The Chinese province of Qinghai (pronounced Ching-high) is like an introduction to Tibet. It’s a high mountainous plateau region, just north of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and most of Qinghai is inhabited by Tibetans. Only the provincial capital, Xining (pronounced Shee-ning) and surrounding valley have a lot of Han Chinese inhabitants. The city of Xining’s population, we were told, is 60 percent Han Chinese; the rest are Tibetans, Chinese Muslims (Hui), and other minorities, such as Mongolian, Tu, and Sala.
Outside of the city of Xining and the valleys around it, most of the province feels like Tibet. In fact, Tibetans have long called it not Qinghai but their province of Amdo. The present Dalai Lama was born in a village in Amdo, not far from Xining. One of the biggest issues between Chinese and Tibetans is the fact that many areas traditionally considered part of Tibet are not in the “Tibetan Autonomous Region” as defined by the government of China.
The northern Tibetan province of Amdo has been renamed Qinghai. The eastern Tibetan province of Kham is divided between the Chinese provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan, even though these counties are still almost entirely inhabited by Tibetans. The Dalai Lama insists he is not asking for independence for Tibet, just true autonomy under the Chinese government. However, he wants Tibet to include these northern and eastern provinces that were carved off and given to Chinese provinces. If these areas were included in Tibet, Tibet would account for one-sixth of Chinese territory – too big a chunk of land for the Chinese government to allow to be truly autonomous.
Xining’s elevation 2200 meters, or about 6600 feet – high but nowhere near as high as Lhasa. One reason we came here first is to get used to a higher altitude. So far, no problem! Although I did have a bit of a headache after sleeping on the 22nd floor of the Qinghai Hotel. A few days ago I started taking Diamox, the prescription medicine recommended by American doctors to prevent altitude sickness. Paul is taking Hong-jing-tian, the Chinese herbal medicine used here. We’ll see which one works better!
Few foreigners visit Qinghai, but there are two fabulous sites to see. One is the Kumbum Monastery, one of the most sacred to Tibetans. It is less than 30 minutes drive from Xining, and it was built as a Tibetan Buddhist monastery 600 years ago, to honor Tsongkapa, the founder of the Gelugpa or Yellow Hat Sect. The present Dalai Lama’s brother was a prominent monk at Kumbum, and he himself was taken there for several years right after he was chosen as the latest incarnation of the Dalai Lama. In those days, the 1930s, Qinghai was controlled by a Chinese Muslim warlord, Ma Bufang. Once Ma got word that the new infant Dalai Lama had been found, he demanded a lot of money before he would let the boy go to Lhasa.
History aside, Kumbum is a fascinating temple and monastery complex, spread out along the side of a hill. It is called Ta-er-si in Chinese. The most famous temple has a golden roof.
Near the entrance are eight round white Tibetan-style towers, called chortens. Nearly 800 Tibetan monks are in training here, some as boys, most as men. It is clearly a living, working monastery – not just a tourist site, although visitors are allowed in many parts. The monks wear maroon robes.
Five years ago, when I visited this monastery, it was jam-packed with tourists, mostly Buddhists from other Asian countries, such as Korea and Thailand. Now, most tourists are from other parts of China, but it was far less crowded. No photos are allowed inside the temples, and this rule is strictly enforced. The insides smell of yak butter candles, and you can see row up row of cushions where the monks study. Columns are lovingly wrapped in carpets, and colorful flags hang from the ceilings. Statues of Buddhas and other Buddhist teachers are adorned with white silk scarves and other gifts.
Tibetans can enter the temple grounds for free, and many come here to worship. We saw many of them prostrating themselves before the temple entrances, and I took a photo of one such worshiper, surreptitiously. Our guide told us they pray in thanks for blessings. Some come to do as many as 100,000 prostrations. They use rosary beads to keep track of how many prostrations they have made so far.
Tibetan temples are famous for their prayer wheels, which, when turned clockwise, send off prayers.
Many of the signs were bilingual, in Chinese and Tibetan, which has a charming curly-cue script based on Sanskrit.
No comments:
Post a Comment