I have to stop and think about that sometimes, especially when I get to go to places like Zhongdian, aka Shangri-la. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect of Zhongdian. The Chinese government changed the name to Shangri-la, in hopes of convincing people it was the paradise talked about in Journey to the West. It’s the capital of the Tibetan Automous Prefecture, the majority of the population is Tibetan and was reputed to be the lost paradise on earth. This general area of Yunnan (the way northwest) and northern Sichuan province are the closest you can get to Tibet without needing all the permits and such to go in. In the past, when there’s been “Tibetan uprisings” its been hard for Westerner to get permission to go into these areas. Yet its also a Chinese city, and most Chinese cities often have this similar look and feel to them. To reiterate, I wasn’t sure if I would be awed or disappointed.
IT WAS AWESOME!!! I think the only thing I have against it is that it’s really cold (again, the high altitude).
Group with Living Buddha of Songzanlisi
Songzanlisi- Tibetan Buddhist Temple
Our first day in Zhongdian was Halloween and Sam’s birthday. I think we were the only people in Zhongdian that dressed up for Halloween. Our resources were rather limited, but somehow we managed to pull together excellent gypsy costumes, which we wore to dinner and got looks not only from the Chinese people, but also all the Europeans.
Before dinner we stopped by the Zhongdian culture center and had a lecture from the director and the master tangka painter-in-residence. He was almost finished this absolutely STUNNING red tangka depicting a compassion Buddha and four nationalities coming to the Buddha for compassion and wisdom. It was commissioned for a temple in Sichuan province, to help them rebuild after the earthquake. (*tangka’s are ancient Tibetan Buddhist art pieces, depicting various elements or stories in Tibetan Buddhism, it takes a lot of training, because the masters must learn the philosophy as well as the craft.)
The night’s celebrations were definitely memorable, despite the fact that we started off the night at a bar to celebrate Sam’s 21st birthday. We ended up getting invited by the Zhongdian center director to the Tibetan performance hall of one of his friends. And HERE, one of the other guests (who is apparently an angry drunk) ended up storming the stage, stealing the microphone from the performer, going on an angry rant in Chinese before throwing the microphone on the floor and then tossing a beer at the Zhongdian culture center director! We left soon after, but it made one memorable capstone to the evening.
The next day we went to the largest Tibetan Buddhist temple in this part of the Tibetan region, Songzanlisi, and met with the living Buddha there. Then we went to a Tibetan orphanage. The orphanage was tons of fun. True to form, they put on a performance, but some of the kids were REALLY talented performers. It’s a unique place. None of the children are adopted; the entire orphanage is their family with a “mom” and an “uncle.” The kids seemed really happy, and really took care of each other. We played duck, duck, goose! with them and they were great at making sure no one was left out.
At the Tibetan Orphanage
In Zhongdian, I had one of my many “Alison” moments. I knew that my debit card was going to expire, however, I’ve used it ONCE in the past two plus months and had pretty much forgotten about it. It expired the end of October, I tried for the first time to withdrawal money on November 2nd. . . sigh.
The next morning we went out into the Tibetan countryside to a much smaller temple- Dabaoshan. The countryside outside of Zhongdian is stunning; you have to get outside the city, but you immediately understand why so many people could argue this area is Shangri-la. The temple was a small one, but the scenic drive out made the trip worthwhile. Also, this temple was cool to see just for the fact that it was one of the first that I saw that had a picture of the Dalai Lama on the alter!! Our teacher told us they were able to get away with this because it wasn’t a tourist spot. So cool. . .
Dabaosi
(yes that is a mountain goat)
I also don’t feel like a complete poser, because I bought my set of Tibetan prayer flags at this temple, so I can tell myself mine are kinda-sorta actually from Tibet. ☺
After Dabaoshan we went to bathe in hot springs and just relaxed and steamed for an hour. Like I said. . . indirectly, I’m getting credit for all this.
IT WAS AWESOME!!! I think the only thing I have against it is that it’s really cold (again, the high altitude).
Group with Living Buddha of Songzanlisi
Songzanlisi- Tibetan Buddhist TempleBefore dinner we stopped by the Zhongdian culture center and had a lecture from the director and the master tangka painter-in-residence. He was almost finished this absolutely STUNNING red tangka depicting a compassion Buddha and four nationalities coming to the Buddha for compassion and wisdom. It was commissioned for a temple in Sichuan province, to help them rebuild after the earthquake. (*tangka’s are ancient Tibetan Buddhist art pieces, depicting various elements or stories in Tibetan Buddhism, it takes a lot of training, because the masters must learn the philosophy as well as the craft.)
The night’s celebrations were definitely memorable, despite the fact that we started off the night at a bar to celebrate Sam’s 21st birthday. We ended up getting invited by the Zhongdian center director to the Tibetan performance hall of one of his friends. And HERE, one of the other guests (who is apparently an angry drunk) ended up storming the stage, stealing the microphone from the performer, going on an angry rant in Chinese before throwing the microphone on the floor and then tossing a beer at the Zhongdian culture center director! We left soon after, but it made one memorable capstone to the evening.
The next day we went to the largest Tibetan Buddhist temple in this part of the Tibetan region, Songzanlisi, and met with the living Buddha there. Then we went to a Tibetan orphanage. The orphanage was tons of fun. True to form, they put on a performance, but some of the kids were REALLY talented performers. It’s a unique place. None of the children are adopted; the entire orphanage is their family with a “mom” and an “uncle.” The kids seemed really happy, and really took care of each other. We played duck, duck, goose! with them and they were great at making sure no one was left out.
At the Tibetan Orphanage
In Zhongdian, I had one of my many “Alison” moments. I knew that my debit card was going to expire, however, I’ve used it ONCE in the past two plus months and had pretty much forgotten about it. It expired the end of October, I tried for the first time to withdrawal money on November 2nd. . . sigh.
The next morning we went out into the Tibetan countryside to a much smaller temple- Dabaoshan. The countryside outside of Zhongdian is stunning; you have to get outside the city, but you immediately understand why so many people could argue this area is Shangri-la. The temple was a small one, but the scenic drive out made the trip worthwhile. Also, this temple was cool to see just for the fact that it was one of the first that I saw that had a picture of the Dalai Lama on the alter!! Our teacher told us they were able to get away with this because it wasn’t a tourist spot. So cool. . .
Dabaosi(yes that is a mountain goat)
I also don’t feel like a complete poser, because I bought my set of Tibetan prayer flags at this temple, so I can tell myself mine are kinda-sorta actually from Tibet. ☺
After Dabaoshan we went to bathe in hot springs and just relaxed and steamed for an hour. Like I said. . . indirectly, I’m getting credit for all this.
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