I'm on the Nujiang river, following in Rock's footsteps throught the communities of Lisu and Nu people in NW Yunnan. I have my 8 year old son with me so won't be doing anything much adventurous.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Lonely grave, Bingzhongluo
This is the grave of Pere Genestier, the French missionary priest who gave Rock shelter during his Mekong-Salween trip that he described in "Through the Great River Trenches of Asia".
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
Mosuo families, 1926 and 2006, Yongning
First photo by JF Rock, 1926.
Second photo by Chen Qingagng, taken in 2006:
Lijiasun, Sichuan
Some great pictures of Lijiasun (a village between Lugu Lake and Muli) by photographer Chen Qingang can be seen at:
http://www.china-fpa.org/en/hpa2006/C/HPA5-0970CT.html
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Minya Konka trek - latest news
It's been many years since I did the Minya Konka trek. If you want to know what conditions are like now, try the ongoing blog by Amy West, who has blogged so far of her scary trip over a snowbound Gyazi La. She is trekking with a guide from a company called GeoEx and is accompanied by the daughter of Arthur Emmons, one of the first climbers to ascend Minya Konka.
The blog is Amy West Needs Medication
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Above Mengdong (Mundon)
After spending a cramped night sleeping on the floor of the filthy houses in Mundon we hitched up our horses and set off up the hill to see the mountain Maidi Gangga (Muti Konka). This involved a long haul up the hillside through burnt out forest. It culmintaed in this spectacular view of the valleys below, before we turned around a spur and into the Chang Haizi valley.
This photo taken with the cheap and cheerful Olympus XA.
Mengdong (Mundon)
Arty black and white pictures of Mengdong (Rock's "dreary hamlet of Mundon") on the edge of the Yalong canyon.
Mundon, near Jiulong, Sichuan
Arty black and white pictures of Mengdong (Rock's "drearry hamlet of Mundon") on the edge of the Yalong canyon. Taken with my old Leica IIIa which is almost as old as Rock's expedition.
Wuxu Hai
This lake near Jiulong is now a tourist resort - funny how Joseph Rock never mentioned it despite passing by twice on his way between Muli and Kangding. Most people photograph it from the oppposite direction - this is looking south back towards the lake and the tourist cabins on the other side.
Chang Haizi and Maidi Gangga
View of the sacred mountain framed by prayer flags in the early morning.
Kangwu Shan Pass, near Jiulong
This is looking back towards Kangwu Shan - the pass between Jiulong and the dead-end valley (Yangwe Kong) leading to Sanyanlong.
Above Sanyanlong, Jiulong county,Sichuan
This is the view back down to Sanyanlong in the Yangwe Kong valley after climbing up towards Mundon (Mengdong).
Chang Haizi, Sichuan
This is the lake below Miadi Gangga (Muti Konka) taken from an easterly direction looking towards the Yalong.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Visitors to Choni before Joseph Rock, 1923
In 1923, two years befor Joseph Rock arrived there, two other Americans viited and photographed the Tibetan monastery at Choni (Zhuoni) in Gansu province. They were By Janet and Frederick Wulsin, wealthy Americans who were based in Beijing. Frederick was an aspiring naturalist and took a Graflex camera on this expedition. These are some of the many photogrpahs he and his wife took - and which are now in the archives of the Peabody Museum at Harvard University. They are taken from the book Vanished Kingdoms by Mabel Cabot (daughter of Janet).
This picture is a silver breastplate worn by a Tibetan dancer at Choni, marked with astrological signs, at Cham-ngyon-wa festival, Kansu 1923.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Panchen Lama, Kumbum, 1948
A picture from Life magazine by Mark Kauffman, which shows the young Tuteng Chueh-chi at Kumbum monastery.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Wife of Tendon Dzongpon, Lhasa
Not really related to Joseph Rock, but I couldn't resist linking to these beautiful colour photographs of Tibet from the same era. They were taken by British envoy Spencer Chapman during an official expedition to Lhasa in the 1930s. The whole collection can be seen at:
http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk
Tendon Dzongpon, Lhasa
Not really related to Joseph Rock, but I couldn't resist linking to these beautiful colour photographs of Tibet from the same era. They were taken by British envoy Spencer Chapman during an official expedition to Lhasa in the 1930s. The whole collection can be seen at:
http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Muli valley to be flooded
Sad news. The Muli river valley is to be flooded with the creation of six dams by China Hydro. This maps shows the location of the dams, with several between the old monasteries of Waerdje (here marked as Muli Sanqu) and Muli monastery.
A larger, high definition version of this map can be downloaded here.
A larger, high definition version of this map can be downloaded here.
Naxi Dongba ceremony, Muli, 2005
Joseph Rock would be pleased to see that the Naxi ceremonies he studied and recorded are again being held near his old home north of Lijiang. [All pics are from the local Muli newspaper, the Liangshan Ribao].
On the road to "Dream Mountain":
Naxi women are not allowed to take part but in 2005 they attended for the first time.
Men chant with the dongba;
The old shamen presides:
At home with the dongba [priest]:
On the road to "Dream Mountain":
Naxi women are not allowed to take part but in 2005 they attended for the first time.
Men chant with the dongba;
The old shamen presides:
At home with the dongba [priest]:
Yi people hit by mudslide in Muli, 2005
These photos are from the website of the country paper, the Liangshan Ribao.
Yi people near Muli mourn their relatives killed my a mudslide.
Yi people displaced by mudlside, Muli, 2005.
County leader inspects mudslide relief work, Muli, 2005
Yi people near Muli mourn their relatives killed my a mudslide.
Yi people displaced by mudlside, Muli, 2005.
County leader inspects mudslide relief work, Muli, 2005
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