take pictures.
At the airport, there were again several security
checkpoints. We were able to check in as
a group, and the Air China representative was able to enter our Mileage Plus
numbers into the system. The final
security checkpoint was the most thorough we have yet encountered. You had to remove your computers and cameras
(but not your liquids), take off your shoes and jacket, and after going through
the security machine, there was an additional pat-down by a security
agent. Once inside the terminal, we
learned that our flight to Chongqing had been delayed 2 hours.
Thoughts on Tibet – It is a beautiful country. Lhasa sits on a plateau surrounded by
mountains. Most of the Tibetans do not
speak English. In fact, many of the older
Tibetans do not speak Mandarin, even though that is now the official
language. Schoolchildren in Tibet must
learn Mandarin, English, and Tibetan, and also follow the same curriculum and
requirements as mainland China children.
Most Tibetan still dress in their native costumes, with the exception
that most all have smart phones. Apple
must make a fortune over here, and the iPhone 7 costs about $300-400 more than
in States due to the Chinese taxes. The
food is a little different in Tibet than in mainland China. Yak is the main source of meat, and they seem
to like French Fries (especially at breakfast).
As they are a Special Administrative Region of China, most Tibetans find
it very difficult to obtain visas to visit outside of China. The main religion is Buddhism, almost 100% of
the people are Buddhist, although not all are practicing Buddhists. It is not unusual to find the older population,
dressed in their native outfits, walking down the streets or around the Jokhang
Temple with their small prayer wheels.
Bicycles, scooters, and rickshaws are all in abundance on the roads, as
well as some of our newer SUV models.
You really do not see sedans or sports cars here. We thoroughly enjoyed the scenery and history
of this country that is called “The Roof of the World.”
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