Driving up the Druderon Pass

Driving up the Druderon Pass, originally uploaded by jiulong.

From Jiulong up to the Druderon Pass [Kangwo Shan] you must go up a long uninhabited pine forested valley. The road is very rough and only passable for 4WD.

Maidi Gangga (Mt Muti Konka)

Maidi Gangga (Mt Muti Konka), originally uploaded by jiulong.

Apologies for poor picture quality - scan of a badly underexposed slide that has been Photoshop enhanced. Some better pics to come of thie beautiful and unvisited peak, near Jiulong. Joseph Rock was here in 1925 - but never took any pictures. I wonder why not?

Mt Muti Konka: our first glimpse

Mt Muti Konka: our first glimpse, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Will tell you more later. Just to say that no outsiders have seen this mountain since Joseph Rock visited in 1925. I took some terribly underexposed photos with slide film that I have tried to correct using Photoshop. This is the result. I have some much better print images that I will scan soon.

Another Tibetan house

tibetan house, originally uploaded by jiulong.

This pic was taken out of the window of the bus ont he way to Jiulong, somewhere south of Xinduqiao. It's a scan from a slide, hence the not-so-great quality.

I have a load more photos to add tothis blog of my most recent visit to Jiulong and the mountain called Muti Konka. But I have to wait until my article is publsihed first in a certain Geographical magazine: can't break their embargo.

Zheduo Shan （折多山） cairn

Zheduo La cairn, originally uploaded by jiulong.

From Kangding the bus grinds up to 4300 metres, eventually reaching the high plains of Tibet. Here is the Zheduo Pass, on which Tibetans heap prayer flags.

Tibetan and Chinese house styles

Tibetan house near Xinduqiao, originally uploaded by jiulong.

As seen on the road from Kangding to Jiulong. This was at the Xinduqiao truck stop near the turnoff south for Jiulong. Compare it to a Han Chinese house further down the same road [near Kangding]. An interesting cultural divide:

A Pumi family near Muli

Pumi family, originally uploaded by jiulong.

A bit off topic this ... but the next few pictures are some nice scenes of Pumi people's lives taken in the 1980s by Shanghai photographer Shen Che, in a village called Lazi near Lugu Lake. The connection with Joseph Rock is that the Pumi are one of the most common "minority nationalities" around Muli.

These pictures come from Shen Che's excellent book Life Among the Minority Nationalities of NW Yunnan".

The Pumi people of Yak Hill, near Lugu Lake

The Pumi people of NW Yunnan, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Rack for drying corn and hay

hayrack, originally uploaded by jiulong.

These drying racks are a common sight around Muli.

Sauteed songrong mushroom for a snack

Pumi fireside, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Pumi women eat these prized fungi with sauce and a little salt after roasting over their fire.

Pumi women in 1984 and 1927

Pumi grinding flour, originally uploaded by jiulong.

The same colours are evident in this photo of a woman in the same area in 1927.

Pumi culture: offerings

Pumi culture: offerings, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Observing the feast of the mountain deities, Pumi families load their altars with food, wine, salted pork, salt and flowers - Shen Che.

Huofo: a Living Buddha in Gansu province, 1927

Huofo a Living Buddha in Gansu province, 1927, originally uploaded by jiulong.

This is the six year old Living Buddha of Guya near Choni [Jone] in Gansu. Photographed by Joseph Rock in 1927.

Tibetan vulture

Tibetan vulture, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Hunters with a bearded vulture near Lake Kokonor, Qinghai. By Joseph Rock, 1928.

Map of how to get to Jiulong and the Yalong canyon in Sichuan

Map of how to get to Jiulong and the Yalong canyon in Sichuan, originally uploaded by jiulong.

There's a better map than this at www.chinabackpacker.com

Tibetan roadside house

Tibetan roadside house, originally uploaded by jiulong.

As seen on the way to Jiulong.

The road to the roof of the world: from China to Tibet.

Zheduo Shan, originally uploaded by jiulong.

This is Zheduo Shan, the 4200 metre pass between Kangding and Litang. Below, where the cloud is, lies Kangding and beyond it the plains of Sichuan. So this, in effect is where the eastern Himalayas give way to the lowlands of China. From here on it is the highlands of Tibet. I took this picture on the way from Kangding to Jiulong.

Jiulong in Sichuan

Jiulong in Sichuan, originally uploaded by jiulong.

This was the starting point for my trek to the Yalong canyon. It's a day's drive south of Kangding. When Joseph Rock visited Chiulong, as he called it, it was just a collection of houses overseen by a drunken Chinese magistrate.

Tibetan, Yi and Pumi women in Jiulong

Jiulong ladies, originally uploaded by jiulong.

In Jiulong there are many "minorities". Most are Yi people, but there are also substantial numbers of Tibetans and Pumi people. here you can see the local social club gathered on the steps of some of the high street shops.

Kangding: the border between Tibetan and Han

Kangding south, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Here is a view from the middle of town looking back towards the direction of Chendgu [east?].