Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Kangding in winter

On the Minya Konka trek, 1998
[Old pic of minya Konka trip from 1998]

Had a bath yesterday. It was the highlight of my week. Probably the highest altitude bath I've ever had. It was in a hot spring, about five miles out of the mountain town of Kangding, almost 4000m above sea level. I went up there on the bus on Saturday and soon discovered that it was very cold. Nice clear blue skies (unlike smoggy Chengdu) but very very cold. The town is half Chinese and half Tibetan, but everyone regardless of ethnicity was wearing earmuffs and face masks or scarves wrapped around their faces. It was so cold the phlegm had frozen on the pavement.
I'd been here before about five years ago in the spring and started a trek from here, in the foothills above Kangding. So once I'd kitted myself out with some earmuffs and a nice scarf and some long johns, I set off walking up the hill into what had once been a deserted valley and the start of the Minya Konka trek. Last time there's just been a scattered Tibetan village up this valley, a few log cabins. This time I got a bit of a shock because it was full of newly built luxury apartments, all being sold off the plan under the banner "Draw the Elite Card"??? And if you fancy buyng one they start from 4000 kuai a square metre, or about $100k in our money.
Once I got past the fancy real estate block, there was the old village of Yulin, looking quite neglected - but the hot baths were still there. Just a few brick cubicles covered with cheap corrugated green plastic. I paid my 15 kuai and ran the hot water till the bath (about 1m square sunk in thre ground) filled up. And I had a nice 45 minutes soak under the shadow of the 5000m snow peaks of the Minya Konka range. It must have been grannies half price day because the other cubicles seemed to be filled with an old ladies outing up from the town.
After my bath, feeling quite refreshed and a bit less smelly, I traipsed up the rough track through the village - no easy thing as after a few steps I was out of breath because of the altitude. I was looking for the Tibetan guy who'd acted as my guide and horse wrangler on the last trip. But all I found was three blokes holding down a shaved pig in buckets of hot water, ladling steaming water over it and scraping off the last few bits of hair as one of them sharpened his knife. The pig didn't look very happy.
I didn't hang around to watch.
At the top of the next hill I found a Tibetan family in their back yard trying to corral some of their horses into the back of the van with a big stick. I asked about the possibility of trekkking up to the Gongga monastery but I knew the answer before they spoke. The guy said it was possible, but why would anyone want to go at this time of year when the place was barren, the snow thick on the hills and the days so cold and so short it would be hard going? I looked up at the first peak visible, Jiazifeng, and realised this would be as close as I would get ... it was up there some where that the Lonely Planet writer Clem Lindenmayer had died of exposure last year after wandering off the trekking trail and getting stuck in a snow fall. And that was in May. Not a wise idea to try it in this season.
So I headed back down, past the now ex-pig, its belly slit open, past the real estate showroom (no queue), and the long road back down into Kangding.
It seemed like I was the only foreign tourist in town - certainly the only one in the hotel. So as I sat in the cafe on the edge of the town square, drinking lemon tea (I'm off alcohol still - wonder why?)watching the locals doing their Tibetan line dancing at dusk, I decided to try warmer climes - back down to Chengdu and go south.

So this morning at 6am I was down at the bus station in the bitter cold morning, saying farewell to Kangding and its colourful Tibetan cowboys. These guys with wild, sunburnt faces in the chuba capes hanging off the shoulder, the silver daggers concealed within, and many with red wool plaited intheir hair. The Tibetan women all wear the traditional floor length dark cape with a colourful belt and a traditional square-sih hat. It's odd to be standing next to them in the supermarket waiting to pay for your biscuits ...

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Tha happy snapper's 'traveling light' kit for China


This is what I'm taking for my next 4 week winter trip to SW China and Tibet, starting on 12 Dec: Mont Nadgee sleeping bag, about 72 rolls of Ektachrome slide film for Rolleicord and Leicas, plus books, diary, sunies etc. Too much already - I may not bother with the thermarest and bivvy bag. Doesn't include the kit I'll be wearing - ie boots, hat, fleece, raincoat, etc. The plan is to start in kangding and retrace some of the previous routes ans see Minya Konka (Gongga Shan), Mutikonka (Maidi Gangga and Sanyanlong and the Yalong canyon near Jiulong), then on via Muli and Warizhen to to Yading (Konka Risumgompa) and finally down to Lijiang. Plan B is to just go to the Nujiang river again like last year.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Flying the Hump over the Salween valley:1944

This is the hazardous air transport route from India to China made by hundreds of US pilots during WW2, to bring supplies to the KMT government after the Burma Road was overrun by the Japanese. What's the Joseph Rock link? Well, he explored the Salween valley a decade or so before and drew such detailed maps that he was commissioned to develop these into air charts for the US Air Force Transport Command. And that is Mt Kawakarpo (Meili Xue Shan), in the background - as described by Rock in Through the Great River Trenches of Asia (National Geographic magazine1926).

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Jade Dragon Mountain, Lijiang? Photo by a Hump flyer, 1944

In 1943, Joseph Rock was asked by the US air force to help compile maps of the Gaoligong Mountain area, known as the Hump, over which supply planes were flying in supplies from India to China. Here are some original photos of the Salween canyon and the peaks, by William Vandivert

Stone-Moon Hill, (石月亮 ) Salween Valley, (the Hump), 1944

Original photo by William Vandivert
Here's my pic from ground level:
石月亮 Nu Jiang (Salween river) Yunnan in Kodachrome

Mt Kawakarpo (Meili Xueshan) from the Salween Valley, (the Hump), 1944

Original photo by William Vandivert

Salween Valley, (the Hump), 1944


Salween Valley, (the Hump), 1944, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Flying the Hump between China and India, 1944

Sunday, November 16, 2008

The vilage of Mongdong, Yalong canyon, Jiulong county, Sichuan

Mongdong temple, Yalong canyon, Jiulong county, Sichuan

Taken with a Leica IIIa and Summar lens

Man in Mongdong, Yalong canyon, Jiulong county, Sichuan

Mongdong, Yalong canyon, Jiulong county, Sichuan

Mongdong, Yalong canyon, Jiulong county, Sichuan

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Joseph Rock in Gansu, 1920s

Not much to report until I return to Yunnan in December, so here's a selection of Joseph Rock's original pictures from the 1920s. From the Harvard University library collection (VIA).

Joseph Rock in Gansu, 1920s

Joseph Rock in Gansu, 1920s

Hsikang women, 1920s


Hsikang women, 1920s, originally uploaded by yeahrightasif.

Joseph Rock at his house near Lijiang


Joseph Rock, originally uploaded by yeahrightasif.

Raja Gompa, Tibet, 1920s


Raja Gompa, Tibet, 1920s, originally uploaded by yeahrightasif.

Photo by J.F. Rock, from the Harvard University archive (VIA).

Joseph Rock's Yunnan of the 1920s

Photo by J.F. Rock

Mekong (Lancang) river, 1920s

Joseph Rock's Yunnan of the 1920s: Lijiang market

Photo by J.F. Rock

Lugu Lake, 1920s


Lugu Lake, 1920s, originally uploaded by yeahrightasif.

Photo by J.F. Rock

Black Dragon Pool, Lijiang, Yunnan, 1920s.

Ngolok at Ragya Gompa, Yellow River, 1926

One of many images available from the Harvard University VIA service.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Anjue temple, Kangding, 2006


Anjue temple, Kangding, 2006, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Rolleicord Vb, Reala film and negative scanned with an Epson V500

Anjue temple, Kangding, 2006


Anjue temple, Kangding, 2006, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Rolleicord Vb and Reala film (negative scanned with an Epson V500)

Kangding by Rolleiflex


Kangding by Rolleiflex, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Jiulong in Sichuan


Jiulong in Sichuan, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Pumi travel companions to Sanyanlong

Jiulong, Sichuan - my van to Sanyanlong

Kangding monk, 安觉寺 (Anjue temple) 2006

Monk begging in Kangding


Monk begging in Kangding, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Taken in 2006 with a Rolleicord.

Panchen Lama pic at Kangding monastery


Kangding monastery, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Kangding monastery Buddha


Kangding monastery, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Kangding monk, 2006


Kangding monk, 2006, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Monk at a Kangding monastery


Monk at a Kangding monastery, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Taken in 2006

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

En route from Muli to Yading


En route from Muli to Yading, originally uploaded by Arowe.

There are some amazing pictures of Yading on Picasa - these are from a Chinese photographer called 流浪

En route from Muli to Yading


En route from Muli to Yading, originally uploaded by Arowe.

From Picasa - photographer is called 流浪

En route from Muli to Yading


En route from Muli to Yading, originally uploaded by Arowe.

From Picasa - photographer is called 流浪

En route from Muli to Yading


En route from Muli to Yading, originally uploaded by Arowe.

From Picasa - photographer is called 流浪

Monday, July 21, 2008

Yading 亞丁


Yading 亞丁, originally uploaded by Arowe.

There are some great images of Yading on Picasa - just type in 亞丁 and see what comes up: here are some by 'Sam from Taiwan'

Yading 亞丁


Yading 亞丁, originally uploaded by Arowe.

Another Picasa found image by 'Sam from Taiwan'

Yading 亞丁


Yading 亞丁, originally uploaded by Arowe.

Another Picasa found image by 'Sam from Taiwan'

Yading - Chonggu Temple


Yading, originally uploaded by Arowe.

There are some great images of Yading etc now being posted on Picasa - just type in yading and see pictures like these by "ricky"

Yading


Yading, originally uploaded by Arowe.

by "ricky"

Yading


Yading, originally uploaded by Arowe.

by "ricky"

Yading


Yading, originally uploaded by Arowe.

by "ricky"

Yading


Yading, originally uploaded by Arowe.